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What's up for May? The moon and Saturn meet Mars in the morning as NASA's Insight spacecraft launches to the red planet on May 5.
Jane Houston Jones from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena said you won't want to miss red Mars in the southern morning skies this month.
Some lucky viewers in central and southern California and even parts of the Mexican Pacific coast will get a chance to see the launch of InSight – NASA's latest mission-with their unaided eyes and see the spacecraft's destination, Mars, at the same time.
InSight is scheduled to reach Mars on November 26, 2018. The launch window from Vandenberg Air Force Base in central California opens on May 5 at 4:05 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time and lasts for two hours.
On subsequent dates, the window opens a few minutes earlier each day until 1:30 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on June 8.
This will be the first interplanetary launch from the West Coast.
Mars shines a little brighter than last month, as it approaches opposition on July 27. That's when Mars and the Sun will be on opposite sides of the Earth. This will be Mars' closest approach to Earth since 2003. Compare the planet's increases in brightness with your own eyes between now and July 27.
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower will be washed out by the Moon this month, but if you are awake for the InSight launch anyway, have a look.
This shower is better viewed from the southern hemisphere, but medium rates of 10 to 30 meteors per hour MAY be seen before dawn. Of course, you could travel to the South Pacific to see the shower at its best!
There's no sharp peak to this shower – just several nights with good rates, centered on May 6. Give yourself an hour to view meteors, as they sometimes come in spurts with lulls in between. Plus, it takes about 20 minutes for your eyes to dark adapt.
You don't need to look directly at the radiant. Instead, look away or even lie on the ground looking directly overhead. That gives you a wide amount of sky to watch comfortably.
Jupiter reaches opposition on May 9th, heralding the best Jupiter-observing season, especially for mid-evening viewing. That's because the king of the planets rises at sunset and sets at dawn.
Wait a few hours after sunset, when Jupiter is higher in the sky, for the best views. If you viewed Jupiter last month, expect the view to be even better this month.
You can catch up on solar system missions like InSight and all of NASA's missions at www.nasa.gov.
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A 3.4-magnitude earthquake occurred near Upper lake on Friday afternoon.
The United States Geological Survey said the epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 1:26 p.m., was 12 miles northeast of Upper Lake, 13 miles southeast of Lake Pillsbury and 13 miles north northeast of Nice.
The quake was recorded at a depth of about eight miles, the survey reported.
Within about a half hour of the quake the US Geological Survey had received nearly a dozen shake reports from Upper Lake, Clearlake, Kelseyville, Nice and Stonyford.
Liela Hopper-Jones, who lives in Nice, told Lake County News that the earthquake was just a “quick loud boom,” like something was hitting her house.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The United States Geological Survey said the epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 1:26 p.m., was 12 miles northeast of Upper Lake, 13 miles southeast of Lake Pillsbury and 13 miles north northeast of Nice.
The quake was recorded at a depth of about eight miles, the survey reported.
Within about a half hour of the quake the US Geological Survey had received nearly a dozen shake reports from Upper Lake, Clearlake, Kelseyville, Nice and Stonyford.
Liela Hopper-Jones, who lives in Nice, told Lake County News that the earthquake was just a “quick loud boom,” like something was hitting her house.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – The city of Clearlake on Thursday swore in a new police officer and two code enforcement officers on Thursday.
Interim Police Chief Tim Celli swore in new Clearlake Police Officer Evan Cannaday.
Officer Cannaday has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Sonoma State University and recently graduated from the Santa Rosa Police Academy.
Also sworn in were code enforcement Officers Steve Felder and Lee Lambert.
Due to a reorganization, code enforcement will now fall under the supervision of the Clearlake Police Department, providing additional authority to the code enforcement officers to deal with issues they encounter.
“I am excited to continue to have new officers join our department,” said Celli. “Officer Cannaday is going to be a great addition to our team. In addition, having code enforcement under the authority of the police department is going to make them much more effective in doing their job.”
City Manager Greg Folsom added, “Bringing on police Officer Cannaday and code enforcement Officers Felder and Lambert to the Clearlake Police Department is a part of the progress we are making as we strive to make Clearlake a safer and cleaner city.”
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Habitat for Humanity Lake County is still accepting applications for its Homeownership Program but funding for the Wildfire Recovery Program is running out.
If you have lost your residence to any of the Lake County fires, whether you were a renter or a homeowner, have limited rehousing resources, and are a qualified low income household who has resided in the county for at least one year and possess a sustainable income, you are encouraged to apply.
Contact the Habitat for Humanity office at 707-994-1100, Extension 106, visit online at www.lakehabitat.org or stop by the office at 15312 Lakeshore Drive in Clearlake for an intake pre-application and appointment with the family selection staff who will be able to answer all of your questions regarding Habitat for Humanity and how the homeownership program works.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol will offer a free “Start Smart” traffic safety class for soon to-be-licensed, newly licensed, and teenage drivers and their parents or guardians on Wednesday, May 16.
The class will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Clear Lake Area CHP office, located at 5700 Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville.
The CHP said a teenager is killed in a traffic collision every four hours nationwide. That equates to more than 1,870 teenagers killed each year. Another 184,000 teenagers are injured in traffic collisions.
These deaths and injuries can be substantially reduced or prevented by eliminating high-risk driving behaviors through education, and the CHP said its “Start Smart” program can help prevent these tragedies.
The Start Smart program focuses on providing comprehensive traffic safety education classes for teenagers and their parents.
Start Smart employs innovative techniques to capture the attention of teenagers and parents, providing a lasting experience.
The curriculum includes information on collision statistics, teen driver and passenger behaviors, graduated driver’s license laws, cultural changes in today’s society and the need for stronger parental involvement in a teenager’s driving experience.
Space is limited for this class. For more information or reservations, call Officer Kory Reynolds at the CHP office, 707-279-0103, or emailThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
The class will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Clear Lake Area CHP office, located at 5700 Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville.
The CHP said a teenager is killed in a traffic collision every four hours nationwide. That equates to more than 1,870 teenagers killed each year. Another 184,000 teenagers are injured in traffic collisions.
These deaths and injuries can be substantially reduced or prevented by eliminating high-risk driving behaviors through education, and the CHP said its “Start Smart” program can help prevent these tragedies.
The Start Smart program focuses on providing comprehensive traffic safety education classes for teenagers and their parents.
Start Smart employs innovative techniques to capture the attention of teenagers and parents, providing a lasting experience.
The curriculum includes information on collision statistics, teen driver and passenger behaviors, graduated driver’s license laws, cultural changes in today’s society and the need for stronger parental involvement in a teenager’s driving experience.
Space is limited for this class. For more information or reservations, call Officer Kory Reynolds at the CHP office, 707-279-0103, or email
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Sonoma County authorities are investigating several burglaries reported in the wildland fire burn zone.
Sgt. Spencer Crum of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office reported that on Thursday morning the sheriff’s office and the Windsor Police Department took several burglary reports of constructions sites.
In the 100 block of Willowgeen Place in the Larkfield burn zone there three storage trailers reportedly broken into and tools removed, Crum said.
In the 80 block of Dorchester Lane in the Larkfield burn zone Crum said there was a single storage trailer broken into and construction tools removed.
In Windsor at a construction site near Hembree and Victory Lane, there was another construction trailer broken into with tools removed, according to Crum.
Crum said these crimes happened last night or in the early morning hours.
In all three of these locations, Crum said the trailers were locked tight and some were blocked by heavy equipment that had to be moved to gain entry. The thieves took some time to gain entry and had to make a lot of noise according to the investigating deputy.
“Victimizing people who are trying to rebuild their homes in the face of the worst disaster in Sonoma County history is completely unacceptable,” said Sheriff Rob Giordano.
He added that the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office will be investigating these crimes to the full extent and will be providing extra patrols of all construction areas.
Area residents are also asked to take extra vigilant efforts to watch out for suspicious people that don’t belong in the construction areas at night and to call Sonoma County Sheriff’s Dispatch at 707-565-2121 if anything suspicious is observed.
Sgt. Spencer Crum of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office reported that on Thursday morning the sheriff’s office and the Windsor Police Department took several burglary reports of constructions sites.
In the 100 block of Willowgeen Place in the Larkfield burn zone there three storage trailers reportedly broken into and tools removed, Crum said.
In the 80 block of Dorchester Lane in the Larkfield burn zone Crum said there was a single storage trailer broken into and construction tools removed.
In Windsor at a construction site near Hembree and Victory Lane, there was another construction trailer broken into with tools removed, according to Crum.
Crum said these crimes happened last night or in the early morning hours.
In all three of these locations, Crum said the trailers were locked tight and some were blocked by heavy equipment that had to be moved to gain entry. The thieves took some time to gain entry and had to make a lot of noise according to the investigating deputy.
“Victimizing people who are trying to rebuild their homes in the face of the worst disaster in Sonoma County history is completely unacceptable,” said Sheriff Rob Giordano.
He added that the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office will be investigating these crimes to the full extent and will be providing extra patrols of all construction areas.
Area residents are also asked to take extra vigilant efforts to watch out for suspicious people that don’t belong in the construction areas at night and to call Sonoma County Sheriff’s Dispatch at 707-565-2121 if anything suspicious is observed.