John Dobson will be joining us again tonight (Saturday) in Monrovia at
Myrtle and Lime.
For those who haven't met John, this is a special treat. He is one of
the founders of the Sidewalk Astronomers, and famous worldwide as the
inventor of the sidewalk telescope we all call the dobsonian. His
favorite thing (or maybe second to discussing physics and cosmology) is
setting up one of his telescopes on a sidewalk and showing the Moon or
Saturn. John will be turning 90 this year, and puts us all to shame
with his energy, charm, and enthusiasm.
Last night we had a record for Colorado Blvd. with 471 people stopping
by the telescope for eye-popping views of the Moon and Saturn. The
foggy conditions indicate the kind of calm still air that makes all
those great details pop out on the Moon and bright planets.
Tonight should be about as good as last night, and if I can track it
down, we'll have the added treat of Comet Machholz to show. This
fuzzball comet was a real hit last weekend. It was discovered about six
months ago by our friend astronomer Don Machholz from Colfax, California.
We'll be out from about 6:00 p.m. 'til 9:00 p.m. tonight at the corner
of Myrtle and Lime, Library Park, Monrovia.
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Will there be sky tonight or not? It's hard to guess! The forecast
calls for clear skies with foggy conditions. If the fog isn't too
thick, we should have a good view of the not-quite-full Moon and Saturn
from Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.
Which leads me to a great new feature linked from our website,
<http://www.otastro.org/> the Clear Sky Clocks for our usual observing
locations.
Mr. Attilla Danko uses forecast data from the Canadian Meteorological
Center to produce a graphical spot forecast of interesting weather for
astronomers.
The Clear Sky Clock predicts cloudiness, transparency (fog and
humidity), and seeing (wavery views or scintillation) over the next 48
hour period. Here is the Clear Sky Clock for Old Town Pasadena:
<http://cleardarksky.com/c/OTPsdnCAkey.html> He can explain it better
than I can.
Mr. Danko was gracious enough to add our two favorite sidewalk astronomy
locations to the list of Clear Sky Clocks.
So tonight (Friday) falls under the category of "look and see." I'll be
out on Colorado in the early evening, and if it looks like there will be
some sky, then we'll certainly set up the telescopes.
Saturday evening conditions look a bit better, so we'll be hopeful at
Library Park in Monrovia, at Myrtle and Lime.
Hope to see you there!
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
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
