Tricks and Treats

[Jane H Jones]

Do you need some eerie sounds to spook the little ghouls and goblins 
tonight?  Why not play the Eerie and Bizarre Sounds of the Saturnian 
System.  http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/sounds/ ?   Included 
are sounds of Enceladus, echoes from Titan's surface, speeding 
through Titan's haze, and sounds from the Lord of the rings, Saturn!

There are even more spooky sounds of our solar system on the JPL 
webpage today  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/index.cfm look on the New 
Multimedia section.

And if you want to see a ghostly interloper in the sky tonight, take 
out the binoculars and see a comet from your own front (or back) 
yard!  Here's where to look: 
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/features.cfm?feature=1514 To the unaided 
eye, the comet looks like a fuzzy star, but in binoculars (or 
telescopes) it looks like a ghostly snowball with a bright center, 
much like the image shown on the link above. It was taken by Gary 
Spiers, who is one of our sidewalk telescope gang in Monrovia. 
Congrats on the picture!

"To see the comet, all you have to do is step outside and look to the 
Northeast. You should be able to see the "W" that is the 
constellation Cassiopeia - it's standing on its end. One and a half 
"fists" away to the right is a bright star in the constellation 
Perseus. You probably won't be able to see all the Perseus stars, but 
the bright one - Mirfak - should be visible. It marks the top of a 
triangle, which is about the size of your thumb held at arms length 
away. The triangle's lower left corner is the comet!".

We may set up telescopes for a special comet viewing night Saturday 
the 3rd.  Stay tuned, we'll send an announcement if that plan firms 
up.

October What's Up is about tricks and treats in the night sky.  It 
starts out with some of those spooky sounds from the solar system. 
http://education.jpl.nasa.gov/amateurastronomy/index.html


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