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May-September: It gets dark later now, so viewing is by arrangement during these months. Join us to view stars, planets, the Moon, constellations, and anything else we can find in space. Weather is always an issue! Email for a night you would like the JMO to be open. See a map and more instructions below!! ______________________________________________________________________________________ |
Jackson Teachers Present at NASA MoonKAM Conference
April 20, 2013 Ms. Schendel's class uses Reading Strategies to learn about the Moon Now why would a reading strategies class visit an observatory? Well, quite simply to give students something real to read about. In this issue we are happy to feature a wonderful example of teacher collaboration.
The GRAIL MoonKAM Newsflash will keep you up to date with information about the GRAIL mission and lunar science as well as provide resources for teachers. September 2012 Volume 2 | Issue 2 In this issue:
https://moonkam.ucsd.edu/resources/newsletters |
Scoop at the Scope ST. PATRICK's DAY CME IMPACT: As predicted, a CME hit Earth's magnetic field at 0600 UT on March 17th. The impact sparked a moderately strong (Kp=6) geomagnetic storm that sent Northern Lights spilling across the Canadian border into the United States as far south as Colorado:
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The first image above is Stellarium showing the position of Ceres. The above right is an image of an asteroid/Dwarf Planet called Ceres as seen in the JMO telescope on March 6, 2013 at about 7 PM. The above images were taken by Paul Fusco
The Dawn spacecraft ended its extraordinarily successful 2012 by smoothly continuing to thrust with its ion propulsion system to its 2015 rendezvous with dwarf planet Ceres.We will get close-up pictures at that time. ________________________________________________________________________________
The above is an image of an asteroid called Vesta as seen in the JMO telescope on January 9, 2013 at about 6 PM. The picture was taken by Paul Fusco. Above right is Stellarum showing the position of Vesta.
This is Vesta. This picture was taken by a camera on the NASA Dawn mission. ______________________________________________________________________________
This picture of the Moon was taken by Paul Fusco on December 4, 2012 at about 7 AM using the JMO telescope. Thanks Paul |
Image of Ceres Credit: Keck Observatory by C. Dumas (NASA-JPL)
ILA Class works on a NASA writing project. Ms. Noble's class paid a visit to the JMO for information on the Cassini mission at Saturn. And then on March 7, 2013 Ms. Noble's class had a chat with JPL about the Cassini mission. |
Stargazing Information from StarDate Online (http://stardate.org) This Week's Stargazing TipMay 20The Moon is in its “gibbous” phase, which means that sunlight illuminates more than half of the lunar hemisphere that faces our way. The dark portion of the lunar disk is in the Moon’s own shadow, so it is night on that part of our satellite world. May 21The Moon takes aim at one of the brightest stars in the night sky tonight: Spica, the main star of the constellation Virgo. Spica is close to the lower left of the Moon as night falls, and even closer to the Moon as they set before dawn tomorrow. May 22The planet Saturn perches to the left of the Moon as night falls this evening. It looks like a bright golden star. The true star Spica stands to their upper right. May 23A pair of hunting dogs chases high across the north tonight. Known as Canes Venatici, the hounds are pursuing Ursa Major, the great bear, which stands below them at nightfall. The bear includes the stars of the Big Dipper. May 24A new cycle of eclipses begins tonight as the full Moon just dips its toe in Earth’s faint outer shadow, the penumbra. That shadow will cover just about one percent of the lunar disk, but it is so faint that no one will notice the difference. May 25A beautiful bit of cosmic theater plays out very low in the west-northwest shortly after sunset the next few evenings. The dazzling planets Venus and Jupiter will slide past each other, while a fainter third planet, Mercury, watches from above. May 26Jupiter is quite low in the west-northwest beginning about 20 minutes after sunset this evening. The bright planet forms a tight triangle with brighter Venus, to its lower right, and fainter Mercury, a bit farther to its upper right. |
Lunar Phases
Times are U.S. Central Time. The full Moon of April is known as the Milk Moon, Flower Moon, or Corn Moon. |
Last May 2, 6:14 am
New May 9, 7:28 pm
First May 17, 11:35 pm
Full May 24, 11:25 pmParking and Directions for a visit to the JMObservatory Jackson Middle School Observatory 6000 – 109th Avenue N Champlin, MN 55316 Latitude: 45.153552 and Longitude -93.353798 You need flashlights to walk to and from the JMO Park on the east side of Jackson Middle School by the Community Pool. Park as close to door 15 as you can get. Then walk north, between the building and the tennis courts, to the track. Turn left or west and follow the track, past the portables, to the domed building. This is the JMO. Enter at the south door facing the school.
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Jackson teachers' NASA internship experience will help students become better scientists   
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![Dee McLellan [left] and Sarah Garrett [right]](http://www.anoka.k12.mn.us/images/ace/297839/624f94468737ab3e113d5ac8293eaa53_thumb.jpg?sc_id=21778 "Dee McLellan [left] and Sarah Garrett [right]")
Dee McLellan and Sarah Garrett, instructors at Jackson Middle School (JMS), A Specialty School for Math and Science, have been selected for a teacher/planetarium internship and curriculum development at National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Ms. Schendel's class uses Reading Strategies to learn about the new Mars Rover
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Ms. Allison and Ms. Wolf-Lee FACS 7th grade classes learn about Fabrics and Food in Space by connecting directly to NASA
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John Ziemer from NASA JPL
John Ziemer from NASA JPL, and a former Jackson Middle School Student, spoke with 61 current Jackson students today, March 2, 2012. Because of 21st century technology, students can make these kinds of real time connections with those who can inspire them to learn. Dr. Ziemer works on the electric engine at JPL in Pasadena California. This kind of event helps the students see what kind of possibilities could be in store for their future. Dee McLellan, coordinator of the Jackson Middle School Observatory, calls him the “Homer Hickam” of Jackson Middle School from the true story of the “Rocket Boys”. He started his presentation with a few slides of old Jackson Jaguar logos, seen in the background of the pictures. This gave the 7th and 8th grade students from Mr. Waldoch and Mr. Pettman classes an immediate connection. These teachers explained how their students are shooting off rockets in the very same field behind the school next to the Observatory as John did many years ago. And now Dr. Ziemer works for NASA and is developing the newest type of rocket propulsion. |
 Checking out Saturn |
________________________________________________________________________________________________ Here are some photos of the Moon from Public Viewing Night on August 4, 2011. About 18 people were there to see enjoy the view!
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  The JMO in the morning of December 2, 2010 Venus and the Moon |
If you have any questions, send an email DeLaura.McLellan@anoka.k12.mn.us |
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