We are cancelling Sidewalk Astronomy in Monrovia tonight. If you do get a clearing, here is a star chart for 5:30 p.m. Pacific Standard Time tonight. https://goo.gl/ROgrsB

You could break out the binoculars and try looking at Venus and Mars and the moon. Between the two planets is fainter Neptune. If you can see below Venus you canalso try for Comet 45P for about an hour after sunset, depending on your location andif you have a flat SW horizon. Neptune is blue, comet is needle-shaped with the tail pointing up as it is being blown by the solar wind!

We'll have news about our next Mojave National Preserve Star Party (possibly April or May), next sidewalk astronomy night, future Huntington Garden star party, and the Solar Eclipse next time. We now have about 4 folks from our sidewalk Astronomy family joining us at the Idaho Dunes RV Park. Toggle between the map, and the reservations pages https://www.idahodunesrv.com/map.php and https://www.idahodunesrv.com/reservations.php?month=August+2017 We are in spaces 50-56, and you can several nearby spaces available.

Speaking of the Eclipse, NASA's Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter LRO https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-moon-data-provides-more-accurate-2017-eclipse-path

My two astro products (for my work at JPL) are What's Up and a new thing called Ten Things. It's a list of ten interesting things happening in the solar system each week. I sneak in a stargazing "thing" almost every week, and this one features all the 2017 Meteor showers, so it's a useful bookmark. :-)

What's Up January video: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/2017/01/03/whats-up-january-2016

Ten Things http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/category/10things

2017 Meteor Showers: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/2016/12/12/10-things-december-12

Jane

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Jane Houston Jones
@jhjones @otastro
What's Up Jan? Comet, moon, Venus, Mars and Quadrantids ring in the new year! 
https://youtu.be/e1QyhUqv1yE
New: My Ten Things Blog https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/category/10things