Old Town
  Sidewalk
Astronomers

What's Up home page from JPLUpcoming Events

Many of our sidewalk events are planned only a few hours in advance. We will send a notice to our events email list on an afternoon when we plan to be observing.

That said, there are some patterns to when we can be found.

We typically set up telescopes in Pasadena on Colorado Blvd. somewhere between Fair Oaks and Pasadena Ave. on Friday evenings, and in Monrovia at Myrtle and Lime on Saturday evenings. For us to set up telescopes, the sky needs to be clear, there needs to be something to see (Moon, Jupiter, or Saturn), and we need to be available that evening.

Weather is always a factor. Our telescopes, big as they are, can not see through clouds. On an evening when we plan to be out observing, we will generally give it a try if there is a better than even chance that we'll get to view the Moon or planets. Occasionally a thin layer of haze will make the sky appear overcast, but the Moon will still show through.

There is never any charge to look through our telescopes.

A bronze Mark Twain from Monrovia's Library Park studies the Moon Atlas with Jane. Dark Sky Star Parties

The Sidewalk Astronomers have a grand tradition of setting up telescopes in national parks over the summer. For many urban dwellers, an excursion to a national park is the only opportunity to see the Milky Way for themselves. A sky full of stars can be staggering to someone who lives under the L.A. light dome.

We love to get away from the city lights, and love to invite park visitors to spend a little quality night time under a star-filled sky with our telescopes. Jane and I love to set up our big telescopes in Mojave National Preserve, Joshua Tree NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Grand Canyon NP (north and south rims), and Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park.

Mojave National Preserve Spring 2013 Star Party This is one of the darkest locations in the country, and it's the closest darkest location for those of us in southern California. The preserve invites their conservancy members and friends to camp under the stars at Black Canyon Group Campsite twice a year. Scheduling for 2013 is underway. The number/email to call for RSVP is on the link below. Here's the 2013 spring star party flyer with info and RSVP contact.

Yosemite: One of the "best-kept secret" events at Yosemite National Park during the summer (between July 4 and Labor Day) is the weekend star parties at Glacier Point, high above the Yosemite Valley. The park invites a different astronomy club from Northern California to bring telescopes each non full-moon weekend all summer long. Club members get a free campsite for the weekend, and park visitors get two free star parties, on the Friday and Saturday nights. Mojo and I will be providing telescopes and a talk on August 23 and 24th. You can attend as a park visitor if you'd like on this weekend or another - our star parties are listed in the park visitor guide -- just look for the Glacier Point section all summer long!

For a taste of the Glacier Point star parties, this Yosemite Nature Notes video was filmed during the last three Glacier Point Star parties we attended with the San Jose Astronomical Association.

Grand Canyon Star Party: Every June for a week, visitors to Grand Canyon National Park are able to enjoy beautiful telescope views and astronomy talks at the annual Grand Canyon Star Party. Astronomers travel from across the country to set up on both the North and South Rim visitor areas. It'll be held in 2013 from June 8-15, 2013 on both the North and South rims.

Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, Utah: June 2007 was our first visit to this fabulous event. It'll be held in 2013 from Jun 5-Jun 8. Follow this link for more information.

Jane Houston Jones and Morris "Mojo" Jones at the Glacier Point star party in Yosemite National Park.Meet our fellow astronomers here

Jane and Mojo have been setting up telescopes on sidewalks ranging from Hawaii to Florida since 1990. As amateur astronomers, they've participated in meteor observing missions for NASA, and appeared on national TV and radio programs.

Jane and Mojo kept the Sidewalk Astronomers active in San Francisco, the birthplace of the worldwide Sidewalk Astronomers, until relocating to Southern California in late 2003. They immediately saw the potential of Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia as the perfect location for sidewalk astronomy, and bought a home there in January 2004.

Among their list of awards and accomplishments, minor planet 1992LE was designated 22338 Janemojo in their honor.

Jane works for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena managing public outreach and informal education for the Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan.

Mojo is a software engineer at Fox Audience Network, and operates his own internet server for friends and family as a hobby.