Holidays and family events usually keep us busy this time of year, but
we are expecting a special surprise guest to join us on the sidewalk in
Monrovia on December 2. We'll have a big lovely Moon just two days from
full to show. The giant planets will return to the early evening sky
very soon, but not for another month or so.
Our special guest has been with us before on the sidewalk, and he is
there with us in spirit each month as we aim our Dobsonian reflectors
skywards, beckoning all within earshot to "come see the Moon." Yes John
Dobson will be with us this weekend. If you haven't met John, stop by
to say hello! For those who haven't heard of John, he invented the
Dobsonian telescope mount and founded the Sidewalk Astronomers. Mojo and
I used to bring John out on the San Francisco sidewalks before we moved
south, so it is a special treat when his visits collide with one of our
sidewalk astronomy nights.
Elsewhere in the solar system in December:
Three planets grace the dawn during the first part of December. Jupiter,
Mercury and Mars can be spotted in the southeast low in the sky before
sunrise. Mars is much dimmer than the other two planets. Look for them
from December 7-14. The three planets fit in a binocular view, getting
closer between December 9 to 11. On December 10, these three planets
bunch closer than any three planets will during the next quarter century!
Saturn rises by 10:00 p.m. at the beginning of December and by 8 p.m. by
the end of the month. On December 9th the Moon rises close to Saturn.
The bright Moon will obscure the annual Geminid meteor shower on
December 12-14.
Hope to see you on Saturday night between 5 and 9 p.m. We'll skip
Friday night in Pasadena this month, and resume our normal schedule in
January. We'll just have the one target, the nearly full moon to view
this month.
Jane
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
The lyrics of "King of Pain", by Sting & Police starts like this:
There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday
But today there is a different little black spot on the sun! It's
the planet Mercury passing between the Sun and the Earth!!
Today, November 8, the planet Mercury passes inferior conjunction
with the Sun, where it is in between the Sun and Earth. Because of
the tilt of the planetary orbit, Mercury is usually not QUITE
aligned, but passes either above or below the solar disk. This time,
however, the planet passes right across the Sun for a "transit."
Transit seasons are early November and May. November events are
separated by intervals of 7 or 14 years. May transits (which take
place with the planet farther from the Sun) are rarer, and can, but
don't have to, recur in 14 years. (Transits of Venus are far rarer.
There were none in the twentieth century; the last one was in 2004,
the next in 2012.)
Unfortunately, Transits of Mercury are NOT visible to the naked eye,
even with appropriate
filters, but are readily visible with the telescope. However, they
should be viewed by projection only; do not even try without
professional-level knowledge or help. The event begins at 1:12 PM
CST (2:12 EST, 12:12 MST, 11:12 AM PST, 9:12 AM Hawaii), and lasts
for about 5 hours as the planet slowly moves in orbit. Only the
western US and Canada will witness the whole thing before sunset. The
timings of such transits were once used in attempts to local times
and thus longitudes. This description courtesy of Jim Kaler:
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/skylights.html
Since this is a telescopic event, and then only through solar safe
telescopes, I thought I'd provide our OTAstronuts with a virtual
viewing of the transit. I'll be here at JPL, with three solar-safe
telescopes, Mojo is at work with one additional safe telescope, and
our frequent sidewalk astronomy telescope operators Gary and his
daughter Elizabeth are setting up a solar safe telescope at
Elizabeth's school today.
So sit back, and use these links. The transit begins at 11:10 a.m.
here on the west coast and ends at 4:10 p.m. If you miss this one,
don't worry, it'll happen again in 2016!
APOD (Astro Photo Of the Day) - simulated transit of Mercury
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/
A nice animation and description
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/20oct_transitofmercury.htm
A webcast - one of many, you can probably find others if this is
busy using your favorite search engine:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/transit/
A nice visual description, shows size of Mercury - looks fine on the
screen, white text doesn't show up on printed copies:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/transit/what.html
I am using this handout:
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/tran/TM2006sun.GIF
Todays sunspots here - the sunspot image also shows size of Earth and
Jupiter for a great size explanation. :-)
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/
Finally, this transit is not visible everywhere on Earth. The transit
will be widely visible from the Americas, the Pacific Ocean, eastern
Asia, and Australia
US map here http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/tran/TM2006map.GIF
Global view here
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/OH/image1/TM2006Nov08-Fig2.GIF
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 Saturn Observation Campaign
http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
The Moon is back in the evening sky, and the Santa Ana winds are making
the sky very clear for us!
Having a good clear sky tonight is a good thing, because this time of
year, the first quarter Moon is in the part of the ecliptic that's
furthest to the south. Tonight's Moon will never get any higher than 28
degrees above the southern horizon, and that happens at 5:20 p.m.!
After that, it's all downhill.
We plan to be out in Old Town Pasadena tonight, on Colorado Blvd.,
somewhere between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Ave. Let's say about 6:30 p.m.
'til 9:00 p.m. Because of the Moon's low altitude in the sky, it's a
little hard to predict when it will disappear below the buildings.
But if it does, it'll leave more time for a cocktail later. :)
We'll be back tomorrow night in Monrovia, at Myrtle and Lime, with a
slightly larger, slightly higher Moon, 6:30 'til 9:00 at least.
Meanwhile, if you're interested in our vacation pictures and trip report
from Ireland and the U.K., just click here!
<http://photo.whiteoaks.com/2006-10-uk/>
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers http://www.otastro.org
If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be out under a truly
dark sky with some knowledgeable observers, this Saturday night is your
chance.
The weather forecasts look perfect for a comfortable night of observing
from our favorite remote desert location, about 155 miles east from
Monrovia on I-10.
It will just be a few of us. If you'd like to come, you're free to
arrive whenever you like, and leave whenever you like. You'll want to
bring food and lots of water, something to sit on, and clothing layers
for when the air turns chilly. Jane and I will have a camp toilet
available. Certainly bring binoculars and a telescope if you have one!
Sunset will at 6:00 p.m. Jane and I will plan to arrive at about 5:00
p.m. It's a great spot for a light picnic dinner. You can pitch a tent
if you like; Jane and I usually doze in the car for a few hours. It's
especially fun to rise well before sunrise and enjoy the still air of
the morning sky.
I allow about two and a half hours for travel from Monrovia. Traffic is
sometimes a little heavy on the afternoon trip on either 10 or 60.
If you'd like to attend (Dan Gollnick and Tom Traeger, I've already
heard from you), please send a reply to this note, and I'll follow up
with specific directions. It would be good to provide me with a cell
phone number or other contact in case the weather turns inclement.
(Right now the only threat would be high winds.)
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers http://www.otastro.org
This weekend features an annual event that Jane and I have enjoyed, the
Starry Nights Festival held in Yucca Valley.
The event features talks at the Hi-Desert Nature Museum on astronomy
topics, and David Levy will be the featured speaker on Saturday afternoon.
Then they offer telescope viewing under the very dark skies of Yucca
Valley through the Andromeda Society's member's telescopes at Machris
Park. The museum will offer free shuttle buses to the park from the
museum in Yucca Valley. On our previous visit to this event, the big
floodlights of the park were off, there was plenty of dim red light to
see by, and society volunteers were serving hot cocoa.
All the information, including a program and map, is here at the Town of
Yucca Valley's web site:
<http://yucca-valley.org/departments/museumlecture.html>
Jane and I will be there Saturday afternoon, and Saturday evening at the
star party with our big dobsonian reflectors.
Next weekend, October 21, we're also planning a dark sky night just for
our friends and fans of the Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers, in the
beautiful remote Colorado Desert south of Joshua Tree. I'll send
another note with more information about that soon.
With the giant planets gone from the evening sky for the rest of the
year, it's a great time to soak up the faint deep sky objects from our
beautiful desert locations!
Cheers,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers http://www.otastro.org
Hi all! Jane and I are visiting London and Dublin for the next two
weeks, but sidewalk astronomy goes on!
Dave Hasenauer and our other intrepid sidewalk astronomers will be in
Monrovia at Myrtle and Lime this Saturday, September 30. They should
have a lovely first quarter Moon to show; the giant planets Jupiter and
Saturn won't be in the evening sky again 'til next year.
Last night we had dinner and an overnight visit at the home of Sir
Patrick Moore in the south England coastal town of Selsey. At 83, he's
still doing his show "Sky at Night" for the BBC! He doesn't get around
so well these days, but he's as talkative as ever. This morning the BBC
crew arrived to tape an episode of his program.
We got to explore his fine old thatched-roof home, talk lunar astronomy,
look through his amazing collection of astronomical writings and
sketches, and meet his beloved cats. We were joined by astronomer and
Patrick's co-author Chris Sinnot and local astrophotographer Ian Sharp.
We tried using Patrick's 15-inch fork-mount newtonian to observe, but
the early evening sucker holes gave way to an overcast sky.
The "Sky at Night" crew from BBC is planning a trip to the States in
early December, and they plan to join us in Monrovia along with John
Dobson for our regular sidewalk astronomy night. I'll send an update
when there are more details.
Tomorrow we visit Stonehenge, and Wednesday we're off to Dublin then
Birr Castle for the Whirlpool Star Party.
More updates later ...
Reporting from London,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Hope to see some of you Friday or Saturday night. As always, our
schedule is shown at the top right of the Old Town Sidewalk
Astronomers (OTASTRO) website http://www.otastro.org/
I've been receiving a lot of questions at work today about the
European Space Agency's Smart-1 lunar orbiter's impact on the moon
tomorrow night (Saturday, September 2) SO I typed this up for my
colleagues, and thought I'd share it with you too.
It sort of coincides with our Monrovia Sidewalk Astronomy Saturday
night, tho' it is highly unlikely that it can be seen from amateur
telescopes. But we'll stay out a little later than usual just to
view the moon at the designated time of 10:41 p.m. I'll bring some
maps to hand out for those who want them. Friday night - gosh,
that's tonight, we'll be in Pasadena 7ish - 10:00 p.m. mostly moon,
and possibly a low Jupiter view.
The nine-day old waxing (or gibbous) moon will be visible throughout
the late afternoon, will transit at mid-evening and set after
midnight. Refer to the moon map linked below to find the craters I
describe. One of the moon's most glorious sights, the large (100km/60
mile) diameter young crater Copernicus (area 31) is located midway
between north and south on the sunny side of the terminator. Further
south, the bright ejecta rays of 85km/53mile diameter even younger
Tycho (area 64) are more and more brilliant as the moon nears full.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Moon is my favorite lunar website.
http://www.shallowsky.com/moon/hitchhiker.html
Meanwhile, over on the night side of the terminator, Smart-1 is
preparing for its own termination. SMART-1, ESA's "Small Missions for
Advanced Research in Technology", is about to end its exploration
adventure after almost sixteen months of lunar science investigations.
Look on this ESA link to see an image of the moon at the nominal
impact time (10:42 p.m. Pacific September 2.
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=39942
You'll see bright craters Copernicus and Tycho center and south. The
impact most likely won't be visible through anything but large ground
or space telescopes, but amateurs everywhere will all be looking
moonward anyway.
You can share these times with your friends around the world.....The
expected impact time (07:41 CEST or 10:41 P.M. PST) will be good for
big telescopes in South and Northwest Americas and Hawaii and
possibly Australia. But if SMART-1 hits a hill on its previous pass,
around 02:37 CEST on 3 September (5:37 p.m. PST Saturday night,
before sunset) , then it can be observed from the Canary Islands and
South America. If SMART-1 hits a hill on the pass on 2 September at
21:33 CEST, then telescopes in Continental Europe and Africa will
have the advantage.
Smart-1 background info:
It travelled to the Moon using solar-electric propulsion and carried
a battery of miniaturized instruments. As well as testing new
technology, SMART-1 made the first comprehensive inventory of key
chemical elements in the lunar surface.
If left on the course of its lunar orbit, SMART-1 would have
naturally hit the Moon on 17 August 2006 on the lunar far side, not
visible from Earth. A 2-week series of manoeuvres started on 19 June
and concluded on 2 July allowed SMART-1 to adjust its orbit to avoid
having the spacecraft intersect with the Moon at a disadvantageous
time from the scientific point of view, and to obtain a useful small
mission 'extension'.
On 3 September 2006 (Evening of Sept 2 here in California) the
SMART-1 perilune, coinciding with the point of impact, will be on the
lunar area called 'Lake of Excellence', located at mid-southern
latitudes. This area is very interesting from the scientific point of
view. It is a volcanic plain area surrounded by highlands.
At the time of impact, this area will be in the dark on the near-side
of the Moon, just near the terminator - the line separating the lunar
day-side from the night-side. The region will be shadowed from the
Sun's direct rays, but it will be lit faintly by the light from the
Earth - by earthshine. The spacecraft's orbit will take it over the
region every five hours, getting one kilometer lower at each pass.
From Earth, a Moon quarter will be visible at that time.
Useful links:
Science@Nasa's Aug 30 Smart-1 feature:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/30aug_smart1.htm?list117725
Read more from the Aug 4 News release here:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/SMART-1/SEMKTCBUQPE_0.html
Smart-1 visibility from Earth
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/index.cfm?fobjectid=39878
--
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 Saturn Observation Campaign
http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
Hello Otastro
I know some of you stepped outside and looked up at 8:00 p.m. and were
hoping you would see the visible pass of the ISS over southern
California. Whether you did or didn't see it, here is my recap of the event.
At 8:00 p.m. Mojo and I turned our gaze outward :-) and stepped
outside. We walked a few yards to where we had a good view of the entire
sky. It was not yet dark, but we could see Jupiter and a few brighter
stars We kept looking towards Jupiter, and soon Mojo saw a "star"
moving up from Jupiter to overhead. 8:06:15 is when we first spotted
the Internatinal Space Station, aka the moving "star". We observed the
ISS for about 5 minutes , until 8:11:00 before it was below the horizon
in the NE.
I hope you saw it. If not, I hope my description was a good alternate
to the actual view. Now it is only 9 hours until a gorgeous view of the
moon, Venus, and maybe Mercury and Saturn are visble in dawn sky.
Jane (who recommends checking the morning planet view at 5:30 a.m.) is
now signing off at 8:30 p.m.
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Step outside tonight after sunset and you'll see brilliant Jupiter
hanging low in the western sky. If it happens to be a little after 8
p.m. you may spot the International Space Station from about 8:04 to
8:10 as it passes from SW (near Jupiter) to overhead to NE.
Step outside in the morning a little before dawn over the next few
days and you may see three additional planets -- Mercury, Venus and
Saturn -- plus a lovely crescent moon . Here is a little feature and
graphic I put together this week about observing the morning planets.
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scitech/display.cfm?ST_ID=1329
Want to see the rest of the solar system? On Saturday (tomorrow, Aug
19th) at sunset until Sunday at dawn, we'll be at our current
favorite observing spot near the community of Desert Center
http://cleardarksky.com/c/DsrtCntrCAkey.html?1 Our favorite spot is
a bit of a trek --150 miles from our home in Monrovia -- but the
desert landscape is beautiful and the skies are nice and dark. You
can see pictures of the location here:
<http://www.otastro.org/2006-04-01-messier/> Our spot is on BLM land,
just two miles off I-10. But no water or toilets. We are bringing
both. :-)
Beginning at 7:30 p.m., we'll be on the lookout for Mars, which will
be a difficult target as it sets soon after sunset. Jupiter is next
and is easy to spot. Neptune, Uranus and Pluto will be our evening
targets. Then there will be many hours to enjoy the summer milky way,
or take a snooze and wake up before dawn to observe Mercury, Venus
and hopefully, Saturn. Did I leave one out? Earth! I think you all
can find that one.
If you are interested in joining us, send an email to
mojane(a)whiteoaks.com before 2 p.m. Saturday for a map and our cell
phone number to contact us on the way. We'll select some other dark
sky observing spots that are not such a long drive in the future, but
this spot has the sunset and sunrise horizons required to try a "9
Planet night". To read more about "what is a planet" read this
summary: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=1151 The
definitions may be changing as soon as next week!
A note of caution: It will be hot (100's) during the day, cooling to
the high 70's after 10 p.m. We plan to stay all night, but we will
not set up a tent, and will probably leave at sunrise, before it gets
hot again. If you are interested in joining us for this nine planet
project, you should arrive no later than 7 p.m. We'll probably leave
Monrovia around 3:30 to 4 p.m. with a halfway stop in Banning for
Coffee and Subway sandwiches if you want to follow us. Bring your own
water, and we recommend some salty snacks or fitness beverages like
Gatorade to help with the heat.
Our next sidewalk astronomy dates will be Sept 1 Pasadena, September
2 Monrovia. We'll be viewing the moon and one planet: Jupiter.
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 Saturn Observation Campaign
http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
I sent this out to my fellow NASA astronomy educators this morning
and thought our list would enjoy it too. Jane
I was at the Art Center College of Design's
http://www.artcenter.edu/accd/index.jsp open house last night
viewing (and using) my Cassini Colleague Dave Doody's Gravity Assist
Mechanical Simulator - (a work of art that does hands-on science),
and we stepped outside to view the ISS a little before 9 p.m.
We started looking near Jupiter - that bright thing in the
southwestern sky. At a few minutes later than scheduled (I think) -
maybe the clocks were off, I spied a little moving 'star" started
rising slowly near Jupiter. Over the course of about 5 minutes it
got higher and higher and brighter and brighter. There were clouds
or fog marring some of the starry signposts, and in fact I gave up
looking after a few minutes, and Dave started walking back inside.
Then I saw it and hollered, and Dave and others came back out. It was
soon as bright as Jupiter.
Meanwhile, Mojo was at a Baldwin Park school doing the same thing,
showing Jupiter and the International Space Station.
There is another ISS pass Friday night.....beginning 8:02 p.m.,
reaches 10 degrees of altitude at 8:04, reaches maximum altitude -
highest point is a whopping 83 degrees (90 degrees is straight
overhead) at 8:07, then drops below 10 degrees above the horizon at
8:10 p.m. That's a nice long pass.
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassDetails.asp?SatID=25544&lat=34.148&lng=-11…
Be sure to check out the ground track link, as ISS passes directly
over Pasadena both nights. And if greater LA is not your location,
you can create your own map from the home page link.
Are you wondering if you'll be able to see the ISS, despite some of
our pesky evening fog? If you can see bright Jupiter in the SW about
30 degrees above the horizon, then you should be able to see the ISS.
Use Jupiter as your reference point. The ISS will rise from the SW,
rise near Jupiter - which is about where I spotted it last night ,
tho' it was an hour later and an hour darker last night. It will
continue brightening and rising almost overhead, then start sinking
in altitude towards the NE. No telescope required, this is a view for
the unaided eye.
There are also locally visible passes on the 17th and 19th
http://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.asp?lat=34.148&lng=-118.144&alt=24…
but the altitude is quite low at maximum altitude, meaning that trees
and buildings may mar your view. Friday is the best next pass.
Next news will be about our next sidewalk dates and a pretty view in
the pre-dawn morning sky for you early risers - Mercury, Venus Moon
and Saturn on the eastern horizon.
--
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 Saturn Observation Campaign
http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
