Mars and Saturn above the fog :-(

It's been cloudy, drizzly and foggy above the OTastrodome this week and it looks like we're in for more June gloom this weekend, darn it. But if it clears, you are in for a treat! You all know how to find Saturn in the sky - we've been showing it for months from the Monrovia and Pasadena sidewalks. Be sure to take a look at Saturn over the next two weeks as faint Mars moves Eastward (closer to Saturn) until the 17th of June. After that, Mars will be to the upper right of Saturn. I wrote this little feature for our NASA Solar System Exploration website - it's about Mars and Saturn (and a few other objects). http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/scitech/display.cfm?ST_ID=1189 On June 19 we'll be presenting a star party at the Kaibab Lodge near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and on the 20th and 21st we'll be attending the Grand Canyon Star Party. This annual event is great fun, and if you plan a June vacation to the Grand Canyon, you are welcome to share the views through a vast array of telescopes at Yavapai Point on the South rim, and through a smaller number of 'scopes on the North rim. You can find the future dates well in advance for vacation planning. http://www.tucsonastronomy.org/gcsp.html We're contemplating another desert/mountain dark starry sky excursion on June 24th when we return from the Grand Canyon, so if this is something you are interested in, drop us a note. We'll have a fellow sidewalk astronomer from Hawaii visiting us for these excursions - the fellow who made our lovely Litebox telescopes - which we almost always have out on the sidewalks. Our next sidewalk astronomy dates will be Friday June 30 in Pasadena and July 1 in Monrovia, and we may repeat on July 7th and 8th. Jane - about to present a foggy star and planet party at a Monrovia elementary school. -- 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 Saturn Observation Campaign http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm