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How and where and when to see Comet NEOWISE , with helpful links :-)

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone, now that Comet NEOWISE is in our evening sky, everyone wants to try to see it, especially from a safe place like their home. The comet, from an urban area, is extremely difficult if not impossible to see with the unaided eye. Start looking about an hour after sunset. Binoculars help once the sky darkens. It's hard to find through a telescope, binoculars are better, unaided eye nearly impossible. So, to set expectations, here are two images I took 2 nights ago from Duarte Sports Park only a mile from our house. Lots of urban lights, but this location put some distance between the viewers and the mountains. These are taken with my cell phone so they will represent a better expectation of what the urban comet hunter will see. It won't look like the images from a dark sky or another part of the world, but it will be your very own view! https://www.dropbox.com/s/qgkyji741rqt5rr/Comet_faint_IMG_20200716_212035.j… https://www.dropbox.com/s/r01t0ugaw8d0vek/Comet_Jane_fave_IMG_20200716_2119… JPL has an excellent easy to understand comet finding chart here :-) Many media charts show other stars in Ursa Major (the nose and the paws of the great bear) but those stars are not easy to see or familiar to many, so kudos for a great chart JPL! https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/4354_sky_chart_sh… To help you figure where to look beneath the familiar dipper, here is my favorite chart: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/measuring-the-sky-by-hand.html . Use your outstretched hand and notice your thumb to pinkie span the familiar Big Dipper asterism as shown on the chart. So, to see the comet you need to look this same distance below the dipper! That's why you have to get away from the mountains! Finally, here are some additional charts that also show the dipper and the comet's path from Earth and Sky https://earthsky.org/space/how-to-see-comet-c2020-f3-neowise and from Sky and Telescope https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-july-17-25… For those asking where to go to see the comet, look for a place where your NW horizon is not blocked by the mountains. The comet was 12 degrees above the horizon close to an hour after sunset last night. We were able to see it (with difficulty and not naked eye) a block from our home through a notch in the mountains. Use the dipper as your guide, can you see lots of sky below the dipper? Closer to the beach. At some elevation. You get the idea. :-) Let me know of your success, and you have a little more than a week until first quarter moon will brighten the sky more. Good luck! There is almost nothing more exciting that seeing a comet, especially a public friendly, conveniently timed, traveler that won't return for nearly 7,000 years! JPL's What's Up page here :-) https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/ -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

5 years, 7 months

Morning planets and the moon! Plus a comet, maybe

by Jane Houston Jones

If you haven't been out to see it, the pre-dawn sky has been magnificent with planets lately. Mojo and I had an observing feast Friday morning. Four planets, moon, plus comet NEOWISE at dawn. Mars was big enough to see a polar cap and albedo features through a telescope. Venus is a gorgeous crescent right now. Jupiter had a Ganymede shadow transit -- where a black shadow marched across the planet's disk Friday morning. Jut in binos you can see the Galilean moons orbiting the giant planet. Saturn had open rings and a prominent Cassini division. Even naked eye the view is gorgeous, with the four planets + moon tracing a full-sky ecliptic. Tonight: Mars and Moon near midnight. Saturn and Jupiter shortly after sunset. Mars and Moon near midnight. Venus before dawn. Comet Neowise, if you have an unobstructed northeast sky (which we don't, yet we Caught a tiny glimpse as it clears the foothills Thursday morning. If you have the horizon look NE on the horizon 45 minutes before sunrise. Don't worry, hopefully this comet will become an evening object soon. This month's NASA What's Up video has some info about these morning planets: https://youtu.be/cNf6vb4gwEM Hang in there, astro team! Jane and the sidewalk astronomer gang -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

5 years, 7 months

Hello from your sidewalk astronomers! ISS/Dragon Pass tonight at 10 p.m. + next few nights

by Jane Houston Jones

Hello everyone! Tonight is as good a time as any to reconnect, because tonight (from the LA/Southern CA area) at 10:00 p.m. we can see an ISS pass withSpaceX's Crew Dragon Demo docked to ISS high overhead! Since the two spacecraft are docked you will only see one object, of course. You can also see passes over the next several nights. Remember, you don't have to go anywhere to see the ISS, just step outside and look in the directions indicated. A compass phone app comes in handy, if you are unsure of directions. You cant miss the moon on all these nights, too. Mon Jun 1: 9:58 PM - 10:02 PM, Max Height: 70°, Appears: 10° above NW at 9:58, Disappears: 71° above N 10:02 PM. Look for the big dipper in the northern sky, the ISS will pass from the dipper bowl to handle. Tue June 2: 9:11 PM - 9:16 PM. Max Height: 39°, Appears: 10° above NNW at 9:11 PM, Disappears: 22° above E 9:16 PM June 3 8:23 PM - 8:29 PM, Max height 24°, appears 10° above NNW at 8:23, Disappears: 10°above E 8:29 PM also 90 minutes later... June 3 10:00 PM - 10:03 PM, Max height 28°, appears 10° above WNW at 10:00, Disappears: 28° above SW 10:03 PM June 4 9:12 PM - 9:17 PM, Max height 56°, appears 10° above NW at 9:12, Disappears: 24°above SSE 9:17 PM June 6 9:13 PM - 9:18 PM, Max height 16°, appears 10° above W at 9:13, Disappears: 10°above SSW 9:17 PM I recommend you get your own personal email with overhead pass information for your own location, sent same day as the pass, by signing up here: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ The Heaven's Above website is great for not only ISS passes, but many other visible satellite passes and has great sky maps: https://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544 The JPL What's Up isn't out yet for June -- probably tomorrow. Find it here https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/ and /or via your JPL video feed from Youtube. Most of our friendly astronomers have been taking their telescopes out to their bright back yards (or nearby). Mojo and I have been doing this too. Here are some images he's taken with a couple of our telescopes. Enjoy Mojo's writeups (the blogs before and after this one are fun to read too) http://mojo.whiteoaks.com/2020/05/22/astrophotography-from-home/ Jane and the rest of your Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers all miss you and our nights out under the moonlit skies, or under the desert Milky Way! See you all soon we hope! Drop us a note if you have questions, or just to say hi! Jane -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

5 years, 8 months

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight! (Saturday Oct 5)

by Jane Houston Jones

Our intrepid sidewalk astronomers have been holding down the astro-fort, conducting several events this week! Tonight will be no different. The weather seems to be looking good ( I am writing this from Barcelona, where it is a little cloudy). Stop by if you you are in the neighborhood of Myrtle and Lime streets tonight after sunset. The 40% waxing crescent moon will be a pretty sight, along with Jupiter and Saturn in the southwest sky. Have a look at NASA's What's Up video for October -- It features International Observe the moon night -- which is tonight! https://youtu.be/TnbAVSmpmyM If there is any change in weather or astronomer availability, our local contingent will send a note out. Jane and Mojo -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

6 years, 4 months

Tonight! 8:04 pm SpotTheStation

by Jane Houston Jones

-------- Original Message -------- From: HQ-spotthestation(a)mail.nasa.gov Sent: September 18, 2019 8:57:12 AM PDT To: jane(a)whiteoaks.com Subject: SpotTheStation Time: Wed Sep 18 8:04 PM, Visible: 5 min, Max Height: 82°, Appears: 11° above SW, Disappears: 29° above NE -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA

6 years, 4 months

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight Saturday September 7th

by Jane Houston Jones

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight! Some of us are at Monrovia Canyon or elsewhere tonight, but there will be plenty of astronomers at Myrtle and Lime tonight from sunset for about 2 hours. Sunset is at 7:10 p.m. tonight, so setup will be shortly after that. Stop and say hi! ANnd enjoy the views! Here is JPL's monthly What's Up video for September! https://youtu.be/ssYGxytMV8Y Jane -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

6 years, 5 months

ISS pass tonight (Tuesday Aug 6)

by Jane Houston Jones

We'll have another ISS pass tonight! I love it when we can amaze our seatmates at the Hollywood Bowl. That's where we'll be tonight. Hope some of you amaze someone tonight :-) See some of you Saturday night at Sidewalk Astronomy, I hope. Sign up for your own alerts here: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ Time: Tue Aug 06 8:43 PM, Visible: 4 min, Max Height: 69°, Appears: 28° above NW, Disappears: 20° above ESE -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

6 years, 6 months

ISS Pass tonight (Saturday Aug 3), Sidewalk Aug 10th, Perseids Aug 12th

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi fellow star lovers! Tonight, there will be an ISS pass visible from the LA region. Step outside and look towards the NNW. It will only get to 41 degrees above the NE horizon (90 degrees is overhead), but still, it's fun to wave to the astronauts, and impress people with your cool forecasting skills. Plus the moon will be visible low in the western sky, and Saturn and brighter Jupiter are visible in the southern sky. You can't miss them, they are both very bright, and beige/butterscotch in color. Then next Saturday night is our monthly Sidewalk Astronomy night. We should have several telescopes next week, after everybody being scattered here and there last month. We'll get underway shortly before sunset at 7:45 p.m. Myrtle and Lime Street corner in Monrovia - same place for 15 years! Finally, the super convenient summer meteor shower, the Perseids, peak on August 12. he full moon is on Aug 15th, so even a day or two before the peak on the evening of the 11th, morning of the 12th would be fine, as there are several days of higher rates on either side of the peak. I think we will be heading someplace dark, without telescopes, and with meteor observing chairs and meteor counting tools (eyes, clipboard, pencil, clock, and coffee) Sunday night the 11th. The NASA What's Up video team will tell you about the Perseids here: https://youtu.be/k74kIAHS-ag I found this nifty moonrise/set - sunrise/set calendar, a good way to eyeball how many hours between moonset and sunrise. Aug 11/12 will provide several hours of darkish sky. https://bit.ly/2MHVsy6 That's all for this month (until something else interesting in the sky occurs) Jane ISS PASS Details: Time: Sat Aug 03 9:34 PM, Visible: 2 min, Max Height: 41°, Appears: 18° above NNW, Disappears: 41° above NE -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

6 years, 6 months

SpotTheStation tonight!

by Jane Houston Jones

Local night sky fans: tonight Weds July 27th, 8:56 p.m. I'm out of state, but have a look tonight and wave at the Space Station astronauts on this 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 week! Jane -------- Original Message -------- From: HQ-spotthestation(a)mail.nasa.gov Sent: July 17, 2019 8:57:15 AM PDT To: jane(a)whiteoaks.com Subject: SpotTheStation Time: Wed Jul 17 8:56 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 71°, Appears: 11° above SW, Disappears: 10° above NE -- From Jane, sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

6 years, 7 months

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight

by Jane Houston Jones

From before sunset tonight (at 8:00 p.m.) to about 9:30 p.m. a few Sidewalk Astronomers will be at Myrtle and Lime streets in Monrovia. Some of us are on vacation or otherwise engaged this summer Saturday, but if you are out and about a few Astronomers should be there to show Jupiter, moon, possibly Saturn! Cheers! Jane and Mojo (not available tonight) -- From Jane, sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

6 years, 7 months

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