No sidewalk astronomy tonight in fire smoke

The smoke from the Station fire in La Canada isn't likely to obscure the moon and Jupiter tonight, but it's not looking like a good night to spend two or three hours breathing the fire smoke in the heat. We're going to take a pass on Old Town Pasadena tonight. I'll send an update tomorrow about Monrovia when we've had a chance to check the conditions better. Just as every year now since 2003 (when it was partly true), we've had a big spike in web traffic as the "Mars in August Spectacular" email virus makes its rounds again. Hopefully if you had friends or family who forwarded this now-bogus email to you, you've had a chance to set them straight. :) Best regards, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la