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ISS pass tonight5:5:56 pm (thank you , SoCal fog)

by Jane Houston Jones

To add insult to injury tonight, there is an ISS pass at 5:56 p.m. Pacific (Southern California only). It will appear 10° above SW horizon. Visible for 5 minutes, it disappears 26° above NE horizon. Maximum height is 79°. You can get your own ISS alerts here, by signing up at NASA's Spot The Station website. https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ Another fun and free tool is Heavens Above, a website/App where you can find flyover data on many additional satellites, and check after the fact to verify something you saw. https://www.heavens-above.com/ A final astronomers resource for both light pollution data and cloud cover is the Clear Sky Chart. Here is the list of the many California charts, so you can see if your particular area will be more cloudy or less cloudy tonight or anytime. https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/prov/California_charts.html. Click on a category such as "Cloud Cover" to get a great explanation. You might find it useful to check out sky conditions when you'll be traveling, vacationing. You might even find a great dark sky location or astronomy club you didn't know about! There are hundreds of charts for each state in the US, all the Canadian provinces, Mexico and even the Bahamas.:-) https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/index.html#chart_list Our forecast is still for marine layer tonight, but I'll be out hoping to catch some ISS views early and Eclipse views later. Let me know if you luck out. -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

4 years, 5 months

Look up! Partial Lunar Eclipse Nov 18-19 (Thursday night Friday morning)

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone, there's a fantastic partial lunar eclipse that begins at 11:18 p.m. Pacific tomorrow night! It will reach its partial maximum (just barely not total) maximum two hours later at 1:02 am Friday morning and the partial eclipse ends at 3:47 am. An hour before and after this span is the subtle and fainter penumbral eclipse, when Earth's penumbral shadow starts touching the Moon's face. It looks like we will have some cloud cover here in the LA area, but hopefully, not enough to stop you from staying up or setting your alarm to step outside to view, sketch or photograph some part of the eclipse. You can find more info, and can switch locations outside southern CA here. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/los-angeles Your sidewalk astronomers will not be out on the corner this late at night, but we'll be hopefully enjoying the eclipse at home just like you! This eclipse will look very much like the (most recent) May 2021 total lunar eclipse - view it here if you want to see how close to full tomorrow's partial eclipse is - it is a great comparison. https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2021-may-26. Hopefully you'll be able to notice (tomorrow night) the lower edge of the moon remains much brighter than the deep red or ochre hue we can expect across the rest of the moon's face, as shown below. Tips from astronomer David: "You can view the lunar eclipse with your bare eyes or a pair of binoculars from anyplace where the Moon is visible. Unlike a solar eclipse, no precautions are needed, just find the Moon shortly before the eclipse starts, and enjoy the show! It will be most apparent that something is happening between 11:15 PM to 2:45 AM" For those not in our time zone, find your location, maps and tips here: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2021-november-19 Time and date - watch the whole animation here https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/los-angeles?iso=20211119 video on timeanddate.com Eclipse images Total Lunar Eclipse montage courtesy of David Hasenauer Here are a few of my favorite resources: NASA: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/lunar-phases-and-eclipses/ What's Up: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/home/ Jane and the Old Town Sidewalk Astronmers -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

4 years, 5 months

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight Nov 13 5:45 - 8:30 p.m.

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone! We'll have a few of our sidewalk astronomers out tonight at Monrovia's Library Park from 5:45 - 8:30 p.m. On display (as you may have noticed lately), will be the moon, Jupiter and Saturn. Venus may be visible low in the west right after sunset. There's a nice graphic of tonight's sky our astronomer Gary created, and I posted it on twitter here https://twitter.com/otastro We've been getting a lot of requests from schools and community groups for astronomers/events. Let us help you select your date, and give us two months (preferably) lead time , to planso we don't end up with too many events for our small group of astronomers all in the same week. Thanks, Jane and the rest of the Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers. PS This month's NASA What's Up podcast is here :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzeK4TcOSPU -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

4 years, 6 months

Enjoy the moon from home!

by Jane Houston Jones

Tonight is Intl Observe the Moon Night and our astronomers were all unavailable to do Monrovia Sidewalk Astronomy. So take a break step outside and look up! Here are a few links: NASA What's Up and more https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/skywatching/home/ NASA Moon facts https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/overview/ Space.com IOMN https://www.space.com/international-observe-the-moon-night-2021 Moon facts https://www.space.com/19619-top-10-moon-facts.html Take care, and we hope to be back on the sidewalk soon Jane and the sidewalk astronomy crew -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

4 years, 6 months

No Sidewalk Astronomy tonight (8/14/21)

by David Hasenauer

Hi Everyone, The Moon is near 1st Quarter, but unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating with us for tonight. Thus, we will not be on the Sidewalk tonight. - Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers

4 years, 9 months

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight at the Corner of Myrtle & Lime

by David Hasenauer

The Moon is just past 1st Quarter, so it is a Sidewalk Astronomy night tonight (7/1721). We hope to see you on the corner of Myrtle and Lime. Sunset is about 8 pm. We will mainly have the Moon tonight. Venus sets shortly after Sunset, and Saturn rises about 9 pm (although it will take some time to clear the buildings). - Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers

4 years, 9 months

ISS Pass, What's Up, a little good news :-)

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone, we're still not offering sidewalk astronomy in Monrovia and not sure how or when that will work in the future, but tonight enjoy an ISS pass from your front porch, driveway or back yard! Time: Tue Apr 06 8:20 PM, (Pacific time and views) Visible: 5 min, Max Height: 42°, Appears: 10° above WNW, Disappears: 17° above SSE. Elsewhereians, get your personalized announcements here --> https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ Here's April 2021 What's UP podcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVknY8baakQ There are plans for our wonderful resumed Mojave National Preserve Star party, likely in fall 2021. Again no details yet, but we'll share when we have more information. Over and out, Jane -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy,travel,music,food,cats

5 years, 1 month

Carnegie Observatory Virtual Conjunction and star party begins at 5 p.m. pacific

by Jane Houston Jones

https://obs.carnegiescience.edu/ Here's the zoom link. You can join the virtual star party through Zoom or through YouTube live stream. The links are below. We ask that you register for the zoom link (it's free). Zoom: https://carnegiescience.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FCy2jD9yQOmvhqIcPJSsnw <https://carnegiescience.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FCy2jD9yQOmvhqIcPJSsnw> YouTube: https://youtu.be/pZtXOguk63U <https://youtu.be/pZtXOguk63U> Date: Monday, December 21, 2020 - 5:00pm Good luck every one! Jane and Mojo -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

5 years, 4 months

Countdown to conjunction! Dec 21

by Jane Houston Jones

I'm resending information about tomorrow's Jupiter and Saturn planetary conjunction because a good percentage of our email list didn't receive last week's note in a timely manner. Also, I'm sharing some photos Mojo and I took using our cell phones on the 16th, 17 and 19th. Check out the views tonight, and also after Monday, and let us know what you see! I love this description of conjunctions from NASA Astronomer Henry Throop in this article https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-great-conjunction-of-jupiter-and-saturn “You can imagine the solar system to be a racetrack, with each of the planets as a runner in their own lane and the Earth toward the center of the stadium,” said Henry Throop, astronomer in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “From our vantage point, we’ll be able to be to see Jupiter on the inside lane, approaching Saturn all month and finally overtaking it on December 21. "The planets regularly appear to pass each other in the solar system, with the positions of Jupiter and Saturn being aligned in the sky about once every 20 years." He goes on to remind us of Galileo's views of Jupiter's 1623 conjunction. The whole article is worth a read!! For those who would like to see this phenomenon for themselves, here’s what to do (also copied from the NASA article): * Find a spot with an unobstructed view of the sky, such as a field or park. Jupiter and Saturn are bright, so they can be seen even from most cities. * An hour after sunset, look to the southwestern sky. Jupiter will look like a bright star and be easily visible. Saturn will be slightly fainter and will appear slightly above and to the left of Jupiter until December 21, when Jupiter will overtake it and they will reverse positions in the sky. * The planets can be seen with the unaided eye, but if you have binoculars or a small telescope, you may be able to see Jupiter’s four large moons orbiting the giant planet. (Jane's note: steady your binoculars against a pole or wall for stability.) Here are a few snaps from our driveway in Monrovia over the past few nights, taken shortly after sunset. On the 16th, the moon is below the planets, on the 17th above, and on the 19th the moon is too high in the sky for a photo. I took the first two cell phone photos, and Mojo took last night's photo. Moon, Saturn, Jupiter Dec 16, 2020 Moon, Jupiter, Saturn Dec 17, 2020 Jupiter, Saturn Dec 19, 2020 -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

5 years, 4 months

December stargazing from the Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi stargazers! There has been plenty of publicity about the December Gemind meteor shower, but we haven't really wanted to promote public get-togethers for stargazing. You may still be able to see some for the next few days, as this shower is active from Dec 1 through the 22nd. We're a few days past the peak of Dec 13/14, but if you want to get up and look outside from your darkest corner, between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. you may get lucky! The International Meteor Organization publishes a great weekly and monthly wrap-up of meteor activity. You can bookmark here https://www.imo.net/viewing-the-geminid-meteor-shower-in-2020/ No doubt you have been watching the great planets Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky. I like this write-up from Astronomy Magazine: https://astronomy.com/news/2020/12/jupiter-and-saturn-will-form-rare-christ…. Keep looking low in the southwest sky an hour after sunset. December21 is the closest of conjunction, and both this article and NASA's What's Up video shows where to look and what's up with that! I'm sure you've been watching the pair get closer to one another over the last several months! https://youtu.be/NEVCDhEyKx0 One fun at-home stargazing project is sketching the moon. I've been sketching and writing about lunar observing for over 30 years. My first lunar writeup, for the Sidewalk Astronomers newsletter was called "A day in the life of the moon". It features whimsical lunar phase drawings made by my mom Barbara Miller, now 90 and still drawing and painting! http://photo.whiteoaks.com/2009-galileo&me/slides/moonwriteup004.html For your armchair enjoyment, here is my 2009 sketching series honoring the 400th anniversary of Galileo's own first telescopic sketches in 1609. I used a small small refractor of a similar aperture to Galileo's own 1609 telescope, but with 20th century optics. My series of sketches recreate Galileo's own sketches of sunspots, stars and clusters (like the Pleiades and Orion's Trapezium stars), planets and their moons (the famous Galilean satellites of Jupiter) and moon phases. Galileo even sketched Jupiter and unknown-at-the-time Neptune, and I sketched them both, too. Scroll http://jane.whiteoaks.com/2009/05/25/chasing-galileo-sketches-through-a-sma…. I used the same small 3" x 5" (or occasionally 5" x 8" spiral bound Strathmore sketch pads and Faber Castell blacklead pencils I used to start this hobby decades ago. If you decide to try sketching, send me some of your examples. Over and out! Jane -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro Instagram @janehoustonjones http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

5 years, 4 months

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