OTEvents December 2010

otevents@otastro.org

1 participants
2 discussions

What's Up for January 2011? Quadrantids (and a demoted constellation)

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone! The January Quadrantids peak early next week - in the morning hours of Tuesday January 4th. It's a good night with no moon, but the sharp shower peak favors observers in Europe. Regardless, if it's clear and you are awake, look between and below the big and little dippers and you might see some belated but beautiful fireworks. My JPL podcast this month features the Quadrantids, the morning planets and a preview of next month's spacecraft flyby of comet Tempel 1. I also wrote a blog post featuring the demoted constellation, Quadrans Muralis. Did you even know that planets weren't the only thing to get demoted by the International Astronomical Union? There is a good reason for it, (for naming variable stars with a standard set of constellations), but I sure wish Felis the cat, Gallus the rooster, and Officina Typographica <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officina_Typographica> were on my modern star charts. On to the links: JPL website videos: Top right http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ NASA page: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html Many formats of the podcast and extra super related links: _http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=684__ _ My NASA blog - read about the shower's radiant -- the demoted constellation Quadrans Muralis _http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=724 __ _Youtube - January podcast http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews#p/u/0/HvIHDwYSwIk Subscribe (free) to iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nasacast-whats-up-video-podcasts/id25287… -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA http://jane.whiteoaks.com/ http://twitter.com/jhjones What's Up For January Video and Blog: Quadrantids! http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews

13 years, 6 months

What's Up this month? Lots!

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone, we had several really successful November sidewalk astronomy events, and now we're halfway through December. Some of our members will be out at Monrovia's Library park both Saturday the 11th and the 18th so stop by for views of Jupiter and the moon. 6:30 to 8:30 is the timeframe on both nights. So what else is up this month? Geminid meteor shower peaks the morning of the 14th PST. The night of the 13th/morning of the 14th actually, with the best viewing after the moon sets about 2am to dawn. More info here: http://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/geminids2010.html And even more info here http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/06dec_geminids/ We have a total lunar eclipse on winter solstice, December 20/21. For us on the west coast, totality lasts from about 11:30 p.m. to 12:45 am. onthe 20th. Start watching at about 10:30 p.m. to see the earth's shadow "bite" the moon. Look for a trio montage of lunar eclipse images at the beginning of the podcast. They were taken by our own sidewalk astronomer Dave Hasenauer of Monrovia! :-) You can just step outside and look up, weather permitting. The moon will be nice and high! The total lunar eclipse is the topic of my podcast this month, available in these many formats: The NASA page http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html where you can subscribe to it on iTunes On the front of the JPL website: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ YouTube http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews#p/u/0/wRkCyfIxPpE (this is easiest to share with friends, as it is just one click, my folks like this one the best. ) The my NASA blog and podcast page has all the podcast in the series (now halfway through the 4th year), educational activities, including a moon cookie recipe this month, links to NASA's detailed Eclipse page and more, plus the most versions (gif, to HD) http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm So happy late fall and winter skywatching, everyone!! Monrovia, CA My What's Up Podcast: December- A Lunar Eclipse! NASA http://is.gd/igv0r Youtube http://is.gd/igv4X Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones /CassiniSaturn /otastro Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

13 years, 7 months

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

OTEvents December 2010