-------- Original Message --------
From: HQ-spotthestation(a)mail.nasa.gov
Sent: September 18, 2019 8:57:12 AM PDT
To: jane(a)whiteoaks.com
Subject: SpotTheStation
Time: Wed Sep 18 8:04 PM, Visible: 5 min, Max Height: 82°, Appears: 11° above SW, Disappears: 29° above NE
--
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
Sidewalk Astronomy tonight! Some of us are at Monrovia Canyon or
elsewhere tonight, but there will be plenty of astronomers at Myrtle and
Lime tonight from sunset for about 2 hours. Sunset is at 7:10 p.m.
tonight, so setup will be shortly after that. Stop and say hi! ANnd
enjoy the views!
Here is JPL's monthly What's Up video for September!
https://youtu.be/ssYGxytMV8Y Jane
--
Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:
Twitter: @jhjones @otastro
http://www.otastro.org/
Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats
We'll have another ISS pass tonight! I love it when we can amaze our
seatmates at the Hollywood Bowl. That's where we'll be tonight. Hope
some of you amaze someone tonight :-) See some of you Saturday night at
Sidewalk Astronomy, I hope. Sign up for your own alerts here:
https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
Time: Tue Aug 06 8:43 PM, Visible: 4 min, Max Height: 69°, Appears: 28°
above NW, Disappears: 20° above ESE
--
Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer
Twitter: @jhjones @otastro
http://www.otastro.org/
Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats
Hi fellow star lovers!
Tonight, there will be an ISS pass visible from the LA region. Step
outside and look towards the NNW. It will only get to 41 degrees above
the NE horizon (90 degrees is overhead), but still, it's fun to wave to
the astronauts, and impress people with your cool forecasting skills.
Plus the moon will be visible low in the western sky, and Saturn and
brighter Jupiter are visible in the southern sky. You can't miss them,
they are both very bright, and beige/butterscotch in color.
Then next Saturday night is our monthly Sidewalk Astronomy night. We
should have several telescopes next week, after everybody being
scattered here and there last month. We'll get underway shortly before
sunset at 7:45 p.m. Myrtle and Lime Street corner in Monrovia - same
place for 15 years!
Finally, the super convenient summer meteor shower, the Perseids, peak
on August 12. he full moon is on Aug 15th, so even a day or two before
the peak on the evening of the 11th, morning of the 12th would be fine,
as there are several days of higher rates on either side of the peak. I
think we will be heading someplace dark, without telescopes, and with
meteor observing chairs and meteor counting tools (eyes, clipboard,
pencil, clock, and coffee) Sunday night the 11th. The NASA What's Up
video team will tell you about the Perseids here:
https://youtu.be/k74kIAHS-ag
I found this nifty moonrise/set - sunrise/set calendar, a good way to
eyeball how many hours between moonset and sunrise. Aug 11/12 will
provide several hours of darkish sky. https://bit.ly/2MHVsy6
That's all for this month (until something else interesting in the sky
occurs) Jane
ISS PASS Details: Time: Sat Aug 03 9:34 PM, Visible: 2 min, Max Height: 41°, Appears: 18° above
NNW, Disappears: 41° above NE
-- Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer Twitter: @jhjones @otastro
http://www.otastro.org/ Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats
Local night sky fans: tonight Weds July 27th, 8:56 p.m. I'm out of state, but have a look tonight and wave at the Space Station astronauts on this 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 week! Jane
-------- Original Message --------
From: HQ-spotthestation(a)mail.nasa.gov
Sent: July 17, 2019 8:57:15 AM PDT
To: jane(a)whiteoaks.com
Subject: SpotTheStation
Time: Wed Jul 17 8:56 PM, Visible: 6 min, Max Height: 71°, Appears: 11° above SW, Disappears: 10° above NE
--
From Jane, sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
From before sunset tonight (at 8:00 p.m.) to about 9:30 p.m. a few Sidewalk Astronomers will be at Myrtle and Lime streets in Monrovia. Some of us are on vacation or otherwise engaged this summer Saturday, but if you are out and about a few Astronomers should be there to show Jupiter, moon, possibly Saturn! Cheers! Jane and Mojo (not available tonight)
--
From Jane, sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
We'll be out a little later tonight. Sunset isn't until 8 p.m. so that's
when we'll start observing at our usual Myrtle and Lime corner in
Monrovia CA. The moon is a few days from first quarter, so will appear
as a chonky crescent tonight. We've just about lost views of Mars this
apparition, you might glimpse it near the western horizon with unaided
eye after sunset, but it will be too low to aim a telescope at from our
corner.
Jupiter is beginning its months-long reign as King of the planets in the
night sky sky this month. Despite all the hype about Jupiter's
brightness and closest approach (opposition) to the Earth in its orbit
this week, this isn't the easiest time to view the planet early in the
evening. Just like the full moon phase, Jupiter Opposition means Jupiter
is "opposite" the sun, rising sunset *opposite* the sun and setting near
sunrise. At 8 p.m. sunset tonight, Jupiter will only be a few degrees
above the eastern horizon. It may clear the trees in Monrovia by 10 p.m.
tonight but will be best to see around midnight for the next few weeks,
when it reaches its highest altitude, which is only 30 degrees above the
horizon. Each week it will reach this highest point a half hour earlier,
so July and August will be prime viewing months.
So tonight's view, when Jupiter will be lower in the sky won't provide
awesome views. For awesomness, set your alarm, step outside between
midnight and dawn over the next few months. With some moderate-sized
binoculars and a steady view (use a fence or post to steady/balance the
binos) aim at Jupiter and you should be able to see the Galilean moons!
Hope to see some of you tonight! Jane
Jane Houston Joneshttp://www.otastro.org/ <http://www.otastro.org/>
Tonight should be our sidewalk night in Monrovia, but the clouds won't
clear until 8 p.m. and there is a line of small but powerful
thunderstorms between us and Antelope Valley. So we are cancelling
tonight's sidewalk astronomy to protect our telescopes, and not
disappointing our guests with poor views of the moon. Next dates are
June 8 and 15. If, you happen to look up and see the moon from home or
from your evening stroll tonight, you can use these links below to
identify features with your unaided eye. The moon is at First Quarter
tonight May 11, 2019 at 6:12 pm. You can find the phases of the moon
every month in What's Up video from JPL now. And I've included the link
to my very favorite moon map below.
What's Up video ends with the month's moon phases - a great addition to
the video! https://youtu.be/VoivZE4xLEw
Time and date -- a calendar of lunar phases for the year, just select
your location for precision: https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/
--> Moon Map I love! The awesome Lunar and Planetary Sciences Lunar
Landing Site Chart:
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/LandingSite/
Next sidewalk dates are June 8 and/or 15, weather permitting. Over and out!
Jane and the sidewalk gang
--
Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer
Twitter: @jhjones @otastro
http://www.otastro.org/
Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats
First, tonight, a nice high ISS pass! Time: Tue Apr 09 8:15 PM,
Visible: 3 min, Max Height: 71°, Appears: 36° above WNW, Disappears: 19°
above SE. Sign up for your own alerts at the NASA "Spot The Station"
website https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
Next, /NASA's What's Up podcast/ continues with a new team, but three of
us Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers are credited in the April video with
image contributions here: https://youtu.be/iZAKN8IiUdU
Finally, Saturday night, some of us will be out with telescopes in
Monrovia from sunset (7 p.m. DST) and for about 2 hours after that, so
come on down to Library Park at the Myrtle and Lime corner. We'll be
looking at the Moon and Mars, maybe the Pleiades or some other things
not marred by light pollution. Watch /What's Up/ for some good viewing
suggestions for the whole month, including how to find Polaris, the
North Star! Hint: It is not bright, but is easy to find.
--
Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer
Twitter: @jhjones @otastro
http://www.otastro.org/
Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats
Come out and join us tonight!!!!! Monrovia, Myrtlee and Lime Street
corner after sunset which is 7 p.m. tonight. We'll be there for about 2
hours. Jane and the OTastro gang
--
Jane Houston Jones, retired JPLer
Twitter: @jhjones @otastro
http://www.otastro.org/
Astronomy, travel, music, food, cats