Special comet viewing in Monrovia this Saturday evening

[Morris Jones]

Normally on the third quarter moon weekend, you don't find the Sidewalk 
Astronomers setting up.  There will be no moon in the early evening.

But the sky gave us a big surprise late in October.

Normally extremely faint, comet 17P/Holmes had an outburst that made it 
a million times brighter -- bright enough that we can see it from 
downtown Monrovia without a telescope!

Over the past couple of weeks, amateurs and professionals alike have 
been watching the comet's coma, the glowing cloud of dust that surrounds 
it, grow in apparent size.

It's a fun object to see in a telescope, and we invite you to join us 
this Saturday evening in Old Town Monrovia to do exactly that.  We'll be 
in our usual spot, at the corner of Myrtle & Lime, from 7:30 'til 9:30 p.m.

Because the comet is fairly far to the north in the sky, whereas the 
moon and planets are usually found to the south, we'll have to move a 
little up the walk towards the Mark Twain statue to get a clear view 
without a tree in the way.

Right now the weather forecast looks good for Saturday night.  I'll send 
a follow-up note if that changes.

More about the comet and links to other pictures can be found on JPL's 
web site here:  <http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=1514>

Mojo
-- 
Morris Jones
Monrovia, CA
http://www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers http://www.otastro.org