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by Morris Jones

Tonight should be great in Old Town Monrovia, we'll be there from about 7:00 'til 9:30 or so, showing a large gibbous moon and Jupiter. A lot of people are curious about our dark sky observing nights. We do often get together and trek out from under the Los Angeles light dome to see the real night sky and look at galaxies and nebulae that are impossible to see from within 100 miles of Los Angeles. For a taste of what it's like, Jane and I both wrote observing reports from our last outing: Mojo's story with some astrophotos: http://mojo.whiteoaks.com/2009/10/19/finally-autoguiding/ Jane's report: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2009/10/24/another-perfect-stargazing-night/ A little photo album of the setup: http://photo.whiteoaks.com/2009-10-17-chuckwalla/index.html Admittedly our dark sky excursions are mostly for our own benefit. It's a great joy to enjoy the seclusion of the deserts around Southern California. We prefer our out-of-the-way location to the more crowded locations like Mt. Pinos. Besides that, our sky is darker. :) We travel about 160 miles from home in Monrovia out I-10 to a spot on BLM land south of Joshua Tree. Most of us make a night of it, catching a couple hours sleep as we can, and enjoy breakfast the next morning at Chiriaco Summit. Some will leave around midnight to make the trek back. Even though we are certainly getting away from crowds, we don't mind having you join us for one of our excursions. It's amazing to discover what a modest telescope can do when you get away from the bright skies of Los Angeles. It's a treat to watch the Milky Way overhead, see satellites and meteors, and really see the constellations you didn't know were there. We're often limited by the weather, and we'll cancel if it's cloudy, too windy, too hot, or otherwise inclement. The desert ground at our location is soft, and a couple of visitors have had bad luck getting stuck in the dirt. It's admittedly not a good place to get stuck. There are no facilities of any kind; Jane and I bring along a portable environmental toilet. And if you come you need to be prepared with layers of clothes, plenty of water, and preferably dim red flashlights to help you navigate. With all that in mind, you should consider it. We're a friendly social group, and love sharing views through the telescopes. Our trips to the desert will not be announced here. We generally pick the Saturday night closest to new moon. That's a homework assignment. :) If you'd like to join us and try out that telescope in your closet on a real dark sky, send me a note that week and find out if we're going. It's a three-hour trip from Monrovia, and we generally try to arrive about an hour before sunset. Think about it ... Cheers, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://mojo.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers http://otastro.org http://twitter.com/mojo_la

16 years, 7 months

Sidewalk Astronomy this weekend

by Jones, Jane H (1862)

Nothing will stop your intrepid Sidewalk Astronomers from delivering telescopic eye candy. Not even Halloween! Tonight, Friday the 30th we'll be at One Colorado in Pasadena. Now we always set up our telescopes "someplace" between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Avenues, but tonight we're going to be as close to or in the courtyard of One Colorado to support the Spitzer Science Center's exhibit. They are part of the 3-week Pasadena Arts and Ideas Festival. So stop by and join us, and check out the Spitzer Ask A scientist station, images and videos too! Saturday night, we "hope" to be on our Myrtle and Lime corner in Monrovia with just a couple telescopes. Most of our gang will be doing sidewalk astronomy in their own neighborhoods, so it might just be the two of us. But no matter how many telescopes the view will be BOO-tiful! Finally, before the links, here is my annual spooky astronomical observing list. Hope it's not too scary! http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2009/10/30/spooky-halloween-observing/ Pasadena Arts and Ideas Oct 23-Nov 9th http://artideasfestival.org/index.html Spitzer Science Center and One Colorado presents Fri and Saturday night (next weekend too): All day long: Images from NASA in the courtyard Dusk to 10pm with short videos, demonstrations, "Ask an Astronomer" Dusk to 9:30 Friday night, probably not on Halloween night.Astronomers on Colorado Blvd entrance to One Colorado http://artideasfestival.org/nasa_center.html 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 2009 What's Up podcast archives http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm

16 years, 7 months

A little star newsletter

by Jane Houston Jones

This month I talk about the history of the Andromeda Galaxy in my What's Up podcast. It's online here in lots of different formats for you to choose: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=224 itunes: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html All JPL podcastsincluding What's Up here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews#p/u Here's an article on the Universe Today website about my sketching project: I have been observing and sketching the Galilean objects through a small refractor similar to Galileo's ,all year long. It's my way to honor International Year of Astronomy and the 400 years since Galileo first aimed a telescope to the sky and saw wonderful things. http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/14/amateur-astronomer-is-chasing-galil… I was recently in Canada giving a talk, and met a First Nation Science Educator who was talking about astronomy legends and seeing the Cree Nation sky. I wrote a blog post about some of the star legends - it's here: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/ This experience made me want to devote my next year to storytelling. I'd like to include one seasonal star legend in each of my monthly What's Up podcasts. If you have a favorite myth or star legend. I'm not looking for things you can just google - I can do that myself. I'm looking for stories you learned or heard or love about constellations, the moon, the sun, stars, etc. I really look forward to hearing from you! Mojo and I are heading out to Warner Springs Ranch next weekend to conduct a star party there. It's a great weekend destination, not too far, but far enough, with hot springs, bicycles, horses, horseshoes, tennis hiking on the Anza Trail, and beautiful dark skies too! They offer free stargazing to their guests at least once a month - this will be our second star party there. :-)http://www.warnersprings.com/ Halloween weekend will find is at our usual haunts (get it, "haunts" as in haunted house) Old Town Pasadena Friday the 30th, Old Town Monrovia Saturday the 31st. Listed on our www.otastro.org website, weather permitting, of course. Thats all for this time, Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA Website: www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org What's Up October? Andromeda Galaxy! http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones http://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

16 years, 7 months

Sidewalk astronomy this weekend

by Morris Jones

Today the moon phase is "first quarter" which means you'll see a half moon in tonight's sky. That doesn't make sense does it? Shouldn't it be a quarter moon? Actually the term "first quarter" refers to the fact that the moon is one-fourth of the way through its 29.5 day orbit around the earth. In one week the moon will be half-way through its orbit, but we don't refer to its phase then as "half moon," instead we call it "full moon," which it is! (Homework: What then is "third quarter?") Tonight it should be comfortable and clear in Old Town Pasadena, and we'll be featuring the first-quarter moon and Jupiter. We try for Colorado Blvd. somewhere between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Ave., near Delacey, depending on parking, from 7:30 'til 9:30 or so. Look for Jupiter to the left of the moon tonight -- it will be the brightest object in the sky besides the moon, with a steady cream-colored glow. In the telescope we'll easily see the four giant moons of Jupiter discovered 400 years ago by Galileo. Tomorrow night (Saturday) looks to be a carbon copy of tonight. Many of our astronomers will be set up at the Huntington Library for a special astronomy program, and will give out views through a great variety of telescopes. We'll also have at least a couple at our traditional spot in Monrovia at the corner of Myrtle & Lime, at Library Park, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. A few of us had a good time under a true dark sky in the Colorado Desert last weekend. I did a little astrophotography and wrote up a little trip report: http://mojo.whiteoaks.com/2009/09/21/a-perfect-night-in-the-desert/ First quarter moon brings out lots of telescopes to give out views. Other LA astronomers and clubs will be setting up all over the place, including the big monthly first-quarter star party at Griffith Observatory. I hope you get out and catch some photons! Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://mojo.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la

16 years, 8 months

sidewalk astronomy in Monrovia tonight

by Morris Jones

A couple of our brave sidewalk astronomers are planning to try setting up in Monrovia this evening, on the corner of Myrtle & Lime. It will likely be a small contingent, and I'm encouraging them to pack up early if the air quality gets worse. Don't make a special trip to visit, but we should have some decent views of the moon and later Jupiter. Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la

16 years, 9 months

No sidewalk astronomy tonight in fire smoke

by Morris Jones

The smoke from the Station fire in La Canada isn't likely to obscure the moon and Jupiter tonight, but it's not looking like a good night to spend two or three hours breathing the fire smoke in the heat. We're going to take a pass on Old Town Pasadena tonight. I'll send an update tomorrow about Monrovia when we've had a chance to check the conditions better. Just as every year now since 2003 (when it was partly true), we've had a big spike in web traffic as the "Mars in August Spectacular" email virus makes its rounds again. Hopefully if you had friends or family who forwarded this now-bogus email to you, you've had a chance to set them straight. :) Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la

16 years, 9 months

Perseids and Mars this month

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone! This is the week of the Perseid meteor shower and the month of the "Mars Spectacular" email hoax and I have something to say about both of them! The Perseids are the topic of my August What's Up Podcast from JPL. Here it is in a couple easy formats; * YouTube is a fast download for a lot of people - my parents like this format to get their JPL podcasts . :-) http://is.gd/2bg2K * Here is the main archive: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm The Mars email hoax is out there again this year, even though Mars is not big or bright right now - I know some of you have received it because you've asked us about it! I was asked to write a blog for JPL about both the hoax and how you CAN see Mars this month! http://blogs.jpl.nasa.gov/?p=51. I also have updated a Mars Hoax website since 2005, which is full of facts, images and more: http://www.otastro.org/Mars2005/ Finally, welcome to all of our new followers! We've had more people join us after last weeks sidewalk astronomy than usual! Our next sidewalk dates are Pasadena Friday August 28 and Monrovia Saturday August 29th. If you are interested in seeing the Milky Way this summer/fall, our small group usually goes someplace dark on the new moon weekends. Where we go is almost always at least a 150 mile one way drive to a dark site. We'll be happy to tell you how to join us, or to suggest other public friendly (and sometime closer) dark sky star parties. Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA Website: www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org My NASA JPL What's Up podcast: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones http://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

16 years, 9 months

Apollo 11 + 40 years web product, view the moon too!

by Jones, Jane H (1862)

Hi everyone, there is a lot of coverage about the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing (July 20th) in the press, TV and online. The JFK Presidential Library has a remarkable site that is streaming realtime coverage of Apollo 11 plus 40 years. They have a great website (supposedly idealized for Firefox but I¹ve got it up on Safari and IE) that has a graphic showing what the spacecraft are doing and the audio of air-to-ground including the commentary. There is a background audio track (sort of rumbling) but that can be turned off. It does require an up to date flash player - I had to download it myself. It's pretty cool and it¹s going to be running for the next week (until Neil, Buzz and Mike splash down). http://wechoosethemoon.com/ The most frequent question we get out on the sidewalk when aiming at the moon is "Can I see the Apollo 11 landing site area" or "can I see the flag" and "can I see the footprints" (Answers: yes, no, no) You can take a look at the moon and see the general area where Apollo 11 landed. Even with the unaided eye, you can make out the Sea of Tranquility, and through binoculars, see the edge of the sea. The landing site is on the south-western edge of Mare Tranquillitatis, the Sea of Tranquility. Best seen at or after first quarter (which is July 28th) until the week after full moon. On the 27th this area is right on the terminator! Here is a map: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/Moon_Landings.jpg Our sidewalk astronomy dates this month are July 31 Pasadena and August 1 Monrovia. We'll be sure to point this area out to you, and I'll even bring some lunar landing site moon maps to hand out both nights- while supplies last, that is! Keep looking up! 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 What's Up for July: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm

16 years, 10 months

Harry Potter astronomy, dark sky stargazing coming up

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi astronomy enthusiasts, in honor of the new Harry Potter movie coming out next week some of your intrepid Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers got together and compiled "The Harry Potter Objects" - a literary astronomical project connecting characters in . K. Rowling's books to their astronomical counterparts. We read the books and made a list of the astronomy names, like Sirius Black and Draco Malfoy. Then we researched both the astronomical objects and the Potter characters. Next we took our telescopes, binoculars, star charts and green laser pointers out of the city to our dark sky observing spots over many months and located the objects. It was a ton of fun and finally we wrote it up for you to enjoy! Here it is: http://tr.im/HPsky Also, we're inviting you to join us at a dark sky outing next weekend. On July 17th and 18th some of us are taking our telescopes to the Warner Springs Ranch. http://www.warnersprings.com/ Each month the ranch offers a free star party to their guests and local folks. They usually just have one or two astronomers ,and one of them is a colleague of mine at JPL. she thought we might like to try it out. It is a one third shorter drive than to our usual desert spots.You don't have to stay at the ranch to stargaze with us, but we are staying there for the Saturday night public star party (a few of us will be there Friday night also). There are camping areas neaby - Oak Knoll Campground is about 15 miles away on Palomar Mountain, I am told. http://www.warnersprings.com/ Astronomy is weather permitting, of course. The 4 of us who worked on the Harry Potter Observing Project will all be there Saturday night, and we'll be happy to point out the summer objects from the project list. :-) The Milky Way, subject of my July 2009 Whats Up podcast will be beautiful from Warner Springs. Hope to see some of you there! Email me if you have questions, but contact the ranch for logistics and/or reservations. Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA Website: www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org My NASA JPL What's Up podcast: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones http://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

16 years, 10 months

What's Up for July? ISS from the city, Milky Way away from city lights

by Jones, Jane H

Hi astronomy enthusiasts! Mojo and I have been away for a couple weeks on a family cruise to Alaska, but we are home and now our eyes are once again turned upwards to enjoy the local night sky. You can still view Saturn lower in the west and look for Jupiter rising in the east! For SoCal residents there are some pretty good evening passes of the International Space Station this week. Look in the Southwest (Saturn will be bright and low in the SW too) and the ISS will be traveling from the SW to the NE less than halfway to the horizon. Go to the Heavens Above web page and click on the date of the pass if you are interested more detail. You may see a small satellite following the ISS - that is the Progress Resupply Vehicle! Here's the local Heaven's Above page: http://is.gd/1qaTZ The good ISS passes are at: 7/7 9:35 P.M. (ISS passes near Saturn W to E) 7/8 8:24 P.M. (the best south to north) 7/9 8:49 P.M. (look closer to the horizon below Saturn) What else is up? The Milky Way is beautiful, and well worth a trip away from city lights - more on an outing we're planning soon. The Milky Way is the subject of my monthly podcast too. You can view it here in many formats: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm And here http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html And here on Youtube with other JPL videos here: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews&view=videos That's all for now! 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 Saturnobs http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/Education/saturnobservation/ What's Up June: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html

16 years, 11 months

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