On behalf of the Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers I hope that you all had a
wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.
This weekend we have the opportunity to do a second Saturday of sidewalk
astronomy for the month.
We try to arrange our sidewalk events for a first quarter moon however this
month the first quarter moon occured during the week so last weekend was a
little early while this weekend is a little late and the moon will be slightly
more full than usual. When the moon gets close to full the lighting becomes
flatter and features are not as interesting visually. However part of the moon
is still shadowed from the sun by the Earth and the region where it crosses
into shadow, know as the terminator, will provide interesting detail for us to
view tomorrow.
This will almost certainly be our last chance to get a brief glimpse of
Jupiter until late August of next year. Tomorrow Jupiter doesn't technically
set until after 10 pm however the buildings and trees around our location mean
that it disappears from view much earlier than that - the best chance to get
that last glimpse will be immediately after dark.
There will only be a few astronomers out but we look forward to seeing you at
the corner of Myrtle and Lime in Monrovia tomorrow Saturday, 28th November
after 6pm. Obviously if it is cloudy we will not be there but the current
forecast predicts a clear night.
There will be no sidewalk astronomy in Old Town Pasadena this evening.
Best regards,
Gary
--
Gary Spiers
Pasadena, CA
http://http://lambert-drive.smugmug.com/
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/garyds
Watch the shuttle follow the ISS tonight! Sorry for the short notice -
I just received the info myself. Begin looking in the NW at 6:20 p.m.
tonight - it will be over by 6:25p.m when the ISS reaches 38 degrees
above the horizon, less than halfway to the zenith overhead. The
shuttle should follow - I don't know by how long, but I'd watch for a
couple minutes. There are not too many shuttle missions left, so seeing
each one is a treat!
This is for southern California only. For other locations you can use
the same website I do: http://www.heavens-above.com Happy hunting, and
happy Thanksgiving too! Jane
Event Time Altitude Azimuth Distance (km)
Rises above horizon 18:21:33 0° 312° (NW ) 2,131
Reaches 10° altitude 18:23:33 10° 311° (NW ) 1,294
Maximum altitude 18:25:30 38° 304° (NW ) 536
Enters shadow 18:25:30 38° 304° (NW ) 536
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
Websites: http:www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
My NASA JPL What's Up podcast: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjoneshttp://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn
Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/
The weather looks good tonight for sidewalk astronomy. We'll be at the
corner of Myrtle & Lime from about 6:00 'til 9:00, showing the crescent
moon and bright Jupiter.
It could get a little cold tonight, so we'll be adding clothing layers.
Last weekend Jane and I did a little dark sky observing, and I grabbed a
few images of some favorite fall and winter objects. Have a look here:
http://mojo.whiteoaks.com/2009/11/21/pinwheels-horseheads-and-flaming-stars/
Cheers,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la
Hi everyone! We saw a few shooting stars from the desert on Saturday night.
It was in the 40's at midnight, but the sky was absolutely gorgeous! Mojo
and I are working on a story or two combining his gorgeous images from that
night. You'll see those in a few days. :-) But tonight is Leonid night!
The Leonids are my favorite meteor shower, partly because I've been
participating in meteor counting research as an amateur astronomer for a
dozen years. But mostly because this shower is well documented in art,
culture and history going back to the 900's.
It looks like we'll have decent weather tonight for those who want to see a
few shooting stars. If you want to see some of this historic meteor shower,
the best time for us here in the US is from 12:30 am to 2:30 am. (that's
Pacific time) Tuesday morning - aka in less than 12 hours from right now.
The time usually recommended for meteor shower watching is the "hours before
dawn" timeframe. But this time, because Earth will be plowing through a
"denser clump" of meteor dust at that time, the rates will go up a little.
Not like the storm years of 1998-2002, when thousands of meteors rained down
on the Earth, but a nice reminder that our solar system is an amazing place
Still, it won't be raining meteors tonight. Expect maybe 10-20 before
midnight and maybe up to 30 per hour during the 12:30 - 2:30 am timeframe.
An article recalling the 1999 and the 1899 Leonids is here:
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scitech/display.cfm?ST_ID=2289
Let me know if you see any! I'll pass on your report if you'd like to the
Leonid ground-based team, observing from Kathmandu, Nepal. They are counting
meteors (and there will be an outburst of maybe 300) right now where it's
meteor time in Asia! http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/
Jane
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
NEW! 2009 What's Up For November-The Crab Nebula
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm
Hi everyone, we are really looking forward to our weekend dark sky
getaway on the 14th. Weather permitting, we'll be sure to see Taurids
and Leonids and more, oh my! Mojo mentioned it to you all a few weeks
ago. To repeat part of his invite:
"We travel about 160 miles from home in Monrovia out I-10 to a spot on
BLM land south of Joshua Tree. Most of us make a night of it, catching a
couple hours sleep as we can, and enjoy breakfast the next morning at
Chiriaco Summit. Some will leave around midnight to make the trek back."
With the time change it gets dark early now, so that means you'd need to
arrive before 5:30 p.m., It is dark in the desert, and you travel on a 2
mile dirt road, and you need light to park on soft sand with many pokey
bushes and cacti. This site is unfortunately not suitable for large
trucks or RV's.
Let us know if you'd like to join us, and we'll send the map. Plan to
bring plenty of water, a comfortable chair and layers of clothing for
(possibly chilly) meteor observing after midnight to dawn. I'm toying
with a Leonid morning trek (that would be Monday night the 16th until
dawn on Tuesday the 17th) depending on the weather. Maybe Warner
Springs, maybe all the way to our observing site. I get all sentimental
about the Leonids as Mojo and I have been observing them as part of the
NASA Airborne Meteor missions for many years. The bonus view will be
Saturn in Leo - been a while since we've had a good look at the real
Lord of the Rings. :-)
Now, on to business!
My What's Up November podcast is all about the Crab Nebula in Taurus and
the Leonids get a brief mention at the end.
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews#p/u/0/DSRP2XoLgxk -
It is also on the JPL front page and lots of other places I mention
every month.
Blogging about the Leonids: I've been taking a trip down memory lane
this week. You can read my story about flying through the 1999 Leonid
Storm, and also an interesting (at least to me) article about the first
airborne mission one hundred years earlier. It is the story of a woman
astronomer (Dorothea Klumpke) observing the Leonids in a balloon!
http://jane.whiteoaks.com/
Here's looking up! Jane
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
Websites: http:www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
My NASA JPL What's Up podcast: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjoneshttp://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn
Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/
Tonight should be great in Old Town Monrovia, we'll be there from about
7:00 'til 9:30 or so, showing a large gibbous moon and Jupiter.
A lot of people are curious about our dark sky observing nights. We do
often get together and trek out from under the Los Angeles light dome to
see the real night sky and look at galaxies and nebulae that are
impossible to see from within 100 miles of Los Angeles.
For a taste of what it's like, Jane and I both wrote observing reports
from our last outing:
Mojo's story with some astrophotos:
http://mojo.whiteoaks.com/2009/10/19/finally-autoguiding/
Jane's report:
http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2009/10/24/another-perfect-stargazing-night/
A little photo album of the setup:
http://photo.whiteoaks.com/2009-10-17-chuckwalla/index.html
Admittedly our dark sky excursions are mostly for our own benefit. It's
a great joy to enjoy the seclusion of the deserts around Southern
California. We prefer our out-of-the-way location to the more crowded
locations like Mt. Pinos. Besides that, our sky is darker. :)
We travel about 160 miles from home in Monrovia out I-10 to a spot on
BLM land south of Joshua Tree. Most of us make a night of it, catching a
couple hours sleep as we can, and enjoy breakfast the next morning at
Chiriaco Summit. Some will leave around midnight to make the trek back.
Even though we are certainly getting away from crowds, we don't mind
having you join us for one of our excursions. It's amazing to discover
what a modest telescope can do when you get away from the bright skies
of Los Angeles. It's a treat to watch the Milky Way overhead, see
satellites and meteors, and really see the constellations you didn't
know were there.
We're often limited by the weather, and we'll cancel if it's cloudy, too
windy, too hot, or otherwise inclement. The desert ground at our
location is soft, and a couple of visitors have had bad luck getting
stuck in the dirt. It's admittedly not a good place to get stuck. There
are no facilities of any kind; Jane and I bring along a portable
environmental toilet. And if you come you need to be prepared with
layers of clothes, plenty of water, and preferably dim red flashlights
to help you navigate.
With all that in mind, you should consider it. We're a friendly social
group, and love sharing views through the telescopes. Our trips to the
desert will not be announced here. We generally pick the Saturday night
closest to new moon. That's a homework assignment. :)
If you'd like to join us and try out that telescope in your closet on a
real dark sky, send me a note that week and find out if we're going.
It's a three-hour trip from Monrovia, and we generally try to arrive
about an hour before sunset.
Think about it ...
Cheers,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://mojo.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers http://otastro.orghttp://twitter.com/mojo_la
