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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

3 years, 8 months

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

4 years

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

4 years

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

4 years

October - ISS pass tonight, Mars closest, plenty of planets

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone! We're still not cleared to bring telescopes out on public sidewalks, but luckily there are plenty of viewing opportunities from your own location. I'm sure those looking up have noticed bright reddish Mars in the E-SE sky. With the smoke, it looks even redder! Mars will be great to view all month -- it is at opposition October 13 (closest on October 6th), but will thrill skywatchers for another month. Jupiter and Saturn can be spotted low in the SE sky this month. We have a second full moon on Halloween. Finally, tonight Oct 8th, the ISS passes high overhead. Time: Thu Oct 08 7:09 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 82 (90° is straight overhead). Appears: 10° above NW, Disappears: 11° above S. Good luck. You can sign up to receive your own ISS alerts at https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ NASA's What's Up podcast for October is here: https://youtu.be/CaSyuJPJfGM There are many gorgeous sketches and photos of Mars out there on the internet. Here's one of my favorite sites APOD https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201006.html, and here's my very favorite recent sketch by the great astrophotographer (and a good friend of ours) Damian Peach. https://twitter.com/peachastro/status/1311320112880906240/photo/1 That's all for now, send me questions or observations or just to say hi :-) Miss you all! Jane -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

4 years, 2 months

Simultaneous ISS and Crew Dragon Flyovers Tonight

by Morris Jones

4 years, 4 months

How and where and when to see Comet NEOWISE , with helpful links :-)

by Jane Houston Jones

Hi everyone, now that Comet NEOWISE is in our evening sky, everyone wants to try to see it, especially from a safe place like their home. The comet, from an urban area, is extremely difficult if not impossible to see with the unaided eye. Start looking about an hour after sunset. Binoculars help once the sky darkens. It's hard to find through a telescope, binoculars are better, unaided eye nearly impossible. So, to set expectations, here are two images I took 2 nights ago from Duarte Sports Park only a mile from our house. Lots of urban lights, but this location put some distance between the viewers and the mountains. These are taken with my cell phone so they will represent a better expectation of what the urban comet hunter will see. It won't look like the images from a dark sky or another part of the world, but it will be your very own view! https://www.dropbox.com/s/qgkyji741rqt5rr/Comet_faint_IMG_20200716_212035.j… https://www.dropbox.com/s/r01t0ugaw8d0vek/Comet_Jane_fave_IMG_20200716_2119… JPL has an excellent easy to understand comet finding chart here :-) Many media charts show other stars in Ursa Major (the nose and the paws of the great bear) but those stars are not easy to see or familiar to many, so kudos for a great chart JPL! https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/4354_sky_chart_sh… To help you figure where to look beneath the familiar dipper, here is my favorite chart: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/measuring-the-sky-by-hand.html . Use your outstretched hand and notice your thumb to pinkie span the familiar Big Dipper asterism as shown on the chart. So, to see the comet you need to look this same distance below the dipper! That's why you have to get away from the mountains! Finally, here are some additional charts that also show the dipper and the comet's path from Earth and Sky https://earthsky.org/space/how-to-see-comet-c2020-f3-neowise and from Sky and Telescope https://skyandtelescope.org/observing/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-july-17-25… For those asking where to go to see the comet, look for a place where your NW horizon is not blocked by the mountains. The comet was 12 degrees above the horizon close to an hour after sunset last night. We were able to see it (with difficulty and not naked eye) a block from our home through a notch in the mountains. Use the dipper as your guide, can you see lots of sky below the dipper? Closer to the beach. At some elevation. You get the idea. :-) Let me know of your success, and you have a little more than a week until first quarter moon will brighten the sky more. Good luck! There is almost nothing more exciting that seeing a comet, especially a public friendly, conveniently timed, traveler that won't return for nearly 7,000 years! JPL's What's Up page here :-) https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whats-up-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/ -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

4 years, 5 months

Morning planets and the moon! Plus a comet, maybe

by Jane Houston Jones

If you haven't been out to see it, the pre-dawn sky has been magnificent with planets lately. Mojo and I had an observing feast Friday morning. Four planets, moon, plus comet NEOWISE at dawn. Mars was big enough to see a polar cap and albedo features through a telescope. Venus is a gorgeous crescent right now. Jupiter had a Ganymede shadow transit -- where a black shadow marched across the planet's disk Friday morning. Jut in binos you can see the Galilean moons orbiting the giant planet. Saturn had open rings and a prominent Cassini division. Even naked eye the view is gorgeous, with the four planets + moon tracing a full-sky ecliptic. Tonight: Mars and Moon near midnight. Saturn and Jupiter shortly after sunset. Mars and Moon near midnight. Venus before dawn. Comet Neowise, if you have an unobstructed northeast sky (which we don't, yet we Caught a tiny glimpse as it clears the foothills Thursday morning. If you have the horizon look NE on the horizon 45 minutes before sunrise. Don't worry, hopefully this comet will become an evening object soon. This month's NASA What's Up video has some info about these morning planets: https://youtu.be/cNf6vb4gwEM Hang in there, astro team! Jane and the sidewalk astronomer gang -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

4 years, 5 months

Hello from your sidewalk astronomers! ISS/Dragon Pass tonight at 10 p.m. + next few nights

by Jane Houston Jones

Hello everyone! Tonight is as good a time as any to reconnect, because tonight (from the LA/Southern CA area) at 10:00 p.m. we can see an ISS pass withSpaceX's Crew Dragon Demo docked to ISS high overhead! Since the two spacecraft are docked you will only see one object, of course. You can also see passes over the next several nights. Remember, you don't have to go anywhere to see the ISS, just step outside and look in the directions indicated. A compass phone app comes in handy, if you are unsure of directions. You cant miss the moon on all these nights, too. Mon Jun 1: 9:58 PM - 10:02 PM, Max Height: 70°, Appears: 10° above NW at 9:58, Disappears: 71° above N 10:02 PM. Look for the big dipper in the northern sky, the ISS will pass from the dipper bowl to handle. Tue June 2: 9:11 PM - 9:16 PM. Max Height: 39°, Appears: 10° above NNW at 9:11 PM, Disappears: 22° above E 9:16 PM June 3 8:23 PM - 8:29 PM, Max height 24°, appears 10° above NNW at 8:23, Disappears: 10°above E 8:29 PM also 90 minutes later... June 3 10:00 PM - 10:03 PM, Max height 28°, appears 10° above WNW at 10:00, Disappears: 28° above SW 10:03 PM June 4 9:12 PM - 9:17 PM, Max height 56°, appears 10° above NW at 9:12, Disappears: 24°above SSE 9:17 PM June 6 9:13 PM - 9:18 PM, Max height 16°, appears 10° above W at 9:13, Disappears: 10°above SSW 9:17 PM I recommend you get your own personal email with overhead pass information for your own location, sent same day as the pass, by signing up here: https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/ The Heaven's Above website is great for not only ISS passes, but many other visible satellite passes and has great sky maps: https://www.heavens-above.com/PassSummary.aspx?satid=25544 The JPL What's Up isn't out yet for June -- probably tomorrow. Find it here https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/ and /or via your JPL video feed from Youtube. Most of our friendly astronomers have been taking their telescopes out to their bright back yards (or nearby). Mojo and I have been doing this too. Here are some images he's taken with a couple of our telescopes. Enjoy Mojo's writeups (the blogs before and after this one are fun to read too) http://mojo.whiteoaks.com/2020/05/22/astrophotography-from-home/ Jane and the rest of your Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers all miss you and our nights out under the moonlit skies, or under the desert Milky Way! See you all soon we hope! Drop us a note if you have questions, or just to say hi! Jane -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-: Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

4 years, 6 months

Sidewalk Astronomy tonight! (Saturday Oct 5)

by Jane Houston Jones

Our intrepid sidewalk astronomers have been holding down the astro-fort, conducting several events this week! Tonight will be no different. The weather seems to be looking good ( I am writing this from Barcelona, where it is a little cloudy). Stop by if you you are in the neighborhood of Myrtle and Lime streets tonight after sunset. The 40% waxing crescent moon will be a pretty sight, along with Jupiter and Saturn in the southwest sky. Have a look at NASA's What's Up video for October -- It features International Observe the moon night -- which is tonight! https://youtu.be/TnbAVSmpmyM If there is any change in weather or astronomer availability, our local contingent will send a note out. Jane and Mojo -- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats

5 years, 2 months

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