We have lots of things to celebrate this weekend:
It's Saturn opposition, meaning Saturn will be back in the evening sky
for the next several months.
The Huygens probe appears to have successfully returned data from the
atmosphere of Titan (at the time of this writing).
And it's finally stopped raining for a while!
Jane and I will set up telescopes in Pasadena on Colorado Blvd. near
Delacey this evening (Friday), starting at about 6:00 p.m.
Saturday we plan to set up in Old Town Monrovia at Myrtle and Lime, and
joining us will be the founder of the Sidewalk Astronomers, John Dobson,
inventor of the sidewalk telescope bearing his name.
The weather forecast looks better for Friday than for Saturday, but
we're holding out hope for enough clear skies on both evenings to give
out some great views of the waxing crescent Moon, Saturn, and possibly
even comet Machholz (if we can find it under the city lights).
(Our telescopes are good, but we still can't see through clouds!)
I'll send a weather update on Saturday.
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
LAAS will also have telescopes at the Griffith Observatory Satellite
next to the zoo in a week on Saturday, December 18.
Donna Smith reminds us that traffic is likely to be heavy because of the
ongoing Festival of Lights. Allow some extra time.
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
There's a great astronomy event this coming Thursday in Griffith Park at
the Museum of the American West, that's Thursday, December 16.
Information here from the Sidewalk Astronomers:
7-8 p.m. Wells Fargo Theatre - Cassini's Kevin Grazier offers a
presentation about the history of astronomical discoveries that have
occurred right here in Southern California - for reservations call
323.667.2000 ext. 354
8:30 - 9:30 - South Lawn - Join Native American storyteller Geri Keams
around a campfire as she spins Navajo tales about the stars in the sky.
8 - 10 - take a close-up and personal look at celestial objects as
Friends of the Observatory (FOTO), Sidewalk Astronomers, and the Los
Angeles Astronomical Society provide an array of telescopes for public
viewing.
Free to the public, museum admission is free from 4 to 8 p.m. every
Thursday. The Museum of the American West (formerly the Autry Museum of
Western Heritage) is located in Los Angeles's historic Griffith Park,
across from the LA Zoo, with plenty of free parking.
Museum of the American West, Where the 5 and 134 meet in Griffith park,
Los Angeles 323-667.2000 www.autrynationalcenter.org
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Spur-of-the-moment Sidewalk Astronomy ...
It's a lovely clear night, and we're not busy, so we're going to be at
Myrtle and Lime in Monrovia tonight from about 6:00 'til 9:00 p.m.
The Moon was exactly full at 12:07 p.m. this afternoon, so we'll be
showing it with almost no shadows and no terminator anywhere across
the disk. It's a very different view of the Moon from our favorie at
first-quarter.
This time of the lunar cycle is when you see the highly reflective glass
bead features of the Moon, made in the heat of so many large meteor
impacts, and often scattered across the lunar surface in the form of
powdery "rays" extending from larger craters like Tycho, Copernicus,
and Kepler.
These reflective glass beads are the same material used to make
reflective paint and road signs. They're the reason that the full Moon
is significantly brighter than just twice the light we receive from a
half Moon.
Tonight in Monrovia, 6-9 p.m.
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones <*>
Monrovia, CA
mojo(a)whiteoaks.com
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Join us tonight (Wednesday, November 24) in Monrovia, and we'll try to make up
for last weekend's rainy Saturday. We'll be looking at the gibbous Moon from
about 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the corner of Myrtle and Lime, Library Park.
I've added a feature article to the OTAstro page that I wrote for the LAAS
Bulletin back in May, titled "Home Is Where The Sidewalk Is."
<http://www.otastro.org/home-is-where/>
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones <*>
Monrovia, CA
mojo(a)whiteoaks.com
http://www.whiteoaks.com
An upper-level low pressure area is bringing us clouds and a chance of
showers tonight, so we're reluctantly cancelling sidewalk astronomy in
Monrovia this evening.
Last night in Pasadena was excellent, with 281 visitors counted, and some
of the best seeing conditions for the Moon. I know the haze and smog
looked ugly, but it gave us a nice still atmosphere to look through. The
telescopes revealed lots of great lunar detail.
I've updated the web page <http://www.otastro.org> with some pictures.
Our next first-quarter Moon opportunity will be the weekend of December
17-18.
Conditions might be better in Griffith Park than they are here in the San
Gabriel Valley. The Los Angeles Astronomical Society will be featuring
telescopes at the Griffith Observatory Satellite next to the zoo parking
lot tonight.
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones <*>
Monrovia, CA
mojo(a)whiteoaks.com
http://www.whiteoaks.com
