As I mentioned before, Jane and I are involved in a wedding tomorrow
night, so we won't be joining you at Library Park. (In fact, if no one
else is planning to be there, let me know so I can send a note to that
effect. No obligations!)
BUT if some of you ARE going to be there, I could put together a box of
fliers and JPL handouts for you, and leave it by our doorstep. Let me know!
And thank you!
Cheers,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la
Unfortunately tonight, work is going to keep Jane and me from setting up
telescopes in Pasadena tonight.
Saturday evening we hope to have clear skies and some great views of the
Moon and Jupiter in Monrovia.
For those interested in seeing some truly dark skies, we're working on a
program for October 25th at the Mojave National Preserve. More details
to come soon!
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la
Hi Old Town Astronomers - I thought you all would find this
interesting! Jane
NASA Astronomer Diane Wooden is about to begin an observing session
using the IRTF at Mauna Kea in support of next year's LCROSS lunar
impactor mission. The phase and libration this Wednesday, Thursday, and
Friday (October 8-10) could be a good match for those of one of our
favored impact scenarios next year. This will provide an opportunity for
detailed planning and observations of potential target lunar terrain.
Diane would like to supplement her observations with images of the lunar
south polar region acquired with a range of amateur telescopes over the
same evenings. Diane's observations will be in the IR, and amateur
white-light observations could provide valuable additional data for
these lighting conditions. Faustini crater, one of the potential impact
sites will be on the limb on the night of Oct 10 UT (Oct 9 PDT).
Comparison of IRTF and amateur observations now will also help determine
how amateur observations can best be used during the impact and provide
valuable information to participating amateurs in planning their imaging
procedures for next year.
Images from telescopes of all sizes are welcome. If you are able to
participate and acquire images during these selected evenings, please
send the following information to me at Brian.H.Day(a)nasa.gov:
Name of observer
Email address of observer
Aperture of telescope
Focal length of telescope
Type of camera used
Camera detector dimensions
Exposure information
Time and date of exposure
Location from which exposure was taken
Please do not send your actual image file along with this information!
Once I receive the above information from you, I will contact you and
work out a way to receive your file in a way that will not overwhelm our
mail server here.
A map of the extreme south polar region of the Moon can be found at:
http://www.lpod.org/?m=20070512
Note that Faustini is labeled as R3 on these maps (next to the crater
Amundsen). The crater Cabaeus is also of interest as a possible impact
site. Three additional images identifying south polar features are
included in this message.
NASA's LCROSS mission is scheduled to fly in 2009. It is co-manifested
with LRO; both missions will launch together aboard an Atlas V out of
Cape Canaveral, Fla. LCROSS will use the Centaur upper stage of the
launch vehicle as a kinetic impactor directed at 2.5 km/s into one of
the permanently-shadowed craters at the Moon's pole. The LCROSS
spacecraft will fly directly through the resulting plume of debris,
analyzing it for signs of water ice that may have accumulated within the
crater. The debris plume will also be studied by space-based assets
(such as LRO, and HST), ground-based observatories, and amateur
telescopes. Researchers believe that the LCROSS impact plume may well be
observable in amateur telescopes, and that amateurs may be able to take
on a valuable role in this exciting mission.
Please share this information with your colleagues. I am looking forward
to working with you as members of the amateur community become key
participants in the LCROSS mission.
---------
Any opinions expressed in this message are strictly my own and do not
necessarily reflect those of NASA, its contracting agencies, or any
other life form in the Universe.
Please note my new email address
Brian H. Day
AETT Technical Lead
LCROSS E/PO Lead
Planners Collaborative
Mailstop 226-4
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000
(650) 604-2605
Brian.H.Day(a)nasa.gov
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Our own Sidewalk Astronomer member, Dr. Scott Edgington is one of the
distinguished speakers at todays Cassini CHARM telecon. CHARM is the
clever acronym for Cassini-Huygens Analysis and Results of the
Mission. Each month Cassini offers a 1-2 hour telecon discussing a
current exciting Cassini science or engineering topic. These
telecons are offered to JPL's volunteer networks (JPL Museum
Alliance, Solar System Ambassadors, my 400 strong amateur astronomy
volunteer community called the Cassini Saturn Observation Campaign,
Cassini flight team and some members of the public and to members of
the public who might be interested.
This month's talk is about CIRS: The Cassini Composite Infrared
Spectrometer: Instrument, Operations and Science. Three Cassini CIRS
instrument team members are part of todays presentation.
You can download the PDF here
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/doclib/CHARM/index.cfm , and see the
previous telecon topics. You'll see the awesome three-part 4th year
Anniversary presentation which will bring you up to speed about
Cassini, If you're interested.
PPT versions are available on a separate website for the volunteers
to use in subsequent presentations of their own. Audio and written
transcripts will be on the link above in a few days after todays
telecon.
Let me know if you have any questions or are interested in
participating in the telecons or getting the PPT versions for
educational or community presentations.
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
This is a reminder that the Yucca Valley Starry Nights Festival is
this weekend at the High Desert Museum in Yucca Valley. It's a
really nice free astronomy event.
Unfortunately, I'll have to miss the event this year. I'll be at the
International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN over the
weekend (I have to go there for work! :-) ), but if I were in town
this weekend, I'd definitely be at the Starry Nights Festival, in
fact I'd be one of the speakers this year. I hope they'll ask me to
speak next year. If you picked only one day/night, I'd pick Saturday
so you could hear David Levy give a talk at 5:30 p.m. It's about a 2
hour 110 mile drive to Yucca Valley from Monrovia. There are several
reasonable priced motels in Yucca Valley, and the Joshua Tree
National Park is right there too, for a nice drive or hike on your
way home Sunday.
Remember this is a free event thanks to the local astronomy club, the
Andromeda Society and the wonderful Hi-Desert Nature Museum
Dates: October 3-4, 2008 Friday 6 p.m. talk, 7:30 -10 observing,
Saturday 1:30 - 6:00 p.m. talks, reception 6:30, observing 7:30 - 10
p.m.
Place: Hi-Desert Nature Museum, 57116 Twentynine Palms Highway, Town
of Yucca Valley, Yucca Valley, CA, 92284 (760) 369-7212
Evening Stargazing (shuttle busses for attendees, astronomer can
drive themselves)
Place: Machris Park, Santa Barbara Drive, Yucca Valley, California
http://www.hidesertnaturemuseum.org/pdf/StarryNights.pdf
--
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
Should be a beautiful warm night in Old Town Monrovia tonight. We'll be
giving out views of the crescent moon along with Jupiter, from about
7:30 'til 9:30.
Look for the telescopes at the corner of Myrtle and Lime.
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la
You'll need a low to the western horizon view to see it, but try not
to miss tomorrow's view of moon and planets. Tomorrow is Wednesday
the 3rd.
Look for the crescent moon and to the right of it, bright Venus.
You'll need a low western horizon to see the slender lunar crescent
and the planet tomorrow night. What lurks near Venus are two other
planets, but it will be challenge to see them.Try with binoculars,
but if you don't see them, at least you know they are there.
Read all about it here:
http://solarsystem.jpl.nasa.gov/scitech/display.cfm?ST_ID=2216
We made a slight change to our sidewalk astronomy schedule for
September. Monrovia Saturday Sept 6th, and Pasadena has been changed
from Sept 5 to Sept 12.
Now that school is back in session, moon and planet viewing nights in
Monrovia are a perfect setting for the family or the classroom.
Schedule here: http://www.otastro.org/
Jane and Mojo, writing from Northern California today
--
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
Hi everyone,
That darn "Mars will be bigger than the moon" email is circulating
again this month. Grrrr. Every year I update my Mars in August web
page in case people google around for help determining if it is fact
or fallacy. http://www.otastro.org/Mars2005/ note the angry red
font. ;-)
Yesterday our web server stats went astronomical - lots of people
were looking at my Mars page. Lo and behold, I discovered that my
page was linked to an MNSBC article, titled Mars Hoax Lasts Five
Years.
Here's the article - it is a really well written one:
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/26/1294160.aspx
If anyone asks you about Mars, you can refer them to the article.
Our next Sidewalk Astronomy events will be September 5th in Pasadena
and 6th in Monrovia.
This weekend we'll be doing our dark sky observing at Lake Sonoma in
Sonoma County most likely, while visiting family in the North Bay.
For any of you hankering for some dark sky nights, I can recommend
the public star party in Joshua Tree National Park, Hidden Valley
picnic area. It's open to the public, starts at 7:30 p.m. with a
star talk and video projection, and then lights out, and stars and
milky way galore! Here is the local Yucca Valley Astronomy club's
website. http://www.andromedasociety.org/ You'll find the picnic area
near the Yucca Valley/Joshua Tree entrance to the park. There are
nearby campsites at Hidden Valley campgrounds, probably first come
first serve. It's a quarter mile walk to the picnic area.
See you in a couple weeks out on the sidewalk! 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
I'm delighted to see that our recent monsoon moisture is drying out a
little, and conditions should be warm but less humid than earlier this week.
Tonight we plan to be in Old Town Pasadena, on Colorado Blvd. near
Delacey from about 7:30 'til 10:00. We should have great views of the
first quarter moon and Jupiter tonight.
Jane's most recent "What's Up" video from JPL is all about Jupiter this
month, and a great preview to help interpret what you can see in a
telescope:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/whatsup/whatsup20080808/
Tomorrow night (Saturday) should have similar weather, and we'll be at
our usual spot in Old Town Monrovia.
Saturday evening features a nice nearly overhead pass of the
International Space Station at about 8:10 p.m., just about 25 minutes
after sunset. The ISS is so big and bright now, it should be easily
visible even in the evening twilight, though almost no stars will be
visible that early.
The station will appear at about 8:10 above the northwest horizon, well
to the right of the glow of the sunset. Venus may still be visible just
above the horizon, setting due west. The ISS will pass almost overhead
by 8:12, passing the bright orange star Arcturus, and will disappear in
the southeast, passing bright Jupiter, by about 8:15.
Hope you can join us this weekend!
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Step out tonight (I'm writing this at 9 p.m.) and have a look at the
moon and Jupiter - both rising in the southeast! Look at their
positions tomorrow night too!
And since I have your attention :-) the Cassini Mission website has a
great feature written by Todd Barber, our Cassini Lead Propulsion
Engineer, who often operates one of out telescopes for sidewalk
astronomy in Pasadena. Todd spent last week at the Smithsonian Folk Life
Festival in Washington DC, and he shares some of this thoughts about the
event in a lovely "Insiders Cassini" piece. The recent pictures aren't
too shabby either! http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm
Jane
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
