OTEvents April 2018

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Saturday April 28: A different Sidewalk Astronomy opportunity

by Jane Houston Jones

For the past three years we've brought Sidewalk telescopes to the Gilb Museum of Arcadia History for their spring soiree. The museum is located at 300 W Huntington and the event hours are 6-9 p.m. Saturday April 28th. Sunset isn't until 7:30 p.m. but the moon is our only target and it will be a fine target before sunset. Wine and cheese, art exhibit, history and astronomy, plus music and henna artist. https://www.arcadiaca.gov/government/city-departments/museum If you want to join us to enjoy your local museum, the event is free and open to the public, so come on down! May 5 there will be a Vandenberg launch visible from San Luis Obispo to Mexico's Pacific coast! InSight, NASA's next lander on Mars will launch May 5 at 4:05 am (3 hour window), then several minutes later each day for about a month, if launch is no go on the 5th. Here is a great video from JPL showing the visibility from Santa Barbara, LA and San Diego, plus links to live coverage of the launch. https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/mission/timeline/launch/watch-in-person/ It will be just as nice from your back yard in Monrovia as long as you can see north to south 1/3 up from the horizon at 4 am! InSight will launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base Space Launch Complex-3 or SLC-3, and ride atop an Atlas V-401 rocket provided by United Launch Alliance. Mojo and I are heading to Lompoc to watch, but there are almost better chances to see it at home due to coastal fog on the central coast. Go Atlas V, Go Insight! -- Jane Houston Jones Solar System Public Engagement What's Up April: Moon,Mars,Saturn plus Lyrid meteors https://youtu.be/f2svvMGSwW8 NEW! FaceBook Watch What’s Up video page! https://www.facebook.com/NASAWhatsUp/

6 years, 5 months

Clouds! So no moon viewing tonight! :-(

by Jane Houston Jones

Our astronomer Gary provides this great (but unfortunate and untimely) weather report for tonight. It looks like the clouds will obscure the only object we could be looking at, plus it's hot and muggy, so we are voting to cancel tonight's event. "There’s a stationary high pressure region sitting off the coast and everything is rotating counter-clockwise about it. Today’s warm temps are pulling moisture out of the ocean and Gulf which is then moving North to our cooler air and condensing to form clouds. Forecast seems unlikely to clear but the forecast is also kind of hazy (if you’ll forgive the pun)! Gary -- Jane Houston Jones Solar System Public Engagement What's Up April: Moon,Mars,Saturn plus Lyrid meteors https://youtu.be/f2svvMGSwW8 NEW! FaceBook Watch What’s Up video page! https://www.facebook.com/NASAWhatsUp/

6 years, 5 months

Sidewalk Astronomy Saturday April 21

by Jane Houston Jones

There are a lot of astronomical events coming up! Saturday night we'll most likely be moving to another corner of Library Park because our corner will be used by a check-in booth for the Monrovia Wine Walk http://www.cityofmonrovia.org/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/4937/ The registrants will be collecting their tickets near our usual setup area and they've almost asked us to move (I called about it -- talked to two people about it, but the person who would call me back with a decision in an hour never did). I tried. So if you don't see telescopes on that busy corner, walk around the Library Park block. Primrose/Lime corner looks promising, we'll check it out tomorrow when the wine even gets started. We'll have a great moon view, and no planets Saturday night. But all this wind and cooler weather may mean an exceptional moon viewing night. If you are up early Saturday or Sunday morning, you might see some Lyrid Meteors, early am hours, and the moon will wash some out, but observing from home: just get to an area where the moon is blocked, and look up! What's Up April (linked in my signature line, has the info: May 5th: launch of a mission --> to Mars, InSight will be visible from Central California to Mexico. 4:05 a.m. on Cinco de Mayo with a launch window until June 8th. I talk about it in May What's Up video, because Mars and the moon will be visible in the sky at the exact time of the first launch opportunity on May 5th. How cool is that? To see an interplanetary launch from SoCal if you have a West and South unobstructed horizon). I worked on InSight for three years, and it is near and dear to my heart. :-) Next Mojave National Preserve star party the following weekend, May 12th. RSVP here as the free group campsite gets crowded. https://www.facebook.com/events/159520131414032/ I thing that's all for this month..... -- Jane Houston Jones Solar System Public Engagement What's Up April: Moon,Mars,Saturn plus Lyrid meteors https://youtu.be/f2svvMGSwW8 NEW! FaceBook Watch What’s Up video page! https://www.facebook.com/NASAWhatsUp/

6 years, 5 months

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OTEvents April 2018