From jane.h.jones at jpl.nasa.gov Tue Mar 9 15:24:12 2010 From: jane.h.jones at jpl.nasa.gov (Jones, Jane H (1862)) Date: Tue Mar 9 15:24:33 2010 Subject: It's Saturn time! Message-ID: Hi everyone, My favorite planet is daring you to step outside and look at it this month! It's easy to see from the city from now through July. In a dark sky, and through a telescope you'll see subtle cloud bands of custard, butterscotch and hazelnut cr?me, and the wafer-thin ring bisects the planet, allowing you to see its oblateness this month. What a tasty treat for your eyes! So it should come as no surprise that the topic of my monthly podcast for March 2010 is Saturn. But I also share the podcast with a challenging object, the 13th magnitude (nearly as faint as Pluto) asteroid 21 Lutetia, which is halfway between Saturn on the horizon and Mars (nearly overheard and the color of a blood orange). Here are several podcast viewing options: Many formats, educational activities to compliment the podcast, plus archives of all 33 podcasts back to April 2007 http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-view.cfm?WUID=324 YouTube, favorite viewing method of my parents :-) http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JPLnews#p/u/1/1dIe5_SvToE NASA podcast page, easy RSS feed, Itunes http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/podcasting/whatsup_index.html We'll be showing off the lord of the rings April 2-3 in Monrovia and Monrovia hopefully, after many rained out sidewalk astronomy nights. For those interested in a getaway, we'll be heading to the desert Saturday the 13th, weather permitting, undecided where, probably here: http://www.otastro.org/chuckwalla.html for those who can drive 300 miles round trip to see a planet. :-) The last 2 miles are a rutted dirt road not suitable for large trucks and campers, and there are no facilities and it's not that good for camping, but we love it. For a little longer drive but a nature bonus, you can also join us April 10 at Mojave National Preserve for a star party hosted by the Mojave National Preserve Conservancy at Black Canyon Group Campground. In addition to Saturn, it's spring galaxy season! You will need to RSVP (but there is no cost or anything) on the announcement page http://www.preservethemojave.org/events.html. There are plenty of closer-to-home spots to view Saturn than where we like to go, beside the sidewalks of Pasadena and Monrovia. Many of the local astronomy clubs have property or events. Pomona Valley, Riverside, Orange and Ventura counties, Yucca Valley, and many points S and E plus the Los Angeles amateur astronomers all hold viewing events each month. Griffith Observatory would be an excellent spot, with star parties every month too, usually on the same nights as our sidewalk astronomy. We all love to share the best moon view on the same nights, and this month Saturn and Mars make it a bonus! Here's looking at you, Saturn! 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@jpl.nasa.gov What's Up For March - Saturn Opposition, asteroid 21 Lutetia! http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/whatsup-archive.cfm From mojo at whiteoaks.com Fri Mar 26 12:00:28 2010 From: mojo at whiteoaks.com (Morris Jones) Date: Fri Mar 26 12:00:36 2010 Subject: Sidewalk Astronomy this weekend Message-ID: <4BAD044C.8040607@whiteoaks.com> It looks like we'll have clear skies tonight and tomorrow. We plan to have telescopes in Old Town Pasadena tonight, and Old Town Monrovia Saturday night. We'll have three targets: In the early evening the gibbous moon will be out and Mars will be almost overhead. A little later in the evening Saturn will be low in the east. The air is not forecast to be very steady tonight, so we're not likely to see much detail on Mars as it gets further away. We'll certainly give it a shot though. Look for us from about 7:00 'til 9:00 on both evenings. Friday night on Colorado Blvd. near Delacey, wherever we find parking; Saturday night in Monrovia at Library Park, on the corner of Lime and Myrtle. Cheers, Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la From mojo at whiteoaks.com Tue Mar 30 11:06:07 2010 From: mojo at whiteoaks.com (Morris Jones) Date: Tue Mar 30 11:06:17 2010 Subject: Dark sky star party April 10, Mojave National Preserve Message-ID: <4BB23D8F.4070307@whiteoaks.com> Many of you who have enjoyed visiting our telescopes in the city wonder what it would be like away from the city. Folks who grow up and live in Los Angeles rarely get to see a true dark sky. We love to have people join us for dark sky excursions, but our favorite location in the Colorado Desert south of Joshua Tree could be considered "inhospitable" by many. In less than two weeks, on April 10, we'll be having a dark sky event with the Mojave National Preserve Conservancy. Free camping will be available at the Black Canyon Group Campground, and the MNPC is planning to provide drinks and light refreshments. Mojave National Preserve is a beautiful place with fabulous dark skies. We'll be bringing our biggest and best telescopes to introduce you to the galaxy clusters of spring in the early evening, and the Milky Way towards midnight. You can enjoy great desert walks during the day, and starry skies through the night. The event is listed here at the Mojave National Preserve web site: http://www.preservethemojave.org/events.html On the site you'll see a link to Mike Cipra to RSVP if you'd like to attend: mcipra@npca.org There's also a link to my blog about a previous trip to MNP last year with a group of herpetologists: http://mojo.whiteoaks.com/2009/04/26/snakes-tortoises-and-stars/ The location is about 200 miles from our home in Monrovia, and is an easy drive on good roads for the whole distance. The weather is quite variable, and as always, if it's cloudy or too windy we won't be able to set up telescopes. The odds are pretty good to have clear dark skies. Be sure to bring warm clothing for the evening in several layers. We always travel with hats and gloves even for mid-spring observing. Mojo -- Morris Jones Monrovia, CA http://www.whiteoaks.com Old Town Astronomers: http://www.otastro.org Twitter: http://twitter.com/mojo_la