On Monday, Cassini celebrates 10th years since launch.
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-release-details.cfm?newsID=783<p>
Cassini rode into space October 15, 1997 atop a Titan 4B. Its
mission: to orbit and study the Saturnian system for four years.
Just this week we can read more exciting headline-grabbing results -
this time about Titan's land of lakes and Iapetus' mysterious dark
side. http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm<p>
What better than a moon with a mysterious dark side for the October
(aka Halloween) edition of "What's Up"?<p>
This month both Titan and mysterious Iapetus can be seen near Saturn,
when looking through most any telescope. Rhea, Dione and Tethys are
always easily visible, and they are not shown on the maps, but
essily found in astronomy magazines, planetarium programs or you can
ask and we'll help you out. <p>
Iapetus has an 89 day orbit, which takes it far from Saturn and the
other moons usually easily visible though a telescope. But when the
small moon is north or south of the planet it is easy to spot.<p>
That's when I try to encourage folks to have a look at this small
(892 miles diameter) moon, which was discovered by Giovanni Cassini
in 1671. Don't despair if you don't see it this week. The next good
time to Iapetus to the South of Saturn is December 31. And to the
north of Saturn November 23. And you'll also spot Iapetus easily for
the week or so on both sides of these dates. Next year, when Saturn
rises earlier in the evening, it won't be such a trick to see it.
Here is where you'll find October What's Up, Cassini's Iapetus page,
some Educational activities related to the Saturn system, plus star
charts for viewing Jupiter, Mars, Venus and of course, Saturn, lord
of the rings!
http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html <p>
Next observing: Pasadena October 19, Monrovia Oct 20,m weather
permitting. No Iapetus or Saturn, Jupiter may be too low to see
until next year. Mars will begin peeking above the Eastern rooftops
towards the end of our sidewalk nights. It'll be a moon night 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
Cassini SOC http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
What's Up? http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html
Mojo and I attended the AANC - Astronomical Association of Northern
California's annual conference "Reach for the Stars" at College of
San Mateo yesterday. Mojo took pictures and I gave a Cassini
Mission talk. http://aancstars2007.org/events.shtml
Once it was dark, the CSM Observatory opened, after a great
Planetarium show about Black Holes. All day long there was a
planetarium show called The Sky at Night to whet the attendees
appetites for what would be visible that night. Jupiter, Uranus,
Neptune, the moon, and several galaxies clusters and nebula were
visible from the observatory through assorted telescopes owned by
both the university and by attending amateur astronomers - dozens of
telescopes in the afternoon and the evening.
In the daytime there were some great talks - two on astrophotography,
and the others on science, the hourly planetarium shows, family
activities, a solar system walk, solar observing and telescope making
demonstrations, and even a band called Dark Matter singing and
playing! Everyone hung around for the raffle - lots of wonderful
donated items - from telescopes to cameras to books to posters and
more.
Dr. Peter Jenniskens had the Aurigid Meteor Mission covered at the
SETI table. Complete with meteorites, his flight suit, a Mission
photo poster display, a flux measurement camera and meteor videotape
running all afternoon - the same camera I used to record the meteors
I saw and counted on the Aurigid and Perseid Mission flights last
month.
We arrived at about 10:00 a.m. and left about 11:00 p.m. - had a
great time seeing all our Northern California astro pals! Lots of
work to put these conferences on - College of San Mateo, the San
Mateo County Astronomical Society, the AANC and KCSM's Jazz Under the
Stars, dozens of volunteers and the vendors
http://aancstars2007.org/vendors.shtml for a great day and night!
Here are the pictures: http://photo.whiteoaks.com/2007-09-29-aanc/
There are several conferences like this here in southern California
too! We'll try to tell you about them all. Let us know if you are
interested. Last Night there was also the Starry Starry Nights
Festival in Yucca Valley which we missed because we couldn't be in
two places at the same time. Our next sidewalk astronomy nights are
October 19 and 20, and we may do something for Halloween too!
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
NOAA just changed its public forecast for the region from "partly
cloudy" to "mostly cloudy," and at 1:30 p.m. today it was still raining
in Monrovia. That means we'll have wet grass at the park, and foggy or
cloudy skies. That's my guess.
So no telescopes tonight!
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Given the 70% chance of rain tonight, it's a safe bet to say we won't
have telescopes in Old Town Pasadena tonight.
We're scheduled for Monrovia tomorrow evening, and that's looking pretty
questionable. I'll update the list as I see the conditions tomorrow
afternoon.
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Lots of Solar System happenings here at JPL this week, and it's only Wednesday!
I hope you've had a chance to look at the incredible images from
Cassini over the past 2 days! If not, I highly recommend a look! The
Iapetus images are simply amazing! Find the series of Iapetus links,
along with a Cassini Status report on the Cassini website now!
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm
Dawn - the mission to the asteroid belt - is nearing launch. The
rover Opportunity has dipped all 6 of its wheels into Victoria Crater
on Mars after hunkering down during a massive dust storm on our red
planet neighbor. And Cassini is returning simply amazing images, now
in its 4th year of the mission. You can see all three of these
features on the JPL website today: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
What else is up? As Voyager celebrates its 30th year anniversary, all
four of the outer planets - Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune - are
all visible this month and all four are featured in "What's Up for
September".
Link to the video, plus all the downloads of charts and short
animations from the JPL Education Page:
http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html
You can subscribe to JPL Podcasts here - What's Up, and many other
podcasts are available in a High Definition video feed.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/tools/podcast.cfm
See all these podcasts on You Tube, too:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=JPLnews&p=r&page=1
Link to Voyager website: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/voyager/index.html
Link to the Dawn website: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/
Link to the Mars Exploration website http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/
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 thought you Old Town Astronomer list members might be interested in
this class. Basics of Interplanetary Flight! If so read on!
Hello -
I'd like to invite you to consider joining us, starting next week, for
"Basics of Interplanetary Flight," a night course open to the public.
The first class meeting is Thursday September 13, 2007. This week,
though, is the week to register: late registration fees start Monday.
Classes are hosted by the Art Center College of Design Public Programs,
at their award-winning South Campus building (converted wind tunnel
facility) on Raymond at Glenarm in Pasadena.
This is hands-on interplanetary exploration. In the course of seven
consecutive Thursday evenings, we will experiment together to
intuitively learn the keys to interplanetary flight. We can usually
count on enjoying a stellar guest speaker, as well. So far, previous
class participants have included physicians, secretaries, film
producers, engineers, undergrads, grad students, writers, teachers,
pilots, architects, even a celebrity. Here's a quote from a participant
in the summer term that ended recently:
"Incredible. Interesting topics were explored in a fun way, often with
experiments. Each night left me eager to learn more."
We generally divide our three-hour meetings into developing three lines
of inquiry:
(1) Observing and grasping each of the major factors in the whole
environment in which we live and operate our robots: being the companion
of a dwarf star in a bubble orbiting a super-massive black hole at the
center of one of many galaxies (and understanding just how this is known);
(2) Learning how spacecraft are put together, what all their components
do, how they work, and why;
(3) Soaking in the results; seeing and experiencing new worlds,
encountering the latest and ongoing discoveries.
Information from the Art Center course catalog is included below.
Substantial tuition discounts are offered to teachers, members of The
Planetary Society, and others. For more details, and a link for
registration, see http://people.artcenter.edu/doody. If you have any
questions, please email me at doody(a)artcenter.edu
Thanks!
Dave Doody
E/078 Basics of Interplanetary Flight noncredit $395
Art Center at Night is pleased to offer you this extraordinary
opportunity to study the fundamentals of robotic space flight with
Caltech/JPL senior engineer Dave Doody, Flight Operations Lead for
the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft's realtime operations. We
have as our home a very rare planet, the companion of a
star-in-a-bubble, orbiting the distant black hole at our galactic
center. In this 7-week workshop, you will look back at our planet
from this greater perspective, and explore the vehicles, the
techniques, and the science experiments involved in today's ongoing
extraterrestrial exploration. Many familiar products such as cell
phones, medical devices, and imaging systems have developmental
roots on the edges of robotic space flight. Surveying these roots
may help designers conceive future products. Knowing how real
spacecraft move may be useful for filmmakers and illustrators. The
range of topics will intrigue any curious participant. Class
discussions will be enhanced by ongoing Q&A, many hands-on
demonstrations, design-based learning sessions, and a "guest star"
appearance or two. No prerequisites.
7 sessions Thursdays 7 -10 pm Dave Doody
SOUTH CAMPUS
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Jane and I became familiar with the Pomona Valley Amateur Astronomers a
few months ago when she spoke to them on the Cassini mission. It's a
great club, and a great location, especially if you're more in the
direction of Pomona than Pasadena.
Tonight I'm going to give the talk that I gave last year in Ireland at
the Whirlpool Star Party in Birr. It's a brief travelogue of the
Sidewalk Astronomers' summer excursions to the great national parks of
the western U.S., along with the talk I've given at the parks on the
vanishing Milky Way, titled "You Are Here." I'll add some photos from
our visit to Bryce Canyon park this summer as well.
If you're interested in attending, the club web site is here,
<http://www.pvaa.us/> and directions to the 7:30 p.m. meeting are here
<http://www.pvaa.us/maps/meet.html>
Late tonight, or actually early tomorrow morning, scientists are
forecasting a rare return of the Aurigid meteor shower. Jane sent some
information about it in an earlier message.
While I'm giving my talk this evening, she will be at NASA Ames in
Northern California, installing equipment on a small Gulfstream business
jet, and preparing with a group of researchers to document the meteor
shower at an altitude of 50,000 feet. It should be quite a story.
I currently plan to observe the shower from home near Sawpit Wash in
Monrovia in a comfortable chair. :)
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Here is another reason to wake up early on Saturday morning - a rare
meteor shower! Bright shooting stars should be visible even with a
big old bright moon, and our city light pollution. Look to the East
and Northeast.
"Some time in the 40 years or so around 4 A.D., comet Kiess (C/1911
N1) passed by the Sun, ejecting a cloud of dust particles. The comet
returned in 1911, after completing one orbit. The dust particles were
pushed by the Sun's light into slightly wider orbits and have been
returning ever since, forming a thin ongoing stream of dust that
usually passes just outside Earth's orbit. On occasion, the combined
gravity of the solar system's planets moves this dust trail into
Earth's path. Earth encountered this 2000-year-old dust in 1935,
1986, and 1994, causing a meteor shower known as the Aurigids."
http://aurigids.seti.org/
Best viewing direction:
Best viewing: Keep Moon out of field of view (best to block behind
obstruction such as telephone pole, then watch whole sky), avoid city
haze that scatters moonlight
Best direction: East and Northeast
Best time: Start one hour before peak, then see the rate of meteors
increase and decrease while Earth travels through the shower
When:
Date: 2007 September 1
Peak time: about 11:33 +/- 20 minutes UT (= 04:33 a.m. Pacific
Daylight Savings Time).
Duration: about 1.5-hour
Width: 25 minutes above half the peak rate
What:
Peak rate: ZHR (Zenithal Hourly Rate) = 200 per hour (10-minute interval)
Meteor brightness: mostly -3 to +3 magnitude
Shower radiant: constellation Auriga (Radiant at RA = 92, Decl. = +39)
Entry speed: Vinf = 67 km/s
Where:
Visible from: California, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico [see flux
applet for visibility from your location]
Moon:
4 days past Full Moon, high in the sky
Important because:
Once in a lifetime crossing of the dust trail of a known long period
comet (comet Kiess).
Public interest:
When you make a wish, consider that each meteoroid was released at
some unknown moment during the period 36 B.C. - A.D. 45.
Links: NASA Ames News Release:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2007/07_59AR.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
Here are the timings for tonight's total lunar eclipse.
A lunar eclipse happens when the moon passes directly behind the Earth
relative to the sun, and the moon passes through the Earth's shadow.
Mid eclipse is a 3:37 a.m. That's when the moon will be its darkest,
usually a deep red. Some light reaches the moon by refracting through
the Earth's atmosphere to give it that dull red glow.
Before the total eclipse begins, you'll see the shadow moving onto the
moon for about an hour. After it's over, again you'll see the shadow
moving off the moon.
I'm hoping to see all three parts of the eclipse. I love seeing the
moon partially in the Earth's shadow.
Here are the timings for each phase:
1:51 a.m. Partial eclipse beings
2:52 a.m. Total eclipse beings
4:22 a.m. Total eclipse ends
5:24 a.m. Partial eclipse ends
Set your clocks! No optical aid required. Just enjoy seeing the moon
go through those fascinating changes tonight.
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers http://www.otastro.org
The weather forecast for tonight has been deteriorating steadily, with
lots of cloud cover expected. We'll have a "look see" at about 7:00 at
our street corner, but if it doesn't look promising, we'll indulge in
some alternative activities. :)
Cheers,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
