November 2016 - OTEvents - Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers

Nice ISS pass tonight!! SpotTheStation
by Jane Houston Jones 29 Nov '16

29 Nov '16

-------- Original Message -------- From: HQ-spotthestation(a)mail.nasa.gov Sent: November 29, 2016 9:57:21 AM EST To: jane(a)whiteoaks.com Subject: SpotTheStation Time: Tue Nov 29 6:04 PM, Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 88°, Appears: 19° above SW, Disappears: 47° above NE -- Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

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Sidewalk Astronomy tonight is cancelled, also supermoon demystified
by Jane Houston Jones 13 Nov '16

13 Nov '16

Hi everyone and welcome new members from the Mojave National Preserve star party last weekend! We are already setting up the spring date which we'll announce once its finalized. There were over 50 tents, over 120 attendees, a couple dozen attendees were urban youth, visiting MNP and camping out for probably the first time looking through about 10 telescopes! Article and photos http://www.mojavepreserve.org/news/2016/11/7/promoting-the-preserve We were expecting a lot of questions about the "Supermoon" at the telescopes tonight, but it's super cloudy, so we are cancelling our sidewalk astronomy -- we usually hold it near the first quarter moon Saturday night, but we did Mojave non that night this month since the campground was available. Both Sunday and Monday night will be about equally good to measure the "full " or what we astronomers call a "perigee" moon, so look in binos In a nutshell a supermoon new or full moon which occurs with the Moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit. Dubbed so by an astrologer in 2011. Because the Moon's orbit is an ellipse instead of a circle, its distance from Earth varies during the month from about 225,800 miles (363,400 km) at perigee, or closest approach, to 252,000 miles (405,550 km) at apogee or furthest distance in the elliptical orbit. Changing the distance causes the Moon's size and brightness to change as well. A perigee moon is on average 7% bigger and 16% brighter than an average full Moon, but during an unusually close perigee (the supermoon moon), the full Moon can be 12–14% larger than a full Moon at apogee (farthest) and 30% brighter. There are nice graphics and explanations here --> http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/see-the-biggest-supermoon-in-68-ye… If it is clear tomorrow, the full moon rises at 4:38 p.m. here in California. The moon turns precisely full on November 14, 2016 at 1352 UTC <http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/universal-time>. meaning the moon will reach the crest of its full phase on November 14 at 1352 UTC <http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/universal-time>. That translates to 9:52 a.m. AST, 8:52 a.m. EST, 7:52 a.m. CST, 6:52 a.m. MST, 5:52 a.m. PST. The moon will reach perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth for this month – within an one and one-half hours of that time. This EarthSky article gives a lot of other great information and graphics! http://earthsky.org/?p=190918 There are 4-6 supermoons every year, so have a look, and do what I am going to do -- make a moon measuring device and start comparing! All you need is an index card shown in the Sky and Telescope magazine article above, with some 5 mm to 10 mm slots cut unto it. 6mm is close to 1/4 inch, fyi. Hold your moon measurer straight out, aim at the moon, and see which slot matches the moon's diameter, write down the date, repeat next full moon. You can also hold your index finger out stretched, and see that it covers both regular full moons, closest perigee moons, as well as farthest away moons. :-) Some astronomers hate the name Supermoon, but if it raises awareness, I'm good with it. :-) Jane Houston Jones @jhjones What's Up November 2016: Venus, Jupiter and Saturn + more meteor showers https://youtu.be/aj7hDvy9bgI

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Chinese space station Weds not Tues night
by Jane Houston Jones 02 Nov '16

02 Nov '16

Although my JPL astro guy sent out the announcement that the Chinese Space Station Pass is Tuesday -- aka TONIGHT, Heavens Above - our source says it is Wednesday Nov 2. Look tonight to verify? And have a nice look at a very thin crescent moon and Venus/Saturn. And try again tomorrow night, which is what we think is the correct date. Jane -- Jane Houston Jones @jhjones What's Up Sept 2016: African Eclipse, metoers, planet pairs https://youtu.be/n_2rgiyJ5Pg

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Pretty planet/moon pairup tonight, Chinese Space Station visible, and reminders
by Jane Houston Jones 01 Nov '16

01 Nov '16

Hi everyone, my What's Up November video is out, and there is a pretty lineup of moon and planets the next 3 nights, so I thought I'd send out an additional reminder to step out and look up! From November 1^st to 3^rd , catch gibbous Venus (phase visible in telescopes, may look "oval" in binos, the crescent moon, and ringed Saturn together in the southwest sky just after sunset.The prettiest triangle of the three is Thursday night, so go out and practice just after sunset. Then also tonight, there'sa very good pass of the Chinese Space Station just after 7:00 PM for SoCal. This is probably the last real opportunity to see Tiangong 2 while the Chinese astronauts are still onboard. Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong are half way through their month-long flight. The station reaches 10 degrees above WSW horizon 7:06:53 p.m. (Very near the moon/Venus/Saturn trio) Maximum altitude 67 degrees NNW at 7:09:57 at magnitude 1.2, brighter than the most of the stars it passes until it disappears into Earth's shadow near fainter Cassiopeia stars. Let me know if you see it!! There are also some famous meteor showers -- famous from past outbursts, but rates will be lower due to bright moons nearby, but still any chance to see a Taurid on the 12th, a Leonid on the 17th or an Orionid on the 28th, is worth it if you are awake and the sky is clear on or near the peak nights! Mojave National Preserve Star Party is this weekend! RSVP here on the Facebook Event - or ask me for phone/email to RSVP https://www.facebook.com/events/310376066006443/ Eclipse info - no new news, but some of your fellow members of this email list have reserved two of the camper sites next to us in St. Anthony ID, and there are plenty more sites available. Info was on the last email. And the Idaho Museum in Idaho Falls will have some cool exhibits (and speakers :-) the day before the eclipse) It's gonna be epic!! Jane What's Up JPL http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/details.php?id=1448 What's Up Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj7hDvy9bgI What's Up Tumblr http://nasa.tumblr.com/post/152612101714/whats-up-for-november-2016 -- Jane Houston Jones @jhjones @otastro What's Up Nov? Venus sunset,Jupiter dawn, Saturn, Meteors https://youtu.be/aj7hDvy9bgI

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