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What's Up for January? Venus! + Sidewalk Astronomy January 3

by Jones, Jane H

Our January 2009 Sidewalk Astronomy night will be Saturday January 3rd in Monrovia, weather permitting. We'll skip Pasadena on January 2nd due to the proximity of our observing location to Rose Parade route and cleanup, not to mention New Years Eve and Day events and recovery from same. We'll be set up from 6 - 9 p.m. Saturday night. If you wish to join us with your new (or never used) telescope drop us a line ahead of time so we can arrange to meet you earlier for setup. It's not easy to do a new scope setup after dark with a crowd nearby..... Each month during 2009 we'll be celebrating International Year of Astronomy in my 2-minute What's Up podcasts. January 2009 is all about Venus, the featured NASA IYA Celestial object. Here is where you can find the podcast on the JPL site: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm It is also available on You Tube in 2 formats - which are easy to download if you have a slower connection (according to my parents) http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=JPLnews&p=r&page=1 Here is the NASA IYA website: http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/observe.htm (What's Up isn't there quite yet) Don't forget to have a look at Saturn on New Years Eve! That was the December 2008 What's Up topic, available on both JPL and You Tube, or simplify and get it directly to your iPod via iTunes. :-) Thanks for a great year of public astronomy - we do this to share the wonders of the night sky with you! Jane, Mojo, Dave, Todd K, Caroline, Gary, Elizabeth, Catherine, Tom, Daphne, Katherine, Becky, Todd B, Scott, Ed and Roseann - your Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org/astronomers/ 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

17 years, 6 months

Bad weather tonight

by Morris Jones

Clouds are rolling into Monrovia tonight, but we plan to make an effort to do a little bit of moon viewing. The moon is our only viable target tonight -- Jupiter and Venus are likely to be below the local buildings. Even if we get some views of the moon, they'll probably be through a layer of thin clouds. We'll try to start early, about 5:00, to have our best chance of getting in a few looks before the clouds get too thick. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la

17 years, 7 months

December 2008 What's Up video is now available, weekend star parties planned

by Jones, Jane H

Hi everyone, I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful moon and planet conjunction over the past few nights! We were lucky to have clear skies on Sunday and Monday nights! My December's What's Up Podcast is available in several standard and high definition formats on the JPL HD Video page now. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/index.cfm Also on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=JPLnews&p=r&page=1 Next Sidewalk Astronomy event reminder: Friday night Dec 5th instead of telescopes on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, I'll be at Farnsworth Park in Altadena from 6-8 p.m. The address is 568 East Mount Curve Avenue, Altadena, CA 91001 626-798-6335. I'm doing a short JPL talk, followed by stargazing at the park's outdoor theatre. John Sepikas from PCC will be joining me with telescopes. Saturday night Dec 6th our whole Sidewalk Astronomers gang will be in Monrovia, Myrtle and Lime Streets for our monthly first quarter moon star party. 5:30 -8:30 p.m. (maybe a little later) Hope to see you at one or the other of these events, 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 Cassini SOC http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm What's Up? http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html

17 years, 7 months

Sidewalk date clarification

by Jane Houston Jones

The sidewalk dates are December 5th and 6th, just to clarify... Step outside at dusk on November 29th and try to see the slender crescent moon below and to the right of the pair of planets. If you don't see the moon on the 29th, try again on the 30th when the moon will be larger and easier to see just a little below the two planets. Jupiter is larger, but Venus is brighter because it is closer to the Sun. On December 1st, you'll see that the moon is now above Jupiter and Venus. Throughout December Venus rises higher in the sky while Jupiter sinks toward the horizon. We won't see the king of the planets again in the early evening sky until next summer. Star charts courtesy of NASA/JPL. Next weekend is our sidewalk astronomy weekend. We'll be changing the venue Friday night Dec 5th- moving from Old Town Pasadena, our usual location, to Farnsworth Park in Altadena. We'll be sharing the telescope stage with John Sepikas from PCC's Astronomy Department on Friday night from 6-8 p.m. Farnsworth Park is located at 568 E. Mount Curve Ave., Altadena, 91001, (626) 798-6335. Weather permitting, of course. Saturday night December 6th we'll be out in full force in Monrovia 6-9 p.m. Myrtle and Lime Streets. Hope to see you! This will be a great night to see many types of telescopes, ask questions, find out how much the different telescopes cost, and drop telescope and accessory hints to Santa. :-) Enjoy this weekend's planetary lineup and see you next weekend! Jane and Mojo -- 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

17 years, 7 months

Jupiter, Venus and the moon

by Jane Houston Jones

The last weekend of both November and December will be fantastic times to see the solar system from your own backyard. Step outside at dusk on November 29th and try to see the slender crescent moon below and to the right of the pair of planets. If you don't see the moon on the 29th, try again on the 30th when the moon will be larger and easier to see just a little below the two planets. Jupiter is larger, but Venus is brighter because it is closer to the Sun. On December 1st, you'll see that the moon is now above Jupiter and Venus. Throughout December Venus rises higher in the sky while Jupiter sinks toward the horizon. We won't see the king of the planets again in the early evening sky until next summer. Star charts courtesy of NASA/JPL. Next weekend is our sidewalk astronomy weekend. We'll be changing the venue Friday night - moving from Old Town Pasadena, our usual location, to Farnsworth Park in Altadena. We'll be sharing the telescope stage with John Sepikas from PCC's Astronomy Department on Friday night from 6-8 p.m. Farnsworth Park is located at 568 E. Mount Curve Ave., Altadena, 91001, (626) 798-6335. Weather permitting, of course. Saturday night we'll be out in full force in Monrovia 6-9 p.m. Myrtle and Lime Streets. Hope to see you! This will be a great night to see many types of telescopes, ask questions, find out how much the different telescopes cost, and drop telescope and accessory hints to Santa. :-) Enjoy this weekend's planetary lineup and see you next weekend! Jane and Mojo -- 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

17 years, 7 months

No sidewalk astronomy tonight in Pasadena, yes tomorrow in Monrovia

by Morris Jones

Unfortunately work and family affairs are conspiring to keep Jane and me off of Colorado Blvd. tonight, but tomorrow we'll be in Library Park in Monrovia to show the first-quarter moon and Jupiter. Jupiter and Venus have been inching closer to each other in the sky. You can have fun telling your friends that the bright one low in the southwest after sunset is Venus, and the one above it to the left is Jupiter. :) Cheers, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la

17 years, 8 months

Vandenberg AFB rocket launch tonight

by Morris Jones

Vandenberg Air Force Base will be launching a Delta II rocket tonight carrying the COSMO-SkyMed 3 earth observation satellite. The Delta II rockets climb fairly slowly and fly towards the south, so if the sky is clear and the launch goes well, we could have quite a show in L.A. county. Launch time is tonight at 7:28:21 p.m. with a launch window of 1 second (!). So either it goes or it doesn't. I would watch for the next ten or fifteen minutes after launch time, looking more or less to the south west. Sunset is at about 6:07 p.m., so it's possible that the rocket will not be visible until it climbs out of earth's shadow into the sunlight. Or it may show a fairly bright exhaust plume during the ascent. It sounds to me like a potentially good show, worth looking for. Cheers, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la

17 years, 9 months

Hubble Telescope pass tonight (Monday Oct 20)

by Jones, Jane H

I wouldn't normally post an announcement about when and where to look for the Hubble Telescope during its Southern California passes, since it's not as bright as the space station or shuttle, and therefore a challenge to see. But Hubble is in the news right now because it has a command and data computer glitch. A repair mission to the 18-year old telescope has been delayed until early 2009 to assess this new problem. The Hubble Telescope is visible in our skies tonight! I plan to give it a try from light polluted Monrovia. Sunset is at 6:11 p.m. At 6:45 p.m. Hubble rises above the WSW horizon, and reaches 10 degrees above the horizon at 6:48 p.m. Between 6:48 and 6:55 Hubble will slowly pass just above Venus, and then above Jupiter, and will disappear from our view when it enters the Earth's shadow in the ESE at 6:55 p.m.It will look like a faint slowly moving "star, much fainter than the larger the Space Station. The brightness magnitude is 2.7, which is near the brightness of the stars you'll see near Jupiter - the stars of Sagittarius. Venus and Jupiter are much much brighter. There are other good passes this week. You can find them, and customize Heaven's Above for your own location using the link below: Helpful websites: Heaven's Above (satellite pass information and charts customized to your location) http://www.heavens-above.com/ US Naval Observatory's Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day (sunrise, set, moonrise, set) http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php Hubble's Command and Data computer glitch http://hubblesite.org/command_and_data_computer_glitch/ 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

17 years, 9 months

What's Up for October? Lots!

by Jones, Jane H

Hi everyone, My October What's Up Podcast is all about Tricks and Treats. Tricky objects to spy in the morning sky, balanced by celestial treats just after sunset! You can find my What's Up podcasts in several convenient places: On You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO-SbkCMMi0 Subscribe and get them on itunes (for free, of course) http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html And the podcasts are also on the JPL website, right on the main page today, along with exciting articles about Phoenix digging Mars, Cyclones at Saturn's poles, and Spitzer sneaks a peer at Comet Holmes! http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ Wow! I was blown away by each of these stories! We are really looking forward to trying a new partnership with Mojave National Preserve at their star party on October 25th. It's a bit of a drive, but the night sky from national parks, coupled by daytime exploration of park's nature and geology is a combo that just can't be beat. We'll be sure to snap some pix (maybe Mojo will even take some astro photos to show you all) and perhaps we'll be invited back for another event, and some of you will join us. http://www.npca.org/take_action/upcoming_events/celebrate-the-skies-of-mojav e.html 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

17 years, 9 months

Dark Sky Observing on October 25 at Mojave National Preserve

by Morris Jones

First, sorry about the general request for fliers for Saturday night. I didn't mean for that message to go to everyone on the big list! It's all taken care of. I do have more information to share on a special dark sky observing night at Mojave National Preserve. The Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers will be providing expertise and top-notch equipment, and invite you to join us in beautiful Mojave National Preserve on Saturday, October 25. Come with us out from under the L.A. light dome and discover or rediscover the night sky. The official even web page is here: http://www.npca.org/take_action/upcoming_events/celebrate-the-skies-of-moja… They offer "Cocktails and dinner to begin at 5:00 p.m. Astronomy presentation following dinner." Reservations are requested, by email to mcipra(a)npca.org. You can also telephone (760) 799-5911. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la

17 years, 9 months

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