Very shortly after sunset tonight (which is at 7:02), the International
Space Station will pass overhead, very bright.
It will begin in the southwest -- look toward the sunset, then to the
left, and pass nearly overhead to the northeast. First appearance will
be close to 7:16 p.m., and highest altitude is at 7:18 p.m.. By 7:21 it
will disappear.
At about 7:36 p.m. the shuttle will appear, but it will be a little more
westerly than the space station, and follow a different lower path. It
will be at its highest at about 7:38, and enters the earth's shadow at
7:41. By then it will probably be too low to see, but should give a
good show as it passes from southwest to northeast.
The station will be very bright, almost like an airplane, except with no
flashing lights. Satellites look like bright moving stars, and the
brightness changes as the sun angle between you and the satellite changes.
Have a look! Jane and I will try to update reports on Twitter as we're
out looking for the pass.
Mojo: http://twitter.com/mojo_la
Jane: http://twitter.com/jhjones
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la
Forwarding a great opportunity - get free E/PO products for educators on March 21st at JPL. You must register for this - there is a conference during the early part of the day and a give-away later. :-) If you are a teacher you can sign up. If you know teachers in the below school districts, please forward this to feel free to do so. I don't have any more info about this, and will be out of town from the 17th - 21st, and can't answer your questions (like what about other school districts) , but there is a contact on this email - Annie Richardson of our Earth Sciences outreach group. That is who to ask if you have questions. :-) 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
Saturnobs http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/Education/saturnobservation/
What's Up for Feb: the moon! http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=798
------ Forwarded Message
From: "Richardson, Annie H" <annie.h.richardson(a)jpl.nasa.gov>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:04:42 -0700
Conversation: EPO Products Giveaway at JPL, Saturday, March 21st, 2009
Subject: EPO Products Giveaway at JPL, Saturday, March 21st, 2009
ATTENTION: Educators in Pasadena, La Canada, and Los Angeles Unified School Districts
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory will be hosting an Earth and Space Sciences Education and Public Outreach products giveaway from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm on Saturday, March 21st, 2009 in JPL's von Karman auditorium.
Free posters, CDs, satellite images for display, bookmarks, videos, and more. Many one-of-a-kind items. Bring your reusable bags!
Pre-registration is required: http://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/epo-giveaway/
Contact: Annie.Richardson(a)jpl.nasa.gov
Feel free to forward.
--
------ End of Forwarded Message
A confluence of near clouds and and long commutes will keep us from
setting up our telescopes in Old Town Pasadena tonight, but we'll be
out in full force at Myrtle and Lime in Monrovia tomorrow night,
Saturday the 7th.
Then Sunday we go boing and "spring forward" losing an hour of early
evening darkness. Daylight Savings Time, or darkness squandering
time, as we astronomers call it, starts Sunday. The start times of
all our events will spring forward too.
Coming up are a lot of International Year of Astronomy events, a few
weeknight school star parties, and even an excursion or two to the
desert.
March 22: Super Science Sunday in Woodland Hills (I am one of the
many speakers) http://www.discoverycntr.org/pages/events/sss.htm
Two more school star parties - March 24 /Monrovia, and March
31/Hacienda Heights. If you are local and have a telescope we could
maybe use some help.
March 28: Possible (weather permitting) dark sky observing night near
Chiriaco Summitt - I-10 between Indio and Desert Center. If a 150
mile one way drive, ending on a rutted dirt road with absolutely no
facilities intrigues you, RSVP to Jane or Mojo. There are some
courtesy rules about lights - no white lights, and just let everyone
know if you need to drive away, so we just close our eyes for the
duration, and RV's and heavy trucks will get stuck in the sand and
Triple A will have to be called. There is always room for a couple
cars. http://photo.whiteoaks.com/2009-02-28-chuckwalla/index.html
March 28th - A more civilized and comfortable location for your first
dark sky observing night (with paved parking and toilets, and nearby
camping) is the Joshua Tree Star Party at Hidden Valley Picnic Area
on the same night. It's a much shorter drive! We're members of the
Yucca Valley "Andromeda Society", and occasionally some of us go to
this nice spot. But this is an excellent way to try out a dark sky
star party and meet (in the dark) some telescopes and celestial
sights, and lots of darn nice astronomers. Bring your own binoculars
or telescopes. It is a public star party so there are upwards of 100
park visitors walking around looking through the telescopes.
April 3 and 4: International Sidewalk Astronomy weekend and also the
big International Year of Astronomy "100 Hours of Astronomy" event.
If you want to do something special and you have your own telescope,
here's where to register: http://100hoursofastronomy.org/ Rather
than joining us, or in addition to joining us on one of our nights,
why not set up a telescope in your own neighborhood, and register
your event on the 100 Hours of Astronomy website!
April 5 is IYA Sun Day - I suppose we might do something solar if we
have any "solar" energy left. :-)
April 25th - Joining forces with the Southwest Herpetologists
Society, we're holding the first (annual?) Herping Star Party April
25th at Hole in the Wall Group Campsite in Mohave National Preserve.
Group campsites will be "first come first served" Day time herping
(for desert tortoises, chuckwallas, snakes and more) and night time
star gazing. So far there are about 5 tents-worth of our group
going, and I hear there are about 10 Herpetologists. :-)
All the other weekends in March and April are travel weekends for
Jane and Mojo - lots of family visits for us in the eastern and
pacific time zones.
May 2 and 3 are JPL Open House
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/open-house.cfm and May 1 and 2 will be
our May sidewalk astronomy events. That will be one busy weekend for
your sidewalk correspondent!
--
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
Cassini SOC http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
What's Up? http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html
What's Up for February? The moon! I hope you all get a chance to step
outside tonight after sunset and enjoy the beautiful view of the moon and
Venus! And just in time for the moon view, My what's Up podcast is all
about 400 years of lunar observing, as much as can be condensed into 2
minutes :-). You can find it here on the JPL website:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=818 and here on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCa0hw0z_TI&feature=channel_page
It's been a busy few weeks for sidewalk astronomy - Solar telescopes at
Arroyo Vista school last week, planet and cloud-penetrating telescopes at La
Fetra Glendale's Science Fair on Tuesday night. And four more school events
next month!
Tonight Farnsworth Park in Altadena - you are welcome to come look through
our telescopes if this is convenient 6-8 p.m. March 6 and 7 will be our
sidewalk astronomy nights. These are all up on our website with February
and March observing tips. http://www.otastro.org/
March 22nd is Super Science Sunday in Thousand Oaks - a day of science
activities, talks (I'm one of the speakers) and telescopes! Thos with
telescopes can volunteer to help out, tho it's a bit of a drive. I'd put
you in touch with the coordinators if you are interested.
http://www.discoverycntr.org/pages/events/sss.htm
See you out under the moon this month! 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
Saturnobs http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/Education/saturnobservation/
What's Up for Feb: the moon! http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=798
There is a new JPL video on the JPL website all about the
soon-to-be-launched Orbiting Carbon Observatory, a satellite which will
track vast hidden warehouses of carbon dioxide around Earth.
Earth Sciences teacher and member of our astronomy group Tom Traeger and his
students are in it! It's a great video! Check it out, and you teachers out
there can play it in your classrooms for your own students!
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/vidPlayermultimedia.swf
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
Cassini SOC http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/Education/saturnobservation/ (new)
What's Up for January http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=798 (new)
These past couple of days the Santa Ana winds have brought us clear and
very dry skies, along with very temperatures from the downslope wind.
The good transparency has made for fabulous views just after sunset of
the thin crescent moon. If you looked on Wednesday, then Thursday, you
saw the moon creep closer to bright Venus in the western sky.
It's been a few months since we were able to set up telescopes on
Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, our usual Friday night spot, but everything
is good for tonight.
We're going to try to set up at about 6:00; our two targets, the moon
and Venus, will be quickly sinking toward the western horizon. By 8:00
p.m. we're not likely to have a very good view, so it will be a short
night for us.
We'll be set up on the north side of Colorado Blvd. near Delacey,
somewhere in the two-block stretch between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Ave.
Tomorrow, Saturday, we'll have our regular Monrovia star party, again
featuring Venus and a slightly larger moon, starting at about 6:00 again.
If you can't join us, by all means look up to the west after sunset and
enjoy the great views of Venus and the crescent moon.
And one more time -- the Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers were very pleased
to be the subject of JPL's International Year of Astronomy video,
featured right here: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=804
Clear skies!
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la
I hesitate to compile local science-related lectures each month, because
there are dozens of them every month. But golly, there are so many
amazing lectures every month - by JPL, Caltech, MWOA, Carnegie
Observatories, local astronomy clubs, and more! If anyone wants to do
the research, and compile the info in a monthly email, I'd help you get
started, and authorize you to post the info to our 206-member list. We
don't post commercial or charity fund-raising type events - just free
and public science-related lectures or events.
In the next two weeks there are some notable lectures that I'll be
attending (or wishing I could attend) and I thought you'd enjoy knowing
about them.
First - this Sunday - Caltech Seismologist Kate Hutton, who is a member
of our own otastro email list will speak to MOWA (Mount Wilson
Observatory Association) on Sunday Jan 25 2:30 p.m. at Altadena Public
Library. Yes there will be refreshments, beginning at 2:00.Mojo and I
will be there. We feel bad, as sustaining MWOA members that we have
never gone to a MWOA meeting, we've even volunteered as docents, but
just can't afford the time to be more active in this very worthwhile
local observatory. http://www.mwoa.org/index.html We'll be there Sunday
to hear Kate! Jan 25 2 - 4 p.m. Altadena Public Library 600 E Mariposa
St, Altadena Kate is also a member of AAVSO - the American Association
of Variable Star Observers, and has attended our sidewalk astronomy
events. :-)
Next, MWOA newsletter editor Bob Ekland, author (and amateur astronomer)
of a fantastic astro poetry book called First Star I see Tonight
http://www.bobeklund.com/ sent me a note about an event on Monday the
26th. Don Benito Wilson: From Mountain Man to Mayor, Los Angeles. Nat B.
Read reveals the amazing tale of the “pioneer, beaver trapper and
trader, grizzly bear hunter, Indian fighter, justice of the peace,
farmer, rancher, politician, horticulturist, vintner, real estate
entrepreneur, and one of the great landholders in Southern California.”
He faced near death experiences with Indians, grizzlies, and a firing
squad. Mount Wilson was named after him. This is a story people of all
ages will want to hear! This joint presentation is sponsored by the
Altadena Historical Society and the Friends of the Altadena Library.
Monday, January 26th @ 7:30 pm, Altadena Community Center: 730 East
Altadena Drive.
Finally, Discover Magazine, National Science Foundation and Caltech's
Thirty Meter Telescope present Mysteries of the Cosmos. January 30 7
p.m. Beckman Auditorium, California Institute of Technology. RSVP to
cpe(a)caltech.edu. Leading experts including planet hunter Mike Brown of
Caltech and dark energy guru Saul Perlmutter of Lawrence Berkeley
Laboratory who will debate the most compelling issues in astronomy
today: How do Black Holes affect the evolution of the universe. This
event will be moderated by Bad Astronomy's Phil Plait - another friend
of ours, since we seem to be name dropping in this email. Although this
is our Pasadena Sidewalk astronomy night, I am checking to see if they'd
like a few telescopes out for this event. If not we'll probably be
nearby at our usual Colorado Blvd Sidewalk event.Or not!
Clear skies to you all. I just updated my Saturn Viewing in 2009 webpage
for JPL http://www.mwoa.org/index.html andjust looked on the JPL website
to see what was the hot news. Darn it if our Monrovia Sidewalk Astronomy
Night video isn't on the front page of JPL right now! Wow!
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ (shameless plug)
updates on local sidewalk astronomy events here: http://www.otastro.org/
dates here
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
What's Up Podcast: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/janehoustonjones
Hi everyone!
Some of you were at our last Monrovia star party, which was filmed by a JPL
film crew. Just in time for the film award season (darn it, we missed the
Golden Globes I'm afraid) here it is!
It shows the joy of conducting a local star party, and I hope you enjoy it -
you might even see yourself in the video!
Its available in HD and Standard Definition, and there is a written
transcript too. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm?id=804
Mojo put it on our Otastro website, too. http://www.otastro.org/
You Tube version: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews&view=videos
NASAs International Year of Astronomy "Go Observe" sub-section for January
2009 is all about Venus, with lots of resources and good articles, including
my January What's Up podcast about Venus - a link on the right side bar.
You might enjoy reading the article about Venus or use some of the
educational materials. http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/observe.htm
Next sidewalk events are Jan 30 Pasadena, January 31 Monrovia. Hope to see
you then! Weather permitting, of course! Happy new year to everyone and
happy birthday to Mojo January 18 (and happy anniversary Jane and Mojo
January 15)
--
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
Cassini SOC http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/Education/saturnobservation/ (new)
What's Up? http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html
(new)
Monrovia is clouded over tonight. We'll have to try again on January 30
and 31 when we'll have a crescent moon in the sky. Stay tuned 'til then!
Cheers,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
