Conditions aren’t looking very good for tonight’s skies, so most likely Frosty Drew Observatory won’t be opening this evening. To confirm, though, you might take a few minutes to check out the sky at your home, and be sure to check Scott’s Twitter message (@FrostyDewOBSY). Also, conditions for tomorrow’s Perseid meteor shower opening might have to be cancelled for inclement weather; again, check with the Frosty Drew Twitter, as Scott will update you on that. However, even if tomorrow’s peak meteor night will be cloudy, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to see any shooting stars from this yearly event. Tomorrow night is when the most numbers of meteors should be observed; but, before and after that “peak” night, there should still be more of them than normally present in the nighttime sky, so, if there is clear sky in the next few days, keep checking over toward the eastern horizon, and let us know if you see any of what many consider one of the year’s best meteor showers.

As you probably know by now, the Mars Science Laboratory, nicknamed Curiosity, landed on Mars beautifully. Its very controversial landing, hanging down from its “crane” and being dropped, literally, was perfectly executed, and the craft immediately began its trial imaging run. By all accounts, the Curiosity is totally ready to begin its two-year mission within Gale Crater, looking for any evidence that life of any kind could ever have existed on Mars. We will be bringing you updates as the mission continues.

Also important, but this time to us directly here on Earth, is the launch of two identical craft. The Radiation Belt Storm Probes – RBSP – are set to launch early next week. Although not as exciting as seeing Curiosity land on Mars, these two probes are going to be spending at least two years orbiting within the Van Allen belts, where large quantities of radiation is trapped around the Earth. This radiation, and its placement, can be very important in, among others, weather and communication satellites, and astronauts, as they must travel through this region when they leave the Earth. We’ll also keep you informed as to their mission.

Frosty Drew Observatory is located in the darkest area in Rhode Island, and to those who have continued to support our efforts to increasing dark-sky awareness, we are grateful.

-Francine Jackson

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Tonight and this weekends forecast is for the usual, clouds and thunderstorms. Additionally, one weather source is forecasting heavy rain. This year at Frosty Drew we have not had clear skies for any meteor shower since the Quadrantids in early January. It has been weeks since we have opened the observatory for public observation and our open days per year have significantly decreased consecutively for the past 3 years. I'm left wondering if light pollution is no longer our primary concern.

On a more positive note, The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), also known as Curiosity, successfully landed on the Martian surface. Many of us stayed up late on Sunday night to catch this historical event live. Minutes after MSL landed on Mars, it started to send back images of its new home. Frequently visit http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/ to follow the progress of MSL and to view images that it is sending back. Great things are just around the corner!

This coming Monday (August 13th) is the occultation of Venus by the Moon. At 4:38 p.m. the Moon pass in front of our view of Venus. You will need a very good WNW view to see this since it will happen almost on the horizon. If anybody snaps a photo or records a video of this happening, be sure to share on our Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/FrostyDrewObservatory).

Lets keep our fingers crossed for tomorrow nights meteor shower event.

-Scott MacNeill