Hubble Telescope pass tonight (Monday Oct 20)

I wouldn't normally post an announcement about when and where to look for the Hubble Telescope during its Southern California passes, since it's not as bright as the space station or shuttle, and therefore a challenge to see. But Hubble is in the news right now because it has a command and data computer glitch. A repair mission to the 18-year old telescope has been delayed until early 2009 to assess this new problem. The Hubble Telescope is visible in our skies tonight! I plan to give it a try from light polluted Monrovia. Sunset is at 6:11 p.m. At 6:45 p.m. Hubble rises above the WSW horizon, and reaches 10 degrees above the horizon at 6:48 p.m. Between 6:48 and 6:55 Hubble will slowly pass just above Venus, and then above Jupiter, and will disappear from our view when it enters the Earth's shadow in the ESE at 6:55 p.m.It will look like a faint slowly moving "star, much fainter than the larger the Space Station. The brightness magnitude is 2.7, which is near the brightness of the stars you'll see near Jupiter - the stars of Sagittarius. Venus and Jupiter are much much brighter. There are other good passes this week. You can find them, and customize Heaven's Above for your own location using the link below: Helpful websites: Heaven's Above (satellite pass information and charts customized to your location) http://www.heavens-above.com/ US Naval Observatory's Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day (sunrise, set, moonrise, set) http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php Hubble's Command and Data computer glitch http://hubblesite.org/command_and_data_computer_glitch/ 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