A little star newsletter

[Jane Houston Jones]

This month I talk about the history of the Andromeda Galaxy in my What's Up podcast.  It's online here in lots of different formats for you to choose:

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=224
itunes: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html
All JPL podcastsincluding What's Up here on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews#p/u

Here's an article on the Universe Today website about my sketching project: I have been observing and sketching the Galilean objects through a small
refractor similar to Galileo's ,all year long.  It's my way to honor International Year of Astronomy and the 400 years since Galileo first aimed a telescope to the sky and saw wonderful things.
http://www.universetoday.com/2009/10/14/amateur-astronomer-is-chasing-galileo/


I was recently in Canada giving a talk, and met a First Nation Science
Educator who was talking about astronomy legends and seeing the Cree Nation sky. I wrote a blog post about some of the star legends - it's here:  http://jane.whiteoaks.com/

This experience made me want to devote my next year to storytelling. I'd like to include one seasonal star legend in each of my monthly What's Up podcasts. If you have a favorite myth or star legend. I'm not looking for things you can just google - I can do that myself. I'm looking for stories you learned or heard or love about constellations, the moon, the sun, stars, etc. I really look forward to hearing from you!

Mojo and I are heading out to Warner Springs Ranch next weekend to conduct a star party there. It's a great weekend destination, not too far, but far enough, with hot springs, bicycles, horses, horseshoes, tennis hiking on the Anza Trail, and beautiful dark skies too! They offer free stargazing to their guests at least once a month - this will be our second star party there. :-)http://www.warnersprings.com/

Halloween weekend will find is at our usual haunts (get it, "haunts" as in haunted house) Old Town Pasadena Friday the 30th, Old Town Monrovia Saturday the 31st.  Listed on our www.otastro.org website, weather permitting, of course. 

Thats all for this time, Jane

-- 
Jane Houston Jones
Monrovia, CA
Website: www.whiteoaks.com
Old Town Astronomers:  http://www.otastro.org
What's Up October? Andromeda Galaxy!  http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup.cfm
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jhjones  http://twitter.com/CassiniSaturn 
Blog: http://jane.whiteoaks.com/