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by Morris Jones

It's shaping up to be a good weekend for sidewalk astronomy. Jane and I will be in Old Town Pasadena tonight, and Old Town Monrovia tomorrow night. May is the last month this year for good Saturn observations, and this weekend is the last scheduled sidewalk excursion for the Old Town Astronomers. This is your last chance for a good look at Saturn for a while. Every evening Saturn appears a bit lower in the west as the Earth swings around the Sun in its orbit. In a couple months we'll begin seeing Saturn again just before dawn, and it will spend several months visible in the early morning sky -- not a time when we're on a sidewalk with telescopes. :) Luckily the Earth keeps revolving around the Sun, and we'll catch up to Saturn again early in 2006. Saturn requires about 30 years to orbit the Sun, so it won't have moved a whole lot in the year we take for our orbit. That's not the end of the planets for 2005 though! Jupiter will continue putting on a great show for the next few months in the early evening. Tonight Jupiter's Great Red Spot may be visible in the early part of the evening. Seeing the giant storm is difficult, because the coloring is very subtle. But if the atmospheric turbulence ("seeing") is still, you just might see the eye-shaped disturbance. Meanwhile Venus is slowly climbing higher in the evening sky, and for the rest of the year it will be the brilliant evening star in the west after sunset. Next month the sky will have two very bright "stars," Venus in the west, and Jupiter high in the southeast. The six-day-old crescent Moon will be putting on a great show all weekend. If you look at the Moon tonight, the brightest star nearby is actually the planet Saturn. Notice on Saturday night how far the Moon has moved away from Saturn, and bingo, you just noticed the Moon's orbit around the Earth. :) Later this year, shortly after Halloween, we'll be looking forward to catching up with Mars, as the Earth does every 27-months. We'll be planning some special viewing times for that special occasion. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 7 months

Cancel Saturday -- too many clouds

by Morris Jones

The sky is worse than it looked a couple hours ago, and from the satellite and forecast discussion, it doesn't appear to be getting any better. So we're scrubbing sidewalk astronomy for tonight. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 7 months

On for tonight in Monrovia

by Morris Jones

We may have a few clouds to dodge, but we're going to give it a try this evening in Monrovia. Jupiter and Saturn from 8:00 p.m. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 7 months

Telescopes tonight (Friday 4/29)

by Morris Jones

The forecast isn't perfectly clear, but I have reason to expect that we'll be able to get some good views of Jupiter and Saturn this evening. Jane and I will set up in Old Town Pasadena, on Colorado Blvd. probably between DeLacey and Fair Oaks. (We're opportunistic about parking!) Sunset will at about 7:35 p.m. Big bright Jupiter will show up in the east probably 15 minutes after sunset, with Saturn slightly west of overhead shortly afterward. We'll stay out 'til 10:00 p.m. The Moon isn't in the evening sky tonight. It'll rise about 2:00 a.m. If your sky is clear tomorrow morning, look for it any time before noon in the southwest. It's fun finding the Moon in the daylight! I'll send an update about Saturday evening tomorrow, after another look at the weather forecasts. If there's a good chance for clear skies, we'll set up in Monrovia. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 7 months

Weather this weekend

by Morris Jones

One of the interesting things about astronomy as a hobby is that you can't always observe. Sometimes you're just forced to take a night off. As recently as this morning, I thought we might have clear enough sky to show Jupiter, Saturn, and the almost-full Moon this evening in Pasadena. Since then the forecast has deteriorated, and it's pretty cold and breezy out. There might be a window of viewing between the clouds, but it's generally not hospitable out. The Saturday evening forecast is fully clouded out. So instead of doing our favorite performace art in Old Town, we'll be holed up with a movie and a martini at home. :) Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 8 months

Pictures from a great observing night, and we made the Star News

by Morris Jones

Last night was a very special evening on our favorite Monrovia street corner, Myrtle and Lime. With a forecast for nearly perfect sky conditions, Jane and I brought out our very best telescopes. The sky delivered, and over 250 folks had some stunning views of the Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter. The photo album is available on the OTAstro web site here: <http://www.otastro.org/2005-04-monrovia/> Also check the front page of today's Pasadena Star News, below the fold. There's an article about the Saturn Observation Campaign, and some pictures from our sidewalk evening of Friday, April 15, on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 8 months

Views last night great, tonight better!

by Jane Houston Jones

Mojo and I had a wonderful night of Saturn, Jupiter and lunar views last night on Colorado Blvd. And the views tonight in Monrovia from 7 - 10 will be just as good, possibly even better! First we aimed both telescopes at the moon, while waiting for the sun to set at 7:30 p.m. and for darkness to envelop the sky. The seven day waxing moon rose at mid-day and set at midnight. It was a night to see the great mare, or seas, which are smooth lava filled basins on the lunar surface. http://www.shallowsky.com/moon/hitchhiker.html I often get asked by people who look through a telescope at the moon "Where is the Apollo 11 landing site" in the Sea of Tranquility, or Mare Tranquillitatis, and this is one of the areas I pointed out last night. Here is where the landing sites are, for you armchair observers. :-) http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/display.cfm?IM_ID=804 Apollo 11 is marked with a green arrow with "11" on it. Tonight is the eighth day of the lunar month, and one of my favorite lunar features is best seen tonight and tomorrow night. It's called the straight wall or straight fault. It looks like a hairline crack on the moon surface. One side of the fault is lower than the other, and the wall casts a shadow that stretches the entire 120 km length of this amazing feature. Saturn, lord of the rings will be beautiful tonight, and we should see several of its moons through the telescope. When the air is steady, the features become easier to see. On this map you can see the Cassini division, a dark gap between the outer A ring and the middle B ring in Saturns icy ring system. It takes a moment to see Saturn and take in the view and the details. Sometimes, with fewer people waiting in line for views, our guests feel comfortable staring at Saturn for a minute or two and this is how you can see more ring detail and some of the dark belts and bright zones on the gas giant planet itself. http://stars5.netfirms.com/satnori.jpg Titan, the largest moon of Saturn will be easily visible. Today JPL's Cassini Spacecraft made its closes flyby of Titan. Next week some amazing pictures will be available on the Cassini Mission (which is where I work) website http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm If Saturn is the jewel of the Solar System, mighty Jupiter is king. Jupiter rises in the eastern sky at sunset, so we wait until later in the night to observe it, after we've looked at the moon and Saturn. But once it rises above trees and city buildings, those of you who take a look will be in for a real treat tonight. Jupiter's great red spot, a great anti-cyclonic storm similar to a hurricane on earth rotates onto the visible planet at about 9 p.m.tonight. So from 9 to 10 p.m. viewers will be able to see a disturbance in the darker southern belt of the planet. We'll be sure to point it out. It's not red or bright but at 3 times the size of earth, it's a storm worth watching. All four of the Gallilean satellites, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto will be visible tonight. I like to ponder about Galileo seeing these four moons for the first time over 400 years ago. Here's a sketch showing Jupiter features http://www.shallowsky.com/jupfeatures.html Lastly it was great to see some of you from our list last night, and hope to see more tonight! We'll be repeating our outings in Pasadena and Monrovia for the next two weeks. Weather permitting of course. Jane -- Jane Houston Jones Monrovia, CA 34.2048N 118.1732W, 637.0 feet http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 8 months

Sidewalk Astronomy, Old Town Pasadena, Tonight

by Morris Jones

Despite the grey sky we seem to have right now, the forecast is optimistic for clearing tonight. The first quarter Moon will be high and bright, and very close to Saturn in the sky. Jane and I will be setting up about 7:00 tonight somewhere on the north side of Colorado Blvd. between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Ave. There's also a chance you'll see us in a weekend edition of the Pasadena Star News. More about that if it happens. We're expecting a photographer this evening. :) More news later ... Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 8 months

Two nights for the sidewalk

by Morris Jones

First, Jane and I are going to set up in Monrovia tonight (Saturday) to give out looks at Saturn and Jupiter. Despite having a thin overcast most of the day, we're expecting it to clear soon. Then tomorrow (Sunday) evening, we're going to join Dan Goods, JPL's Artist in Residence, who will have a display at One Colorado Blvd. in Old Town Pasadena. This is a nice alleyway between Fair Oaks and De Lacey. We're going to set up telescopes on Colorado somewhere near the exhibit. Cheers, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 8 months

Sidewalk astronomy tonight

by Morris Jones

Yes, I know it's Thursday, but by happy circumstance, Jane and I are planning to be in Old Town Pasadena tonight with telescopes. We should have good views of Saturn to offer in the early evening, and good views of Jupiter as well after about 8:00 p.m. Look for us on Colorado Blvd. in the vicinity of Delacey Street between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. tonight. Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org

19 years, 8 months

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