JPL just published Jane's "What's Up" for February, which has a great
explanation of a lunar eclipse, and information about viewing Saturn:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/whatsup/whatsup20080219/
Now about that eclipse ... :)
The current forecast is "mostly cloudy," which might mean we'll get to
see peeks of the moon through what astronomers call "sucker holes,"
meaning they suck you into going observing when it's really hopeless. :)
Nevertheless, as long as it isn't raining, and there are some breaks in
the clouds, I plan to set up a telescope at Myrtle & Lime in hopes of
catching a few glimpses of the moon in eclipse.
You can see the eclipse from anywhere that isn't cloudy of course, but
we'd love to have you drop by and say "Hi" if you're out and about!
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers http://www.otastro.org
Tonight (Monday Feb. 18) there's an excellent pass of the International
Space Station over Los Angeles, and if the timing is right, it will be
followed or preceded by the space shuttle, making for a great double
pass. The shuttle is scheduled to undock this morning.
Look in the northwest starting at 5:50 p.m. It will be almost directly
overhead at 5:53, and set below the horizon in the southeast at 5:57.
The shuttle shouldn't be far behind, or ahead. Both will be very bright
and look like moving stars, with no blinking lights like airplanes.
You can create your own satellite pass predictions for your location at
http://heavens-above.com
Don't forget the total lunar eclipse this Wednesday night!
And finally it was great seeing so many of you on the sidewalk in
Pasadena and Monrovia this weekend! We had our first Saturn night, and
some of our biggest visitor counts ever, especially in Pasadena on Friday.
Cheers,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
In addition to our viewing of the moon and Saturn tonight in Monrovia,
there are a couple of interesting passes for the International Space
Station and the famous decaying spy satellite referred to as USA 193.
First to pass is the spy satellite. It will be magnitude 1.2 at its
brightest, not as bright as the bright planets or brightest stars, but
should be easily visible.
It will first become visible low in the southwest at 6:33 p.m., and
reach its maximum altitude near Mars at 6:35 p.m. It will fade out a
minute later in the northeast.
Then there's the International Space Station (ISS) which has shuttle
Atlantis docked at the moment. It will be the brightest thing in the
sky besides the moon.
ISS will first appear in the northwest at 6:41 p.m., and reach maximum
altitude, almost overhead, at 6:44 p.m. It will enter the earth's
shadow about a minute later.
Orbiting satellites look like moving stars, and follow very different
paths in the sky from airplanes. Their light comes from the sun shining
on them -- they don't produce any light of their own. If it blinks,
it's an airplane. :)
We'll be pointing them both out in Monrovia tonight, but they should be
visible from most anywhere near L.A.
Best regards,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
It looks to be a beautiful weekend for sidewalk astronomy. Jane and I
will be in Old Town Pasadena tonight, on Colorado Blvd. near Delacey,
from about 6:30 'til 9:30 p.m. We'll be showing the moon, and if you
arrive a little later in the evening, we should have our first looks at
Saturn for this year.
We'll be repeating on Saturday in Monrovia at Myrtle & Lime with our
motley crew of sidewalk astronomers, from 6:00 'til 9:00.
Then on Wednesday evening, February 20th, we plan to have a special
outing in Monrovia for the total lunar eclipse.
The moon will be totally eclipsed from 7:01 p.m. 'til about 7:51 p.m.
For a little over an hour before and after, you'll see the moon moving
into and out of earth's shadow.
If the sky is clear it should be great to see! No telescope required,
but at least one of us will be out at Monrovia at Myrtle & Lime with a
telescope.
Hope to see you there ...
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers http://www.otastro.org
JPL's new documentary about Explorer 1: Beginnings of the Space age
airs tonight , Saturday the 2nd on KCET at 10 p.m.
I see it also is showing tomorrow (Sunday the 3rd) at 5:00 p.m.
http://www.kcet.org/programs/science-nature/index.php?mID=9356&refer=th
The JPL press release is here:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-008
"Explorer 1: JPL and the Beginnings of the Space Age" will also air
on local and national media outlets. In the Los Angeles area, it will
air on KCET, Channel 28, on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 10 p.m. and Sunday,
Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. The documentary will air nationally on Discovery HD
Theater, with multiple airings beginning Jan. 31.
Thanks to Gary for reminding me to remind you. :-)
Jane and Mojo (in Sarasota, FL on vacation)
--
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
There are a lot of really interesting multimedia offerings on the JPL
website this month.
On JPL's front page http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm you'll find:
What's Up - a short podcast showcasing a unique view of the night
sky. January's podcast is available, a little later than usual, due
to so much going on in space and science-wise, in January,
including,,,
Cassini at Saturn Interactive Explorer - NASA's first 3-D interactive
mission experience using a web browser.
Explorer 1, the first US Earth-orbiting satellite, launched January 31, 1958
Scroll past the top features to News and Features for:
Cassini finds Rhythm in Saturn's Rings
January 29 - Asteroid zooms by Earth
And finally, NASA and Beatles celebrate anniversaries by beaming
"Across the Universe" into Deep Space.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-019
We'll be offering some special viewing opportunities this month in
addition to our usual sidewalk astronomy on the 15th and 16th of
February. February 20 is the date of a total lunar eclipse, and the
viewing time will be much more convenient than the last one. You'll
be able to view the eclipse in the early evening from moonrise at
about 5:30 p.m., to totality at about 7:00 p.m. and then the eclipse
will be over at about 8:30. We'll send out more info on this sooner
to the date, but will bring some telescopes down to Library Park in
Monrovia on Wednesday the 20th, weather permitting.
Jane and Mojo (in Florida this week)
--
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
Yes, the bright pumpkin-colored star next to the moon tonight is Mars.
We're in Monrovia tonight, 6-9:30 or so. :)
Cheers,
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
Tonight looks good for you to get out and see the moon and Mars, but
unfortunately Jane and I have to cancel our planned outing on Colorado
Blvd. in Pasadena to deal with family matters.
Luckily the forecast for Saturday night in Monrovia looks even better
than tonight's. We might get lucky and have some good Mars viewing,
even as difficult a target as it is.
So if you're out tonight, don't forget to glance almost straight up and
see a beautiful first quarter moon. Look a bit to the east of it for a
bright pumpkin-colored star, and you'll be looking at Mars. Mars will
be the brightest star-like object in the sky.
Hope to see you on Saturday ...
Mojo
--
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers http://www.otastro.org
Here is some "hot off the press" space news about the recently
discovered asteroid which was expected to pass close to Mars on
January 30th. It certainly was an exciting unfolding story! Now the
probability of an impact has been reduced to 0.01%.
Here is an updated press release dated today: January 9, 2008
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news156.html
"Since our last update, we have received numerous tracking measurements
of asteroid 2007 WD5 from four different observatories. These new data
have led to a significant reduction in the position uncertainties during
the asteroid's close approach to Mars on Jan. 30, 2008. As a result, the
impact probability has dropped dramatically, to approximately 0.01% or 1
in 10,000 odds, effectively ruling out the possible collision with Mars.
Our best estimate now is that 2007 WD5 will pass about 26,000 km from
the planet's center (about 7 Mars radii from the surface) at around
12:00 UTC (4:00 am PST) on Jan. 30th. With 99.7% confidence, the pass
should be no closer than 4000 km from the surface." (there's way more
info on the link)
In case you want to view Mars and the moon again from the old town
sidewalks, our next observing dates are Friday January 18th in
Pasadena 7-9 p.m. and Saturday January 19th 6:30 - 9 p.m. in
Monrovia. If we alter these start times, they'll be posted on the Old
Town Sidewalk Astronomy website http://www.otastro.org/ on the top
right of the page. If the weather is iffy, check the website for a
cancellation blurb.
If it's clear tonight, why don't you step out and say hello to Mars,
knowing that it won't be getting whacked by a 160 foot diameter
asteroid named 2007 WD5 at the end of the month. :-)
--
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
Those up waiting for Santa to appear may mistake red Mars for Rudolph
the reindeer's nose tonight! The just-past-full moon is below Mars
tonight in the sky. It's hard to miss these two objects, they are the
brightest objects in the sky! Last night Mars was to be seen just to
the right of the moon. Last nights's full moon could also be called the
moon at opposition - that is when the moon and the sun are on opposite
sides of the earth. So we see a lunar opposition every month! Tonight
Mars is at opposition - meaning that Mars and the sun are on opposite
sides of the Earth. This occurs only every 26 months!
This weekend, even though it was freezing (well, it was cold) lots of
you came out for a look at Mars and the moon in both Pasadena and
Monrovia. And the question most people asked was "what can you tell me
about the asteroid that is going to hit Mars?? I hadn't read the press
release before heading to the sidewalk Friday afternoon. I'll
summarize here: "Astronomers are monitoring the trajectory of an
asteroid estimated to be 50 meters (164 feet) wide that is expected to
cross Mars' orbital path early next year. Observations provided by the
astronomers and analyzed by NASA's Near-Earth Object Office at the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., indicate the object may pass
within 30,000 miles of Mars at about 6 a.m. EST (3 a.m. PST) on Jan. 30,
2008. "Right now asteroid 2007 WD5 is about half-way between Earth and
Mars and closing the distance at a speed of about 27,900 miles per
hour," said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near Earth Object Office at JPL.
"Over the next five weeks, we hope to gather more information from
observatories so we can further refine the asteroid's trajectory." You
can read more and see some really cool images of the asteroids current
position and possible paths here:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-152
I've updated my Mars2007 webpage for those who want a one-stop shopping
place for information about Mars. http://www.otastro.org/Mars2005/
Now I have to get back to following Santa's current position. :-)
Jane
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org
