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Sidewalk Astronomy, Dark Sky October trip, Shuttle flyover Friday

by Jane Houston Jones

This Saturday night is International Observe the Moon night -- a kind of an annual worldwide group hug -- around the moon! Saturday the 22nd 7:00 p.m. Myrtle and Lime Library Park corner. If the construction near the fallen tree on the corner blocks some of our area, we may move further down Lime Street but still within Library Park. Friday Night Pasadena, TBA Friday depending on work, shuttle flyover logistics. Other events on this map: We'll be distributing a moon viewing chart I made, and which you can see or download here if you won't be able to make it: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=1304 October 13 is the fall Mojave National Park Star party. Held in Black Canyon Group Campground near the middle of the park. *RSVP with David Lamfrom at dlamfrom(a)npca.org or 760-219-4916*. Allow time to arrive well before dark, bring something to share to the potluck at 6 p.m, breakfast on your own. Viewing begins at twilight. Details on this flyer: http://mojavepreserve.org/index.php/site/article/star_party_in_the_mjave_na… Park map w/directions http://www.nps.gov/moja/planyourvisit/directions.htm The Shuttle Endeavour begins its final flight from Kennedy Space Center Wednesday morning at 7:15 a.m. It will tour the space coast, land in TX near Johnson Space Center Wednesday, then take off for California on Thursday, arriving at Edwards/Dryden in the late afternoon/evening Thursday. Friday morning, it will take off, fly over Palmdale, Lancaster, Rosamond and Mojave before heading north to Sacramento. There, Endeavour will fly over the Capitol and turn to San Francisco, where those hoping to catch a glimpse of the shuttle are advised to watch from one of several Bay Area museums, including the Chabot Space and Science Center, the Exploratorium, the Bay Area Discovery Museum, the Lawrence Hall of Science and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Once the shuttle reaches the Los Angeles area about 10:30 a.m., the orbiter will be carried over landmarks including the Getty Center, the Griffith Observatory, Malibu and Disneyland before landing at Los Angeles International Airport. It will also fly over the California Science Center in Exposition Park, its new permanent home. (above details from LA Times blog, so more details about the LA portion of the trip) Plans can change, so I suggest you check the local news, the LA Times blog http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/ KPCC Blog http://www.scpr.org/blogs/news for latest southern Cal details Weds - Friday. Finally (whew) if you have not watched the Yosemite Nature Notes "Night Skies" video here it is, along with the others in the fabulous series. Over 100k views and counting - it's turned out to be quite popular! http://www.youtube.com/user/yosemitenationalpark?feature=watch (video 1 and 2 on the list are the same Night Sky video, different screen formats only) Have a great week and weekend, and hope to see you at one or the other of these astronomical places, Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA http://jane.whiteoaks.com/ http://twitter.com/jhjones What's Up for Sept video: Int'l Observe-Wink at the Moon Night http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews Yosemite Night Skies Video http://www.youtube.com/user/yosemitenationalpark?feature=watch

13 years, 10 months

Tonight at 8:30 pm, Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers Honor Neil Armstrong

by Jane Houston Jones

We'll have a moment of silence, or rather, as Neil Armstrong's family has asked for, a wink at the moon ( #winkatthemoon twitter hashtag if you are on Twitter) moment at 8:30 p.m. tonight at Monrovia's Library Park. No telescope required if you are at home, but all the OTAstro telescopes will be aimed at the moon tonight at our usual once-a-month moon viewing night. If you can't make it out to our moon viewing event, join a local group, or look up from wherever you are. Gaze at the moon, zero in on the Sea of Tranquility even with your naked eyes and honor a true American hero, Neil Armstrong, who died today. (August 5, 1930 - August 25, 2011) Here is where to look: Green triangle, Apollo 11, halfway between center right edge and center of moon.) http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=804. I was in high school, on a family trip to Mexico on the day Neil Armstrong put the first footprint on the moon. I'll never forget it! Share your own stories with us tonight, or with your friends and family as you look up and wink at the moon. -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA What's Up Podcast for August: Mars as Curiosity lands, Perseids On Youtube: http://is.gd/kPUtSx Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones /CassiniSaturn /otastro My Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

13 years, 11 months

Friday stargazing cancelled, Saturday on!

by Jane Houston Jones

Sorry stargazers, but Friday sidewalk astronomy in Pasadena is cancelled, but weather permitting, we'll be out in force in Monrovia Saturday night! See you then! -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA What's Up Podcast for August: Mars as Curiosity lands, Perseids On Youtube: http://is.gd/kPUtSx Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones /CassiniSaturn /otastro My Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

13 years, 11 months

Sidewalk Astronomy this weekend!

by Jane Houston Jones

Here's what happened this month, and What's Up next :-) August: August 5th, while Mars shined in the western sky, NASA's Rover Curiosity landed on the red planet. All month long Mars, Saturn, Spica and the moon have been forming into geometric designs. On the 21st, a diamond with the moon below. On the 22nd, a straight line recalling a baseball diamond with the moon in left field, Mars at third base, Spica at home plate. Saturn just stole first base. We had an interesting planetary lineup on August 12, when the Earth plowed into the wide cometary debris cloud from comet Swift-Tuttle. You could have seen Perseids from July 17th through August 24th. We saw plenty on August 10th and 11th from the Glacier Point Star Party! Dozens of shooting stars well before midnight thrilled hundreds of park guests, when they weren't looking through telescopes. Then on the 13th, a daytime occultation of Venus by the foreground object, our moon. I watched from work, snapped a few naked eye pictures, here's my writeup http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2012/08/18/venus-kissed-the-moon-a-daytime-occult… . Sidewalk astronomy this weekend will probably just be the moon. With a chance at Mars and Saturn, trees and buildings notwithstanding. Aug 24th in Pasadena on Colorado Blvd between Pasadena and Fair Oaks Avenues, where ever we find parking. August 25th in Monrovia at Library Park. September 15 would be our dark sky getaway night this month - if you are interested (weather and heat depending) send me an email. We typically drive 150+ miles one way to Amboy Crater (south of Mojave National Preserve) to avoid light pollution. You won't believe the Milky Way from a dark site. This isn't a camping site, but a paved parking lot next to the crater, with pit toilets, picnoc tables and a great morning hike. If it's too hot we probably won't go. September: International Observe the Moon Night is our regular sidewalk Astronomy night event Saturday September 22nd, so join us as we join astronomers around the world sharing moon views! Friday the 21st is our Pasadena night. Other than that, planets at dawn - a gorgeous Moon and very close Jupiter on September 8th. Venus is lovely in the 3 hours before dawn. And another pretty evening conjunction will find Mars and the moon close together at Sunset on the 19. For those interested in buying a telescope, the annual Pacific Astronomy and Telescope Show http://www.rtmcastronomyexpo.org/pats/index.php/ happens in Pasadena September 22 and 23. You can buy PATS tickets in person at the box office on the day of the event ($20) or in advance. You can also mail payment along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Call for details: (626) 449-7360. Heads up for October, our twice-a-year Mojave national Preserve Star Party is scheduled for October 12 and 13. Although the event is not on the MNP conservancy website the last two star parties info is there. The Star Party is Free, with free campsite, but you do need to RSVP to hold a campsite (it's a huge area at Black Canyon Group Campsite, with room for quite a few tents) RSVP with David Lamfrom at dlamfrom(a)npca.org or 760-219-4916 -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA http://jane.whiteoaks.com/ http://twitter.com/jhjones What's Up for August video: Mars as Curiosity lands, Perseids http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews

13 years, 11 months

Sidewalk Astronomy this weekend!

by Jane Houston Jones

We should have great views of the moon this weekend and a pretty triangle comprised of Mars, Saturn and Spica about 30 degrees above the horizon. Tonight we'll be in Old Town Pasadena, somewhere between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Avenues - we set up where ever we find a parking spot. We'll be there from about 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 or maybe a little later. We don't make it to Pasadena as often as we'd like to so we are looking forward to tonight! Saturday night Myrtle and Lime Streets in Monrovia - our regular spot where we've been serving up views of the solar system once a month since early 2004. In a little more than a week, Mars gets another visitor. On Sunday night at 10:31 p.m. Pacific Time, the Mars Science Laboratory mission's rover named Curiosity lands on the red planet! Tonight at 8 p.m. the landing site will be right smack in the middle of the planet. We might be able to see the dark mark indicating Syrtis Major tonight, even tho' Mars is so very far away, over 150 million miles from Earth, and not much more than a smudge through the telescope. Nevertheless, we're looking right at Gale Crater, the soon-to-be home of Curiosity. If you are interested in following the mission and landing events here's a couple resources for you: My own Mars viewing tips pages with a downloadable flyer (at the bottom of the page) for your own viewing/sharing pleasure is online already. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=1224 Our NASA Mars Curiosity Landing Toolkit, with videos, news, images, where to watch landing, etc is here: We update this page every day! http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/msl_landing.cfm And my August What's Up podcast about Mars and the Perseid meteor shower should be available next Wednesday (I hope) Speaking of the Perseids, Mojo and I will be with other members of the San Jose Astronomical Society at Glacier Point/Yosemite August 10 and 11. Each summer weekend (but not full moon weekends) thru Labor Day brings a different Northern CA astro club to Yosemite for free star parties. We kept our memberships in several of our Northern California clubs when we moved south in 2003, mostly so we could attend these events with our telescopes. It's a membership perk! Mojo will give his Milky Way talk both nights, and all the park visitors look through an array of 20+ telescopes, and have a guaranteed perfect Perseid viewing opportunity both nights, with the peak on Saturday night. If you come, bring layers, a blanket, and hydration for the altitude. Plan to stay until well past midnight sitting/lying on the granite steps at the amphitheatre to enjoy the Perseids with us. Finally, if you haven't seen Mojo's lovely astrophotography featured in my July 2012 What's Up video, here it is - it still July, after all. YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjCT53Lm1Kk Other formats and transcripts: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=1204 Hope to see you out under the clear skies tonight, or to encourage you to look up from your own location, or take your telescope out in your own neighborhood. The one and only Sidewalk Astronomers agenda is to share the skies through telescopes, with you. Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA What's Up Podcast for July: Milky Way, Mars and Saturn On Youtube: http://is.gd/kPUtSx Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones /CassiniSaturn /otastro My Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

13 years, 11 months

Relay for Life, Eclipses, Transit

by Jane Houston Jones

Tonight Mojo and I will be at Recreation Park for Monrovia's Relay for Life - our local annual American Cancer Society 24 hour walk-a-thon fundraiser. Others from our group will be at Myrtle and Lime from 8 - 9:30 tonight. Walk with us, or look up at the moon, Mars and Saturn as other walk tonight Saturday, June 2 at Monrovia's Relay for Life event at Monrovia Recreation Park, 620 South Shamrock Ave. Please join us (look for telescopes along the walk Saturday night from about 7:30-9:30p.m. as our community fights cancer. http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=36809 . It's a great night for stargazing tonight! In other news (sorry we haven't written much, both working super long hours for the last month) May 19 was our semi annual Mojave National Preserve Dark Sky Star party. It was great to see some of you from our list there! Mojo and I got up early Sunday and drove to Mesquite, NV to see the annular "ring of fire" eclipse of the sun and will get up at 3 am Monday morning June 4 for the partial lunar eclipse, weather permitting. Did you know eclipses of the sun and moon always come in groups. A solar eclipse is always accompanied by a lunar eclipse <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47648602/ns/technology_and_science-space/#>two weeks before or after it, since over those two weeks the moon travels halfway around in its orbit and is likely to form another almost straight line with the Earth and sun. If the solar eclipse is a "central" one --- that is, either total or annular --- the lunar eclipse is likely to be one where the moon will only partially interact with the shadow of the Earth. On June 5th 3 p.m. to sunset, witness a rare Transit of Venus - the next one will be in 2117, so don't miss it. Safe solar filters on your telescope, #14 welders glass or pinhole projection are required to view the sun. My podcast *should* be available Monday at the below websites - it's all about the transit, naturally! -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA http://jane.whiteoaks.com/ http://twitter.com/jhjones What's Up for May video: Sunspots and a solar eclipse http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews

14 years, 1 month

Sidewalk Astronomy this weekend

by Morris Jones

Tonight instead of Old Town Pasadena, our group is doing an event for scouts. Don't look for us on Colorado Blvd.! Look for us Saturday evening in Old Town Monrovia, at the corner of Myrtle and Lime. We'll be there from 7:30 - 9:30. If you come early, we'll have an interesting view of a crescent Venus. If you come late, Saturn might be peeking above the trees. Meanwhile Mars is almost overhead at sunset, but moving quickly away from Earth and growing quite small. Hope you can visit! Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://whiteoaks.com

14 years, 2 months

Rain tonight, no sidewalk astronomy

by Morris Jones

With "mostly cloudy" and a 40% chance of showers, we'll have to abandon any hope of doing astronomy this evening. We'll try again next month. Hope you all got to enjoy the Venus / Jupiter / Moon show in the evenings over the past week! Here's a little astronomy from Jane on the April edition of What's Up from JPL: http://youtu.be/nJSOTMm8wiQ Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://whiteoaks.com

14 years, 3 months

March skies - plenty to look at

by Jane Houston Jones

If you are not quite sure which of those stars is Mars, or where to look for swift Mercury, or your smart phone with Google Sky has a dead battery, then this month's What's Up podcast will help you out. It'll also show you why some Mars Oppositions are closer than others and provide some moon-near-planets or planets-near-planets guideposts. This month I added some downloadable planet finding charts, a calendar, and a Mars Opposition graphic. You can find all these on the Solar System Exploration website here right below the video formats. http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=1124 Good dates to catch a planet (or two) * March 3 is Mars Opposition. It'll rise at sunset, set near dawn, and you'll have good views for many months! * March 5 Mercury below Jupiter and Venus (its highest altitude) * March 7 Moon and Mars * March 12 and 13, Venus passes Jupiter (watch them switch places over the next two weeks - Venus is the brighter of the two) * March 25 Moon next to Jupiter * March 26 Moon next to Venus We'll have 2 telescopes out on busy Colorado Blvd, weather permitting tomorrow night (Saturday March 3, since we were weathered out last Friday night) Look for our man-sized telescopes somewhere along Colorado between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Avenues, where we find a curbside parking spot. Stop by and have a look at Jupiter, the moon, and Venus, and we'll point out Mars (at opposition) to you. Mark your calendar for May 19 - we'll hold a public star party in Mojave National Preserve's Black Canyon Group Campsite on that night. Free camping, RSVP required. Dark skies - darker than you've ever seen, I bet. Let us know if you are interested, we'll get you the directions and who to call for a campsite RSVP - potluck dinner before dark, lots of rangers, interpretive staff attend. Great event! This weekend is an interesting Mars in the Mojave Festival (March 9-12) at Death Valley National Park http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/events/2012/03-09-2012_mars-and-the-mojave… We may be there for a few of the events (hikes, great talks and panel discussions) -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA http://jane.whiteoaks.com/ http://twitter.com/jhjones What's Up For March: Amazing planetary views all month http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews

14 years, 4 months

Oops, and sidewalk astronomy

by Morris Jones

I made a mistake regarding Friday night astronomy in Old Town Pasadena. The moon is going to set much too early for it to be a real sidewalk astronomy night. So instead we'll do Pasadena on Saturday night, March 3. Monrovia should be good on Saturday evening with a slim crescent moon and Venus and Jupiter putting on a show. Watch those two along with the moon for the next few evenings as they put on a great sky show. Later in the evening (about 8:30) you can "connect the dots" to the opposite side of the sky and see very bright pumpkin-colored Mars rising in the east. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://whiteoaks.com

14 years, 4 months

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