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