Perseids and More in August

[Jane H Jones]

Hello to all our OTAstro list!

My August What's Up is Up on the JPL and NASA websites.  It's about 
the Perseid Meteor Shower mostly, and is aimed at the general public 
- with some good easy to understand graphics aimed at the general 
public.

Here is the place where they are archived permanently (this is the 
link to bookmark), on the JPL Education page 
http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html This link 
includes video formats that are useful for astronomy clubs, 
classrooms, museums and planetariums, plus  this month I added links 
to some lunar and meteor educational material - these are aimed at 
grades 4-12.

The best time to view the Perseids will be Monday morning before 
dawn, but that's not really convenient for most people.  Saturday 
night/Sunday Morning will yield many meteors especially after 2 a.m. 
, with horizon skimming meteors at midnight, before Perseus rises 
very high above the horizon.  If you go someplace dark, you'll see 
more than you will in the LA Basin, and if you can't get away, just 
put some space between you and the light sources - a side of a house 
or trees can help some.  You will see them everywhere, but if you 
mentally trace the shooting stars to their "source" you'll be looking 
in the direction of Perseus, in the NE Sky.

Local dark sky spots will be up I-5 at the Templin Highway turnoff, 
Mt. Pinos - on Frazier Peak, and up towards Mt. Wilson - but there is 
still a lot of LA glow up here.  The Desert East of us affords darker 
and drier skies.

The Andromeda Society of Yucca Valley hosts a monthly star party at 
Joshua Tree National Park's Hidden Valley picnic area Saturday Aug 11 
-  http://www.andromedasociety.org/

The Pomona Valley Amateur Astronomers will be at JTNP's cottonwood 
Springs campground Aug 11.  Later on in August, Mojo speaks to the 
club's general meeting at Harvey Mudd College  on the 31st. 
http://www.pvaa.us/calendarpage.asp

The Peninsula Astronomy club of Northern California will be up at 
Glacier Point  at Yosemite this weekend - if you could possibly get 
up there, it's magical for meteors.  Mojo and I will be there the 
following weekend with one of our Northern California Astronomy clubs 
- the San Jose Astronomical Association.  Most weekends, some club is 
hosting free star parties for the public at Glacier Point. 
http://www.aanc-astronomy.org/yosemite.html

If you observe the Perseids and would like to contribute your 
observations, here's an ongoing meteor observing program you might be 
interested in:  http://aurigids.seti.org/ .  I'll be participating in 
this airborne mission observing the Perseids and Aurigids with the 
same group Mojo and I have worked with for almost 10 years counting 
the exciting meteor showers.

Oh, and since we'll be at Yosemite on our usual sidewalk astronomy 
weekend of the 17th 18th August, check the OTAstro website 
http://www.otastro.org/  for dates and details.  I think our usual 
group will be in Monrovia without us on Saturday the 18th, but 
probably not in Pasadena on the 17th.

Jane and Mojo


-- 
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 at jpl.nasa.gov
Cassini SOC http://soc.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm
What's Up? http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html