Hi everyone,
That darn "Mars will be bigger than the moon" email is circulating
again this month. Grrrr. Every year I update my Mars in August web
page in case people google around for help determining if it is fact
or fallacy. http://www.otastro.org/Mars2005/ note the angry red
font. ;-)
Yesterday our web server stats went astronomical - lots of people
were looking at my Mars page. Lo and behold, I discovered that my
page was linked to an MNSBC article, titled Mars Hoax Lasts Five
Years.
Here's the article - it is a really well written one:
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/26/1294160.aspx
If anyone asks you about Mars, you can refer them to the article.
Our next Sidewalk Astronomy events will be September 5th in Pasadena
and 6th in Monrovia.
This weekend we'll be doing our dark sky observing at Lake Sonoma in
Sonoma County most likely, while visiting family in the North Bay.
For any of you hankering for some dark sky nights, I can recommend
the public star party in Joshua Tree National Park, Hidden Valley
picnic area. It's open to the public, starts at 7:30 p.m. with a
star talk and video projection, and then lights out, and stars and
milky way galore! Here is the local Yucca Valley Astronomy club's
website. http://www.andromedasociety.org/ You'll find the picnic area
near the Yucca Valley/Joshua Tree entrance to the park. There are
nearby campsites at Hidden Valley campgrounds, probably first come
first serve. It's a quarter mile walk to the picnic area.
See you in a couple weeks out on the sidewalk! 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 SOC http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
What's Up? http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html
I'm delighted to see that our recent monsoon moisture is drying out a
little, and conditions should be warm but less humid than earlier this week.
Tonight we plan to be in Old Town Pasadena, on Colorado Blvd. near
Delacey from about 7:30 'til 10:00. We should have great views of the
first quarter moon and Jupiter tonight.
Jane's most recent "What's Up" video from JPL is all about Jupiter this
month, and a great preview to help interpret what you can see in a
telescope:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/whatsup/whatsup20080808/
Tomorrow night (Saturday) should have similar weather, and we'll be at
our usual spot in Old Town Monrovia.
Saturday evening features a nice nearly overhead pass of the
International Space Station at about 8:10 p.m., just about 25 minutes
after sunset. The ISS is so big and bright now, it should be easily
visible even in the evening twilight, though almost no stars will be
visible that early.
The station will appear at about 8:10 above the northwest horizon, well
to the right of the glow of the sunset. Venus may still be visible just
above the horizon, setting due west. The ISS will pass almost overhead
by 8:12, passing the bright orange star Arcturus, and will disappear in
the southeast, passing bright Jupiter, by about 8:15.
Hope you can join us this weekend!
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
