Bringing Astronomy to the Sidewalk
in Pasadena and Monrovia
Visitors to Old Town Pasadena enjoy views of the first-quarter Moon through Jane's 12.5-inch reflector telescope.
Being a Sidewalk Astronomer isn't really about “joining”
anything — it‘s about embracing a philosophy and acting on it.
Ask John Dobson how he became interested in astronomy, and he‘ll
answer, “I was born!” People have a natural fascination with
the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, but to most it‘s something they
read about in a magazine or see on television.
We stop people on sidewalks and let them see the craters of the Moon,
the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, or the spots on the Sun. For
just a moment, they have a personal connection with the universe around
them, and sometimes life seems a little better after that.
We call it “urban guerilla astronomy.”
Upcoming 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.
May 2008
Mars is up! And NASA's Phoenix Lander will land on the North Pole of
Mars on May 25th. As a bonus, the red planet is easy to see in the early
evening sky.
This month Mars is still fairly high in the west at dusk and you won't
want to miss it! It passes in front of an easy-to-see cluster of stars
from the 22nd to the 26th. The cluster is called the Beehive Cluster,
or Messier 44. It's a good binocular target too! On the day the Phoenix
Lander touches down, May 25th, you'll see Mars just to the west of the
cluster. This open cluster of stars is almost 600 light years distant and
has thrilled astronomers since prehistoric times. Through binoculars,
Mars will be the brightest object among two dozen or more stars in
the cluster.
Here's a great picture of
M44, the Beehive Cluster
and another of
M44 with Saturn and Mars on either side.
To see the North Pole of Mars, where Phoenix will land on the 25th, you
will need to use a little imagination. Mars, only twice the size
of our own moon or half the size of Earth, is now quite far from Earth.
It's 275 million KM or 170 million miles from Earth right now. Through
a telescope, Mars will look like a small fuzzy ochre gibbous moon.
Watch as Mars and Saturn draw nearer to each other this month and next.
Saturn is higher in the sky and a brilliant view in telescopes. If you
have a good western horizon, try to catch a glimpse of Mercury at sunset.
On May 5th Mercury can be found just below the slender crescent moon.
Yearning for more views? Spring galaxies require dark skies. We
occasionally drive to the Colorado Desert South of of Joshua Tree
National Park. Where we go is off I-10 about 30 miles east of Indio,
on a 2 mile dirt rutted road on BLM land, with no "facilities." Contact
us for details. Or join the regularly scheduled dark sky party held by
the
Andromeda Society
in Joshua Tree National Park. May 3rd and May 31st are the next ones.
Sidewalk Events for May 2008:
- Saturday and Sunday, May 3-4,
JPL Open House.
Stop by the Solar System and say
hello to Jane and other Cassini Mission staff.
- Saturday, May 10, 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m., Myrtle & Lime, Old Town Monrovia
- Saturday, May 31, Possible desert excursion for galaxy gazing. 150 mile one-way drive
from Monrovia. If there is interest, we might join the Andromeda Society in the national park
where there are bathrooms and paved parking/telescope areas. You'll need to
let us know you'd like to attend, and depending on
how many, we'll choose the site. There is only off-the-dirt-road parking at our usual site,
and not room for many cars.
A bronze Mark Twain from Monrovia's Library Park studies the Moon Atlas with Jane.
Old Town Astronomers are part of JPL's
Saturn Observation Campaign.
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
Joshua Tree, the Grand Canyon, and especially Glacier Point in Yosemite
National Park.
Yosemite: One of the "best-kept secret" events at Yosemite National Park during
the summer is the weekend star party at Glacier Point, high above the
Yosemite Valley. The park invites a different club from Northern California
to bring telescopes each weekend that isn't near a full Moon. Club members
get a free campsite for the weekend, and park visitors get a free star
party.
For a taste of the Glacier Point star parties, visit Mojo's
photo album from
2002 with the San Jose Astronomical Association.
If you plan to visit Yosemite National Park in the summer, consider an
evening at Glacier Point on a Friday or Saturday evening. Bring warm
clothes and a picnic dinner, and enjoy the setting sun as it lights
Half Dome from the stone amphitheater. Most clubs present a short slide
talk on astronomy, and the ranger will do a constellation talk out at
the point. Bring a flashlight to help see your way along the trails,
but cover it with your hand so you get only as much light as required.
Here are the 2008 Yosemite Glacier Point Star Party dates.
Grand Canyon: 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 2008 from
June 21-28.
Bryce Canyon Astronomy Festival, Utah:
June 2007 was our
first visit to this fabulous event.
It'll be held in 2008 from June 25-28.
Joshua Tree: During the winter season, we're delighted to join the
Andromeda Society of Yucca
Valley, California, for their dark sky star parties in Joshua Tree National
Park. Star parties are held in the Hidden Valley Picnic
Area, easily accessible from the entrance gate in Joshua Tree, north of
the park.
Feature Articles
Photo album from the
Lights Out Pasadena event
The sky was clouded out, but it didn't stop us from having a good time,
talking about lighting and telescopes. (Mojo finally did something we've been accused
of for years – just showing a picture.)
Song, Telescope Man by Robert Cesarone and Northern Cross
Bob Cesarone of JPL moonlights as an acoustic musician, and wrote this song some years back
for his favorite telescope man, John Dobson. This link is direct to the MP3 file.
Catch Some (Lunar) Rays
Jane observed the Hesiodus sunrise ray during a sidewalk
session, and writes about observing these fun lunar phenomena.
Crepuscular Rays at Bryce Astronomy Festival 2007
Jane's article on this fascinating sky phenomenon we saw at Bryce Canyon.
2007 Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon Trip
Jane and Mojo travel to the North Rim and Bryce Canyon for a week of astronomy with John Dobson and Barry Peckham
Sidewalk Astronomers on Weekend America
Weekend America did a story on Jane, Mojo, and John Dobson for International Sidewalk Astronomy Day, May 19, 2007. The web site also features an article by Jane.
Photos from International Sidewalk Astronomy Day
A short album of photos from Myrtle and Lime in Monrovia, May 19, 2007
Iapetus: East is Least and West is Best
Jane outlines an observing project for Saturn's strange two-colored moon Iapetus.
Our Sidewalk Flier — in PDF format
This is the flier we have at our telescopes for visitors.
Building a Dobsonian Telescope
Complete plans from Ray Cash and the San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers
More feature articles ...
Jane Houston Jones and Morris “Mojo” Jones
Jane Houston Jones and Morris "Mojo" Jones at the Glacier Point star party in Yosemite National Park.
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 Geni, Inc., and operates his own
internet server for friends and family
as a hobby.
Telescopes for Schools and Educational Functions
Drop us an email if you would
like to have the Old Town Astronomers bring telescopes to your school
or civic event. Contact us to discuss dates that are best for informal
astronomy in the city. As a guideline, dates near the first-quarter
Moon are the best early-evening astronomy. Don't forget to consider
the time for sunset!
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