It's sidewalk astronomy weekend again. We'll update our web page in
case of any change in weather or circumstances. The waxing crescent
moon and Jupiter will be our observing targets this month.
Friday, June 30, 7:30 p.m. 'til 10:00 p.m., Colorado near Delacey,
Old Town Pasadena
Saturday, July 1, 7:30 p.m. 'til 9:30 p.m., Myrtle & Lime, Monrovia.
There is a Monrovia Art Walk near Colorado and Myrtle 5:30 - 9:30 on
this same date, and again August 5 and September 2. I don't think
this will impact our Myrtle and Lime setup tho', it just offers more
interesting things to do.
From U of Illinois' Jim Kaler comes this lovely description of this
week's sky. You can find the whole text, updated every Friday, here
(scroll down past the interesting links for the text) :
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/skylights.html
"Mars, closer and faster-moving than Saturn, has now pulled well to
the east of the ringed planet. Saturn, which now sets around 10:30
PM Daylight Time, will be gone from view toward the end of July.
Mars currently sets right after Saturn. Keeping better orbital pace
with Earth, however, the red
planet will be seen in bright twilight well into August. With these
planets slowly disappearing, the night sky then belongs to very
bright Jupiter, which hangs out in far western Libra about two-thirds
of the way from Spica in Virgo to Libra's Zubenelgenubi."
Hope to see some of you out this weekend! Jane and Mojo
--
Jane Houston Jones
Senior Outreach Specialist, Cassini Program
JPL - 4800 Oak Grove Drive, MS 230-205
Pasadena, CA 91109 818-393-6435
jane.h.jones(a)jpl.nasa.gov
Cassini Saturn Observation Campaign
http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
In addition to the hot weather, there are clouds in both the desert and
mountain areas we are considering for a dark sky night tomorrow night.
Sometimes that happens. :-( Sorry Todd, Gary and Romain - we think it
will be a bad sky, not enough incentive to driving a long way.
So come over to our house this Saturday after 5 p.m. June 24 and let us
regale you with amusing anecdotes about our Grand Canyon trip, watch our
talks which we gave to the canyon visitors, and if it clears enough, see
Jupiter. Directions email or call 626-359-5323 for Monrovia directions.
This is a spur of the moment idea, so call so we can buy some BBQ
items. Bring something you like, only if you want to. We'll do the rest.
Family members including children are welcome. Oh, our trip to the Grand
Canyon this week (just got back yesterday, whew), are here
http://www.whiteoaks.com/mojo/2006-06-grand-canyon/
Jane and Mojo
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
It's been cloudy, drizzly and foggy above the OTastrodome this week
and it looks like we're in for more June gloom this weekend, darn it.
But if it clears, you are in for a treat!
You all know how to find Saturn in the sky - we've been showing it
for months from the Monrovia and Pasadena sidewalks. Be sure to take
a look at Saturn over the next two weeks as faint Mars moves Eastward
(closer to Saturn) until the 17th of June. After that, Mars will be
to the upper right of Saturn.
I wrote this little feature for our NASA Solar System Exploration
website - it's about Mars and Saturn (and a few other objects).
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scitech/display.cfm?ST_ID=1189
On June 19 we'll be presenting a star party at the Kaibab Lodge near
the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and on the 20th and 21st we'll be
attending the Grand Canyon Star Party. This annual event is great
fun, and if you plan a June vacation to the Grand Canyon, you are
welcome to share the views through a vast array of telescopes at
Yavapai Point on the South rim, and through a smaller number of
'scopes on the North rim. You can find the future dates well in
advance for vacation planning.
http://www.tucsonastronomy.org/gcsp.html
We're contemplating another desert/mountain dark starry sky excursion
on June 24th when we return from the Grand Canyon, so if this is
something you are interested in, drop us a note. We'll have a fellow
sidewalk astronomer from Hawaii visiting us for these excursions -
the fellow who made our lovely Litebox telescopes - which we almost
always have out on the sidewalks.
Our next sidewalk astronomy dates will be Friday June 30 in Pasadena
and July 1 in Monrovia, and we may repeat on July 7th and 8th.
Jane - about to present a foggy star and planet party at a Monrovia
elementary school.
--
Jane Houston Jones
Senior Outreach Specialist, Cassini Program
JPL - 4800 Oak Grove Drive, MS 230-205
Pasadena, CA 91109 818-393-6435
jane.h.jones(a)jpl.nasa.gov
Cassini Saturn Observation Campaign
http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
It's a hot, still night in Monrovia -- a night to bring out your best
telescopes. If you're still reading email on Saturday evening, think
about dropping by Myrtle & Lime. Jane and I are bringing our big 7-inch
refractor with its superb optics. We're expecting more excellent
telescopes as well.
We'll have our last views of Saturn from the sidewalk for this year, as
well as views of Jupiter and a great first-quarter Moon.
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
