Come star-gaze with me, John Brown, through the eye piece of a 12.5 - inch f/6 MEADE reflector telescope, equipped with a 2-inch spotter scope, equatorial clock drive and portable pier mount, and see the Lunar surface magnified through a 10-inch f/5.6 Meade reflector telescope which has a homemade Dobsonian mount.

        Since 1974 John Brown's New Orleans Sidewalk Astronomy has been located in the historical Fench Market next to the world famous Cafe' Du Monde in the 800 block of Decatur Street, providing French Quarter visitors amazing views of the Stars, Planets and Moon with research grade Newtonian reflector telescopes.

Photo by Martin Storey

     Observing depends on clear to fair skys.  Click here to see the weatherforyou.com weather report or New Orleans Clear Sky Clock

     See astronomical objects as far as millions of miles and light years away, but don't worry!   I don't charge by the mile, only a request that you bring 2 or 3 dollars for the tip jar.  
 

Would you like to further help?

     Please take a moment and help John Brown's New Orleans' Sidewalk Astronomy continue by using my Paypal button below and make a contribution.  Any amount is greatly appreciated.

Paypal is easy to use and convenient.

Or send your check to our mailing address.
New Orleans Sidewalk Astronomy
710 Gallier Street
New Orleans 70117
USA

John Brown's New Orleans' Sidewalk Astronomy is solely funded by your donations.

Folks who have kindly contributed using my Paypal link Steven Lynch, Richard Capps, John Brennan, Gregory DeCosta, Mary Martin, Charles StLucas Thank you for your support.

 

     John Brown's Sidewalk Astronomy is scientific, educational and fun, so please include John Brown's New Orleans Sidewalk Astronomy as one of the reasons to vacation New Orleans and one of the many things to do here.

     New Orleans has truly been an area for Sidewalk Astronomy since the 1930s.  Between the years 1930 to 1965, Frank Manning set up a 16-inch Cassegrain he built himself and mounted on a flatbed truck for the public to view the stars, planets and the Moon here on the city streets of New Orleans.  He would park his truck and open it to the public at Lake Ponchatrain Amusement Park, City Park, Canal Street, and next to the Cafe Du' Monde where I set up my telescopes today.  From 1965 to 1970 Frank Manning's son followed in his dad's footsteps with an 8-inch Newtonian reflector mounted on a boat trailer.

     New Orleans has also had a long history of astronomers.  In fact, in the mid-1700s, this city was the site of one of the oldest observatories in America -- the Pierre Baron Observatory located at Chartres and Madison Streets, just two blocks from the Café' du Monde where I set up my telescopes today.  It was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1794.  There have been Sidewalk Astronomers since Galileo in the 1600s; but in the 1800s Sidewalk Astronomers were known as "Buskers".

     My interest in astronomy began in 1963 in Los Angeles, California where my family and I lived in the San Fernando Valley.  I was about 15 and received my first telescope, a 3.1-inch refractor.  The only clear view of the sky was on the sidewalk in front of my house and when ever I would set up my scope people would stop and look which was my beginning of Sidewalk Astronomy.  In 1974 my parents and I moved to New Orleans because my father, Jazz musician Pud Brown, was offered a job to play at Carlo Montalbano's Blue Angle Jazz Night Club and Restaurant.  Since then, I have been the New Orleans Sidewalk Astronomer located by the Café Du Monde
 
     Over the years many people have looked through my telescopes. Here are some interesting folks, vip's, celebrities and friends who have viewed the astronomical sights through my telescopes.

     One question I am frequently asked is, "Where can I get started in Astronomy?"  The best way to get started is to read "Sky & Telescope" and "Astronomy" magazines.  There you will find many useful articles, star and planet charts and also ads for telescopes and accessories.

How fast are we moving?

To us light travels at the speed of 186,000 miles per second.  To light we are traveling at the speed of 186,000 miles per second.

Earth's Speed

 

THIS MONTH'S SKY  

New Orleans Moon Tree

     While here in New Orleans be sure to visit New Orleans Moon Tree grown from a Loblolly Pine seed taken to the Moon on the Apollo 14 mission.  The Moon Tree is located by the River Walk and was planted in 1983.

ULTIMATE NEW ORLEANS
BEST STAR-GAZING
WHERE Magazine April 2000

 

SURGE IN STARGAZING EXTENDS TO THE STREETS

The Boston Globe November 1999

by Beth Daley
 


A Quarter Scene
Poem by Edger Mauri  




NASA Space Shuttle live Cam

 

HUBBLE TELESCOPE

JPL NASA A Asteroids Comets
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/solar_system/asteroids_comets/comets_index.html
Hubble Space Telescope images of Titan's surface
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~lemmon/titan/
A Closer Encounter With Mars
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1999/27/index.html
Hubble Views Colossal Polar Cyclone on Mars
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/1999/22/index.html
Latest Hubble Space Telescope Observations
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/latest.html
Nasa Space Calendar
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/

The Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence
SETI@home
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu

     Whenever you are on the Internet, this screensaver will dial the Arecibo Observatory's Website and begin downloading data from their Seti database and run mathematical analysis on it and then returns the results to the observatory.  If many people institute this screensaver the result is that through distributed computing, the data handling power of the Observatory increases geometrically.  Please help and pass it along, and make it your favorite screensaver.

 


Need a astronomy program?

Download these free Star Charts for your PC
SKYGLOBE
Stellarium

Thanks for visiting......and please sign my guestbook?


 

Please help John's New Orleans' Sidewalkwalk Astronomy by making a donation

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