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My first view of Comet ISON

Comet ISON October 6, 2013 by Jane Houston Jones

All year long, astronomers have been writing about Comet ISON: will it sizzle or will it fizzle? I was chomping at the bit, waiting for the visual magnitude to brighten enough to try viewing this comet through my own telescope (shown on the right). Finally, the [...]

What's Up in 2013 - at a glance

All year long, astronomers have been writing about Comet ISON: will it sizzle or will it fizzle? Both! Here’s my What’s Up video, with December status (written in mid November, but luckily, the comet didn’t completely fizzle)

ISON in December 2013

Comet ISON first spotted by amateur astronomer Bruce Gary and has been imaged by many [...]

Mission Juno Launch, August 5, 2011

The day before launch – Atlas V in 551 configuration (5-meter payload fairing, 5 solid rocket strap-ons). Under the fairing is a Centaur second stage and Juno.

Launch 12:25 p.m. EDT August 5, 2011

Bound for Jupiter – a plume sundial. You can tell the time of launch by the shadow of the plume [...]

The Crescent Moon

The moon's summer and winter path, courtesy NASA's Starchild website

The winter’s moon – a smiling crescent just after sunset Feb 5, 2011 (click to see moon upper center)

Closeup of winter crescent moon

The summer's "backwards C" crescent moon at sunset, late June 2007 (click to see moon in lower right)

Closeup [...]

A Ten Planet Night

Halloween Sidewalk Astronomy - Tradition!

Hauling a telescope across the streets of San Francisco

Jane-Orion plus Canis Major and Canis Minor

Mojo demonstrating where to find Jupiter’s moons

Getting some eye candy

Sidewalk Astronomers have been setting up telescopes on Halloween as long as there have been sidewalk astronomers!

When we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’d cross the [...]

Another perfect stargazing night

Observing report, dark sky weekend, October, 2009, Chuckwalla Bench

A perfect night begins with Earth's shadow climbing in the east

One one side of the green van is the Imaging zone

On the other side of the green van is the visual observing zone

When the clear sky chart reads perfect, we can’t wait to get [...]

Chasing Galileo – Jupiter and the four Galilean satellites

Galileo’s drawing

my drawing

my sketch of Jupiter’s rotation

Galileo published his observations in Sidereus Nuncius in March 1610: “On the 7th day of January in the present year, 1610, in the first hour of the following night, when I was viewing the constellations of the heavons through a telescope, the planet Jupiter [...]