Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 26, 2015

15

THE WORLD AROUND US

 Mountain Views News Saturday, September 26, 2015 


LUNAR ECLIPSE TO SHINE IN SUNDAY EVENING TWILIGHT; PLUTO ‘WOWS’ IN 
SPECTACULAR NEW BACKLIT PANORAMA MOONLIGHT AND MUSIC MERGE AS 
GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY HOSTS LUNAR ECLIPSE SUNDAY, SEPT. 27.

Griffith Observatory will host a free public event 
to view the total lunar eclipse on Sunday, Sept. 
27, from 6:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Telescope and 
binocular viewing of the Moon will be available 
free to the public, with commentary by Griffith 
Observatory staff members. During parts of the 
evening, the L.A. Philharmonic and Steinway & 
Sons will present live piano music performed by 
Ray Ushikubo of the Colburn School. He will 
perform Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and 
other Moon-related pieces on the Observatory’s 
front lawn. Blankets are welcome, chairs are 
prohibited.

 People can safely view the eclipse from 
anywhere and don’t need a telescope or other 
viewing device. Just look near the horizon to the 
east, beginning just after sunset. (Although the 
dim eclipsed Moon rises at about 6:45 p.m. PDT, 
it may be somewhat hard to see until after dark, 
around 7:30.) 

 You can also watch Griffith Observatory’s live 
online broadcast at http://new.livestream.com/
GriffithObservatoryTV

 A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon 
passes into the shadow cast by the Earth. The 
round disk of the full Moon slowly moves in to 
the dark shadow, and the bright Moon grows dim. 
The Moon, however, does not become completely 
dark. Instead, it usually glows with a faint copper 
or red color, a result of sunlight being filtered 
through the Earth’s atmosphere.

*******

 STUNNING NEW VIEWS OF PLUTO. 
The latest images from NASA’s New Horizons 
spacecraft have scientists stunned—not only 
for their breathtaking views of Pluto’s majestic 
icy mountains, streams of frozen nitrogen and 
haunting low-lying hazes, but also for their 
strangely familiar, arctic look.

 A new view of Pluto’s crescent—taken by 
New Horizons’ wide-angle Ralph/Multispectral 
Visual Imaging Camera (MVIC) on July 14 
and downlinked to Earth on Sept. 13—offers 
an oblique look across Plutonian landscapes 
with dramatic backlighting from the Sun. It 
spectacularly highlights Pluto’s varied terrains 
and extended atmosphere. The scene measures 
780 miles across.

 “This image really makes you feel you are there, 
at Pluto, surveying the landscape for yourself,” 
said New Horizons Principal Investigator Alan 
Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, 
Colorado. “But this image is also a scientific 
bonanza, revealing new details about Pluto’s 
atmosphere, mountains, glaciers and plains.”

 Owing to its favorable backlighting and high 
resolution, the MVIC image also reveals new 
details of hazes throughout Pluto’s tenuous but 
extended nitrogen atmosphere. The image shows 
more than a dozen thin haze layers extending 
from near the ground to at least 60 miles above 
the surface. In addition, the image reveals at least 
one bank of fog-like, low-lying haze illuminated 
by the setting Sun against Pluto’s dark side, raked 
by shadows from nearby mountains.

 Combined with other recently downloaded 
pictures, this new image also provides evidence 
for a remarkably Earth-like “hydrological” cycle 
on Pluto -- but involving soft and exotic ices, 
including nitrogen, rather than water ice.

 Bright areas east of the vast icy plain informally 
named Sputnik Planum appear to have been 
blanketed by these ices, which may have 
evaporated from the surface of Sputnik and then 
been redeposited to the east. The new Ralph 
imager panorama also reveals glaciers flowing 
back into Sputnik Planum from this blanketed 
region; these features are similar to the frozen 
streams on the margins of ice caps on Greenland 
and Antarctica.

 “We did not expect to find hints of a nitrogen-
based glacial cycle on Pluto operating in the frigid 
conditions of the outer solar system,” said Alan 
Howard, a member of the mission’s Geology, 
Geophysics and Imaging team from the University 
of Virginia, Charlottesville.”

 “Pluto is surprisingly Earth-like in this regard,” 
added Stern, “and no one predicted it.”

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@
MtnViewsNews.com.


WHAT HAPPENS TO FORMER FOSTER YOUTH? 

Highlights from an Interview with Jessie Castillo

The mural that covers the entire west wall in 
the kitchen at the Pasadena-based nonprofit 
agency, Journey House is the work of Jessie 
Castillo. Now 27 years old, he credits the 
organization with helping him transition into 
life as an adult after spending years in the 
foster care system. He was first placed into 
foster care at age five and says, “I was bounced 
around from place to place until I was eight 
when I went back to live with my mother.” 
The devastation of crack cocaine addicted 
adults resulted in Jessie and his younger sister 
being placed into foster care when he was 16. 
Fortunately they were placed in the same home. She is now 15 years old and remains in foster care. 

At 16, when he learned that he could start the legal process to become emancipated, he proceeded and completed it by 
the age of 18 after he had moved to an Independent Living Program (ILP). When it came to his future, he had figured 
out that he really was on his own. His life has taken many twists and turns, and his experience provides us with a 
glimpse into some of the challenges faced by older foster children. The current system that assigns a “graduated from 
foster care” status based on a young person turning 18 or 21 doesn’t appear practical considering that there is virtually 
nothing in place to assist them beyond foster care.

Eight years ago when Jessie first learned about Journey House from another youth who lived in the same Independent 
Living Program (ILP), he was 19 years old. The ILP applies to all foster youth ages 16 to 21 and is intended to prepare 
them for the transition into being independent. On his 18th birthday, the clock starting ticking as a reminder that he 
would need to be prepared to fend for himself by his 21st birthday.

At age 14, Jessie had started developing an interest in art and became intrigued with sketches and drawings that his peers drew in their books. He found the images more interesting than what he was learning 
in the art classes at school, so he applied his restless adolescent creativity to tagging. Certainly a nuisance to property owners, his unsanctioned “public art” became his outlet and fortunately his love for art 
outweighed the lure of joining a gang. 

When he first came to Journey House at 19, Jessie was still tagging. Journey House Executive Director, Tim Mayworm and Program Director, Jorge Camerana encouraged him to focus his talents in a legal and 
more constructive manner. They purchased art supplies and Jessie took to painting on canvas with a vengeance. Over the years he has developed a reputation for beautiful abstract paintings. His work has 
been exhibited in various galleries and shows throughout Los Angeles County and he been commissioned to paint several murals. One can be seen from the Metro Gold Line near the Highland Park Station.

Jessie has sold over 40 paintings, but like all creative people, he would love to make his livelihood with his talents, stating, “I would like to sell some more of my art.” Yet he is the first to realize that he has to 
make a living and is currently going to school for welding, with plans to join the Iron Workers Union. It is no surprise that Jessie has also expanded his repertoire into creating sculptures out of metal. He 
is eager to share his creations and stated, “I’d like for people to enjoy some of my works posted online at at www.flickr.com/photos/kastleart and https://m.youtube.com/#/user/KastleArtwork.

When asked about his future he says, “I’d like to get married and have kids, and make sure that I always have a place for my little sister to live with me.” 

When Jessie came to Journey House for this interview last week, he was treated like one of the adult “kids” who was just stopping by, to catch up and connect with family members. Staff are elated that one of 
the “kids” is still making strides as he navigates life as an adult. Jessie is assured that he will always be able to journey back to the place where he can always count on support and encouragement whenever 
he needs it, beyond foster care.

For information on Journey House, the Beyond Foster Care campaign and how you can help, visit www.journeyhouseyouth.org or call (626) 798-9478.


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com