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What's Up? ISS tonight (from LA), Perseids & 12 planets this month too!

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone - would you guess that we have over 550 of you on our email list? That tops our former Sidewalk Astronomy list from the SF days by over a hundred . :-) Tonight, for those of us in the Los Angeles region, we have an outstanding ISS pass. The International Space Station makes a long high pass, visible with your unaided eyes. Sat Aug 01 8:37 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 81 degrees, Appears: SW, Disappears: NE Nearly overhead! Also, Here's my 98th What's Up video on the JPL website -http://go.nasa.gov/1hcjVbZ <http://go.nasa.gov/1hcjVbZ> This month, I talk about the Perseids and all 12 planets - (including former planets Pluto, Juno, Ceres, Vesta and Pallas -- which are all visible this month) You will need binoculars, luck, telescopes and an experienced planet hunter to see some of them, and it may be possible to see all twelve in one night -- a fun project for us amateur astronomers with telescopes. <http://go.nasa.gov/1hcjVbZ>Here's my last attempt - ten planets!!! http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2010/06/14/a-ten-planet-night/ August's Sidewalk Astronomy in Monrovia will be missing a few of us because Gary, Mojo and I will be bringing our telescopes to Yosemite's Glacier Point where we will participate in the annual free star party with the San Jose Astronomical Association on August 22nd. (Also August 21st). If you plan a Yosemite trip this month, Each weekend (except full moon) brings a different Northern California Astronomy club to Glacier Point. Here's the remaining programs for this year and the website with all the Free Astronomy programs http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/programs.htm August 7-8: Santa Cruz Astronomy Club (SCAC) August 14-15: Peninsula Astronomical Society August 21-22: San Jose Astronomical Association September 4-5: Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society (SVAS) Hope you see the ISS, Perseids and plenty of planets this month!! Jane -- Jane Houston Jones @jhjones @NASAInsight What's Up? August - my 98th podcast! Perseids+12 planets http://go.nasa.gov/1hcjVbZ

10 years, 11 months

July 25th Saturday night sidewalk astronomy- Saturn and the moon!

by Jane Houston Jones

Tonight? Moon and Saturn! Milky Way in a dark sky. Join us at our corner in Monrovia for coming on 12 years of stargazing at Library Park in Monrovia. Other things too, but if you can, try to make your way to a dark sky and look at the milky way. We can not show that to you from the city! (My 97th video, fyi) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTZpZuNnCtE -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA Jane Houston Jones What's Up July? The Milky Way! https://youtu.be/MTZpZuNnCtE

10 years, 12 months

Sidewalk astronomy tonight

by Morris Jones

It's a hot clear night in Monrovia. We'll be at Myrtle and Lime from about 8:00 to 10:00. You might have seen that lovely show last night in the western sky put on by the crescent moon, Venus, and Jupiter. We'll get a repeat tonight with a slightly different arrangement. The nearby moon will make a significant move against the background of the distant planets. It should also be a great night for Saturn, which is putting on a fabulous show this year. The rings are tilted toward Earth, making it possible to see the Cassini division in Saturn's rings. It's going to be hot and clear. Drop by for a look if you can. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://whiteoaks.com

11 years, 1 month

Sidewalk Astronomy cancelled tonight

by Jane Houston Jones

Sorry, but with the heavy clouds, significant "chance" of rain, cool temperatures and wind we're reluctantly cancelling sidewalk Astronomy tonight! We had to cancel a school star party last night, and had significant clouds at our Tuesday school star party too. It has actually just started to rain here in Monrovia at 3 p.m. Our next Sidewalk Astronomy is May 23, and don't forget June 13, our next Dark Sky Star Party/campout/potluck at Mojave National Preserve's Black Canyon Group Campground (near the Hole in the Wall visitor center. It's also raining at Griffith Observatory, but there are a lot of free inside events today and tomorrow celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Hubble Telescope launch - check them out here http://www.griffithobs.org/. It's also clouded out up on Mt. Wilson right now! Instead, you might enjoy some of the Hubble Telescope 25th anniversary images including this gorgeous just-released image commemorating the anniversary. http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/12/image/a/ Or some JPL Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/JPLnews/videos I wish if the rain was going to make us cancel astronomy events, it would at least be a real downpour! -- Jane Houston Jones @jhjones @CassiniSaturn @NASAInsight What's Up? April 4th lunar eclipse https://youtu.be/WaTqzp43UI4

11 years, 2 months

Lunar eclipse in the morning

by Jane Houston Jones

Like John Dobson always said when you need to wake up early in the morning: drink a glass of lemonade before you go to bed -- you need to wake up to rotate your telescope mirror pitch lap or take it off the mirror while making a telescope mirror. The same goes for waking up for a predawn lunar eclipse! Set your alarms (weather permitting for before 5 a.m. Saturday morning! Our west coast gets a total lunar eclipse in the morning before dawn! My video chart shows a 12 minute totality (via USNO & S&T) but depending where you measure the deepest shadow (the umbra) some websites and most of the media are saying less than 5 minutes (THE SHORTEST ECLIPSE OF THE CENTURY). (caps on purpose) So I summed up the different calculation methods here. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=2026 <http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsolarsystem.nasa.gov%2Fnews%2Fwh…> Regardless, get your butt out of bed before 5am PT if you can. Totality is a few minutes before 5 am until a few minutes after 5 am. Pacific. Training for August 2017! Video of the eclipse and Whats Up for April: lots! https://youtu.be/WaTqzp43UI4 Hope we see it! -- Jane Houston Jones @jhjones @CassiniSaturn @NASAInsight What's Up? April 4th lunar eclipse https://youtu.be/WaTqzp43UI4

11 years, 3 months

Fwd: SpotTheStation

by Jane Houston Jones

8:20 pm tonight! Sorry for late alert! -------- Original Message -------- From: HQ-spotthestation(a)mail.nasa.gov Sent: April 3, 2015 8:58:11 AM PDT To: United-States-California-Monrovia-PM(a)lists.hq.nasa.gov Subject: SpotTheStation Time: Fri Apr 03 8:20 PM, Visible: 5 min, Max Height: 79 degrees, Appears: SW, Disappears: NE -- Jane Houston Jones (Mobile)

11 years, 3 months

Sidewalk Astronomy Saturday Night

by Jane Houston Jones

Yes, weather and schedules align tomorrow night! We'll have nice views of the moon and Jupiter at Myrtle and Lime 7-9 p.m. And you can ask me about traveling to the Faroes Islands for the total Solar Eclipse on March 20th. I just got home last night. Hint: At my location it was clouded out. I was with 500 school children and their families at a school community event. There was food, dancing and although we didn't see the total eclipse due to clouds, the sky darkened as dark as night. It was dramatic! One of my friends on the Eclipse trip, with 19 total solar eclipses under her belt, called it the most emotional eclipse she had ever witnessed. And the darkest! Around the Faroe Islands many people saw the eclipse, or saw it just before or just after totality. (My hotel staff did see it, for example, and their relatives in the next town may have missed it.) This was repeated all over the islands, who last saw a total solar eclipse in 1954! My photos here https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10206467157387364.1073741887.1522… It's a little late, but my monthly viedo (about the eclipse) is here http://go.nasa.gov/1BoRmi7 I have scenic pictures of the Faroes. Let me know if you'd like to see them! -- Jane Houston Jones Sere. enior Outreach Specialist, Cassini & InSight Missions @jhjones @CassiniSaturn @NASAInsight What's Up For March? Solar Eclipse in North Atlantic! http://go.nasa.gov/1BoRmi7

11 years, 3 months

Rain Delay or Rain Check

by Jane Houston Jones

Hope for better skies next month. Cancelled for expected precipitation. -- Jane Houston Jones (Mobile)

11 years, 4 months

Norma CoombsAlternative School to Explore the Wonders of Space

by Reggie Wilkins

Late notice but I'll be there. Reggie Sent from my HTC One on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network ----- Forwarded message ----- From: "Pasadena Unified School District" <pasadena-unified-school-district(a)emails.nixle.com> To: <docwilkins(a)charter.net> Subject: Community Message: Pasadena Unified’s Norma CoombsAlternative School to Explore the Wonders of Space Date: Fri, Feb 20, 2015 5:53 PM Message sent via Nixle | Go to nixle.com | Unsubscribe Friday February 20, 2015, 5:51 PM Pasadena Unified School District Community: Pasadena Unified’s Norma Coombs Alternative School to Explore the Wonders of Space Dear Nixle User, For Immediate Release February 20, 2015 Contact: Adam Wolfson, 626-396-3606 wolfson.adam(a)pusd.us PASADENA UNIFIED’S NORMA COOMBS ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL TO EXPLORE THE WONDERS OF SPACE Pasadena, CA—Students, families and community members are invited to look up to the sky and learn more about the universe during the inaugural Norma Coombs Alternative School (NCAS) Science Literacy Night on Monday, February 23. The star gazing and other activities will take place from 5:30 p.m.- 8 p.m. on the NCAS campus located at 2600 Paloma Street in Pasadena. Admission is free. NCAS partners leading students in hands-on demonstrations include the Caltech Community Science Academy, the Caltech Science Team, Carnegie Observatories, the Planetary Society, the Mt. Wilson Association and NCAS parents. Kids and adults will be making rocket launchers, learning the physics of video games, using 3-D printers and peering through telescopes on the school lawn to spot stars and other distant objects in space. Other activities are planned to highlight the impact of science on our lives and missions to other planets. Teachers will also have books on a variety of science-related topics in their classrooms. Food trucks will be on hand to satisfy the earthly hunger of attendees. The universe has infinite possibilities; explore them with us at Norma Coombs. What: Norma Coombs Alternative School Science Literacy Night When: Monday, February 23 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Where: Norma Coombs Alternative School, 2600 Paloma Street, Pasadena ### For full details, view this message on the web. ScienceLiteracy (Letter) (1).pdf Sent by Pasadena Unified School District 351 South Hudson Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101 To manage your email settings, click here. Powered by . © 2015 Nixle, LLC. All rights reserved.

11 years, 5 months

Sidewalk Astronomy next Saturday

by Jane Houston Jones

Weather permitting, we'll be out with telescopes in Monrovia next Saturday the 28th. Starting at about 6 p.m. for 2 -2.5 hours.... The weather scared us out of taking the 3 hour drive to Amboy Crater tonight. We'll post observing intents to go there on this list in case any of you would like to join us. Amboy Crater is BLM land, there really isn't a place to camp on the lava, but there is a huge parking lot and pit toilets. So people with telescopes often just observe all night and pack up in the morning. It's ok to leave before dawn by parking away from the telescopes - on the way out of the parking lot facing out, and careful use of car lights. We're a friendly bunch. There are closer places to observe but none with 360 degree views clear down to the horizon or located with the darkest skies. Amboy is the closest place with a "black" pin on this map: http://cleardarksky.com/csk/prov/California_map.html?Mn=meteorites . We also go to Glacier Point in Yosemite once a year - if anyone wants to combine star gazing with a Yosemite trip. More about that when we find out our date this year. But anyone can head up to Glacier point any non-full-moon weekend Jul through Labor Day and enjoy looks free looks through dozens of telescopes set up by sponsoring astronomy clubs And as a reminder our twice a year Mojave National Preserve Star parties will be on Saturday June 13th 2015 and Saturday October 17th 2015. The Black Canyon Group (near Hole in the Wall campground and the visitor center) will be available Friday night as well. Bring a pot luck item to share if you want to. After we know how many people are bringing telescopes, we can let you know if there is room for more - the telescope platform is rather small - with room for half a dozen scopes for the public star party. -- Jane Houston Jones @jhjones @CassiniSaturn @NASAInsight What's Up For February? PlanetPairs <3 http://youtu.be/NR8HCsog5MM

11 years, 5 months

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