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by Jane Houston Jones

As our member David posted on Facebook yesterday: We hope you got up early to see the planet alignment. This iPhone shot is from up on Mt. Wilson on 6/23, showing an over-exposed Moon, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn; followed by the dome for the 60-inch telescope. While we only really have the Moon to view (and perhaps a few double stars or bright "deep sky" objects), we will be on the sidewalk at Myrtle & Lime this Saturday, starting about 8 pm. We hope to see you there! Be like Dave,and come see the moon from the sidewalk, with the Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers. And here is the July What's Up video from NASA - still going strong since April 2007! https://youtu.be/upFsgDxgV70 Jane and the Sidewalk Astronomers -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

3 years, 6 months

Bonus ISS pass during tonight's lunar eclipse!

by Jane Houston Jones

Bonus! There's a 7 minute ISS pass to enjoy while you step out to see the eclipse tonight. Highest at 8:26 p.m. 90° above the horizon -- straight overhead. Time: Sun May 15 8:23 PM, Visible: 7 min, Max Height: 90°, Appears: 10° above the SW horizon, Disappears: 10° above the NE horizon. Enjoy! As a reminder, here is a short timeline for us Pacific Time Zone folks so you can step out and look up! *Partial eclipse begins* May 15 (7:27 p.m. PDT on May 15). Note sunset is at 7:47 p.m. tonight *Totality begins* (moon engulfed in Earth’s shadow) (8:29 p.m. PDT) *Totality ends* May 15 (9:53 p.m. PDT) *Partial eclipse ends* May 15 (10:55 p.m. PDT) *Penumbral eclipse ends* May 15 (11:50 p.m. PDT). *Duration of totality:* About 90 minutes. Time and Date has a great graphic! https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2022-may-16 Here's JPL's What's Up video for May, which talks about the lunar eclipse: https://youtu.be/1Bn349KyGzE Have fun and let me know if you have a great view!! Jane and the sidewalk astronomers :-) -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

3 years, 8 months

Lunar eclipse Sunday night May 15

by Jane Houston Jones

Eyes up! We have a really convenient local total lunar eclipse Sunday night May 15th after sunset until about 10 p.m., visible for those of us with clear skies and good eastern horizons. Here is the best link for times and details for where ever you are. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2022-may-16. Check it out and set it for your times, other than LA locals. Your sidewalk astronomers will not be at Library Park, but if you are there in the park for the Monrovia Days https://www.monroviadays.org/- celebrating the 136th anniversary of our beloved town, look toward the eastern horizon after sunset, opposite the sunset -- and look for moonrise after 8:30 p.m. Eclipses are easily visible with your unaided eyes and binoculars, from home or anywhere, no telescope or crowds are necessary. Locally, the total eclipse begins when the moon is below our horizon *before sunset* on Sunday the 15th. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/los-angeles Start looking East near sunset 8:30 p.m. (and you'll be looking to the east *on the horizon*, opposite the sunset). Closer to 9pm the maximum eclipse begins, where the entire moon should be visible, and should appear reddish. So a view of the eastern horizon is needed early, which we wouldn't have at Library Park anyway. Between 9:11 p.m. and 10:55 p.m and later you should have a great view, higher in the eastern sky - an awesome view, and I want to see your images, if you get some! Why not find a nice stable spot near a fence in your yard or deck to stablilize your cell phone, and take cell phone photos every 20 minutes or so? The timetable for the eclipse is: 8:29 pm Total eclipse begins 9:11 pm Maximum eclipse begins 9:53 pm Maximum eclipse ends 10:55 pm Partial eclipse ends Some great links: What's Up from NASA: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/home/ https://www.space.com/33786-lunar-eclipse-guide.html -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

3 years, 8 months

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight!!

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone, we will have a couple telescopes out at Monrovia's Library Park tonight, March 12 starting at abut 6:30 p.m. In addition to the moon, another target will be the Pleiades Star Cluster (aka "The Seven Sisters", Messier 45, and Subaru, and many other names). I'm sure you all will be on the lookout for the Subaru auto emblem now. :-) The Pleiades are a beautiful open cluster visible with the unaided eye, in binoculars in addition to telescopes. No planets tonight, you have to get up early to see Venus, Saturn and Mars forming a triangle low in the SE sky. The crescent moon joins the trio on the 23rd. This month's What's Up podcast shows when and where to look for these objects and also shows you where to find the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters using Orion's belt as a pointer. https://youtu.be/_uBdv1IOqZo That's all for now! Jane and the Sidewalk Astronomers -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

3 years, 10 months

no sidewalk astro tonight but naked eye visible ISS pass 6:40 tonight

by Jane Houston Jones

We'll try again in March! Sorry. But tonight for those sort of near Monrovia, There is an ISS pass beginning at 6:40 p.m. Pacific Time: Sat Feb 05 6:40 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 46°, Appears: 10° above WNW, Disappears: 13° above SSE Just step out and start looking with your eyes WNW. At its peak 46° above the horizon, which is about halfway to the zenith (overhead). Then sinks toward the SSE. If you are not sure if you are sort of near Monrovia CA (a couple hundred mile radius) check out or sign up for customized *alert* from https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/. *Alert *- there's a decent Wordle word, not that I'm playing every day. :-/ https://www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/ :-) As always, there is plenty of star news to learn about this month. Here"s NASA's What's Up! I love where Preston Dyches has taken it! https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/whats-up-february-2022 Space dot com -> https://www.space.com/33974-best-night-sky-events.html Astronomy Magazine https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at… Sky and Telescope https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/observing-news/this-weeks-sky-at… Lots of free stargazing APPS too. Let me know your favorite sources of stargazing tips and I'll include them. Jane and your Oldtown Sidewalk Astronomers http://otastro.org/ -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

3 years, 12 months

No sidewalk astronomy tonight, we'll try again next month!

by Jane Houston Jones

We tentatively scheduled sidewalk astronomy for tonight, but will try again next month on February 5th or the 11th instead. There's lots of great space news, and I've added two interesting topics that are great citizen science projects, or just interesting reading topics: Meteors and variable stars! For your astronomy update, how about that JamesWebb Telescope? Lots of amazing coverage, graphics and more here: https://www.jwst.nasa.gov/ International Meteor Organization has great monthly articles, and more! https://www.imo.net/ AAVSO - The American Association of Variable Star Observers has interesting articles on interesting stars, and observing campaigns. https://www.aavso.org/ And the long running :-) monthly stargazing video is right here every month!! What's Up for January? Lots, plus great skywatching content from my old stomping grounds <3 https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/home/ That's all for this month from Jane and the Old Town sidewalk astronomers. -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

4 years

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight!

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone, The weather prospects look good for tonight, so the Sidewalk Astronomers plan to be out on the corner of Myrtle & Lime (Saturday 12/11) starting at 5 pm and continuing until at least 7 pm (possibly later). Likely objects include the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, and in the early evening, the crescent Venus. Here are a few helpful astronomy links: Astronomy Magazine "The Sky this week" https://astronomy.com/observing/sky-this-week/2021/12/the-sky-this-week-fro… Sky and Telescope "The Sky this week" https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-decem… Astronomy Magazine "Comet Leonard: View 2021’s best comet"https://astronomy.com/news/observing/2021/12/comet-leonard-view-2021s-best-… NASA What's Up and Skywatching tips https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/home/ That's all for now! Jane and the sidewalk astronomers -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

4 years, 1 month

ISS pass tonight5:5:56 pm (thank you , SoCal fog)

by Jane Houston Jones

To add insult to injury tonight, there is an ISS pass at 5:56 p.m. Pacific (Southern California only). It will appear 10° above SW horizon. Visible for 5 minutes, it disappears 26° above NE horizon. Maximum height is 79°. You can get your own ISS alerts here, by signing up at NASA's Spot The Station website. https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ Another fun and free tool is Heavens Above, a website/App where you can find flyover data on many additional satellites, and check after the fact to verify something you saw. https://www.heavens-above.com/ A final astronomers resource for both light pollution data and cloud cover is the Clear Sky Chart. Here is the list of the many California charts, so you can see if your particular area will be more cloudy or less cloudy tonight or anytime. https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/prov/California_charts.html. Click on a category such as "Cloud Cover" to get a great explanation. You might find it useful to check out sky conditions when you'll be traveling, vacationing. You might even find a great dark sky location or astronomy club you didn't know about! There are hundreds of charts for each state in the US, all the Canadian provinces, Mexico and even the Bahamas.:-) https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/index.html#chart_list Our forecast is still for marine layer tonight, but I'll be out hoping to catch some ISS views early and Eclipse views later. Let me know if you luck out. -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

4 years, 2 months

Look up! Partial Lunar Eclipse Nov 18-19 (Thursday night Friday morning)

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone, there's a fantastic partial lunar eclipse that begins at 11:18 p.m. Pacific tomorrow night! It will reach its partial maximum (just barely not total) maximum two hours later at 1:02 am Friday morning and the partial eclipse ends at 3:47 am. An hour before and after this span is the subtle and fainter penumbral eclipse, when Earth's penumbral shadow starts touching the Moon's face. It looks like we will have some cloud cover here in the LA area, but hopefully, not enough to stop you from staying up or setting your alarm to step outside to view, sketch or photograph some part of the eclipse. You can find more info, and can switch locations outside southern CA here. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/los-angeles Your sidewalk astronomers will not be out on the corner this late at night, but we'll be hopefully enjoying the eclipse at home just like you! This eclipse will look very much like the (most recent) May 2021 total lunar eclipse - view it here if you want to see how close to full tomorrow's partial eclipse is - it is a great comparison. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2021-may-26. Hopefully you'll be able to notice (tomorrow night) the lower edge of the moon remains much brighter than the deep red or ochre hue we can expect across the rest of the moon's face, as shown below. Tips from astronomer David: "You can view the lunar eclipse with your bare eyes or a pair of binoculars from anyplace where the Moon is visible. Unlike a solar eclipse, no precautions are needed, just find the Moon shortly before the eclipse starts, and enjoy the show! It will be most apparent that something is happening between 11:15 PM to 2:45 AM" For those not in our time zone, find your location, maps and tips here: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2021-november-19 Time and date - watch the whole animation here https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/los-angeles?iso=20211119 video on timeanddate.com Eclipse images Total Lunar Eclipse montage courtesy of David Hasenauer Here are a few of my favorite resources: NASA: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/lunar-phases-and-eclipses/ What's Up: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/home/ Jane and the Old Town Sidewalk Astronmers -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

4 years, 2 months

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight Nov 13 5:45 - 8:30 p.m.

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone! We'll have a few of our sidewalk astronomers out tonight at Monrovia's Library Park from 5:45 - 8:30 p.m. On display (as you may have noticed lately), will be the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. Venus may be visible low in the west right after sunset. There's a nice graphic of tonight's sky our astronomer Gary created, and I posted it on twitter here https://twitter.com/otastro We've been getting a lot of requests from schools and community groups for astronomers/events. Let us help you select your date, and give us two months (preferably) lead time , to planso we don't end up with too many events for our small group of astronomers all in the same week. Thanks, Jane and the rest of the Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers. PS This month's NASA What's Up podcast is here :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzeK4TcOSPU -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

4 years, 2 months

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