December What's Up? It's Mars!

[Jane H Jones]

Step outside this month, look up in the east, and you'll be in for a 
real treat!  Mars is really bright and easy to view.  That's the 
topic of this month's What's Up:  Mars!  It's as big and as bright as 
it will get this month, and it won't be this great a view again until 
2016! What's Up here: 
http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html

Tonight, I stepped outside of my San Francisco hotel, walked a few 
feet to Union Square, and looked East down Post Street and there was 
Mars high in in the cloudless sky.  Mars is easy to see from the 
city, the backyard, everywhere.  Have a look!

This weekend, the Old Town Sidewalk Astronomers will be showcasing 
Mars and the moon from Monrovia on Saturday December 15.  We'll be 
out again Dec 21 in Pasadena and Monrovia December 22, weather 
permitting.

Jane


-- 
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