An eclipse occurs when the Sun, the Moon, and Earth line up, with our satellite in the middle. If the three align exactly while the Moon lies closer to Earth than usual, we view a total eclipse. But when the Moon lies farther away, it doesn’t completely block out the Sun, so we see a ring of sunlight in the sky, called the “annulus.”

If you’re in the western two-thirds of North America, you’ll be able to see a partial eclipse this Sunday evening. A few will see the ring of sunlight. It all depends on your location. Northern Californians, keep an eye on the sky around 6:24pm. Later, the eclipse moves to the southeast into the Nevada desert before crossing into southern Utah and northern Arizona. Those at the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and Zion national parks will receive a spectacular sight. As sunset approaches, the Moon’s antumbra moves across New Mexico, and the annular eclipse finally ends at sunset slightly southeast of Lubbock, Texas.

Eclipse viewing is a unique opportunity that doesn’t come along every day. Make the most of this opportunity but be smart and use eye protection. You can damage your retinas if you view the Sun directly. View the eclipse with approved eclipse glasses, solar filters, or #14 welder’s glass.

When my grandmother passed away, I knew it was her time and thus didn’t realize it would have such an impact on me. Don’t get me wrong, she was my role model: she was a classic, a stronghold, really fun, and always there. But she was 98 and had lived a full, generous life. Though I could accept her death, it didn’t take away my longing for her. I couldn’t call and hear her tinkling voice, drop in at her home for a quick visit, or pick her up a box of her favorites: Sees Candies. She made her mark on my heart and our entire extended family.

Claim Your Star offers a beautiful way to remember someone forever. I particularly love that it’s not just any star: you can choose the constellation and star type/color. You can name the star and upload a photo. True personalization. Then, you can purchase a commemorative certificate so current and future generations will know the star and its location. And you can enjoy a visit or drop a message with our software.

Unlike other ways of honoring a loved one, a star with Claim Your Star is forever, because we actually own the multi-million dollar atlas of the galaxies. My grandmother’s legacy will impact generations, and her memorial should last that long, too.

Every Mom is different, with a unique style true to her gifts and personality. You can choose a star unique to her sign (my Mom is a Taurus), a color that represents her, or perhaps right in the same neighborhood as another family member’s star. Add a picture of the two of you together, be it recent or not. The photo can share a memory that resonates in your heart, or hers.

Claim a star for your Mom. Our atlas is the only place you can claim a star that is officially entered into the galaxy map for eternity, just like Mom’s dedication makes an impact that influences generations.

Happy Mother’s Day!

If you’re like me, you probably gazed at the night sky as a child and thought about what was out there, how to get there, and if the moon was made of green cheese. As we grew older, the cow jumping over the moon became entirely impractical, but the possibility of a space-related career increased.

In my home, we start young. First come the board books, then the story books, then the kids read on their own. So today I’m sharing some great reads our children have worn out in their intros to stargazing. And I’m focusing on books because, unlike videos, I tend to sit down with them and enjoy learning, teaching, and interacting with them myself.

Baby Galileo: The World Around Me SKY (Julie Aigner-Clark)

A great intro to your night sky. Start with Baby Galileo and the simple yet instruction pictures in this book. Then show your tot the night sky in other books you read. I’ve mentioned Goodnight Moon (Margaret Wise Brown), but the sun, sky, and stars are common themes in many children’s books. You can point them out as your read, and point them out in the true night sky at bedtime.

Zoo in the Sky (Jacqueline Mitton)

What could be more fun than to find the animals in the night sky? Great for younger readers, the animals capture their interest and put some fun into learning about the constellations. Young stargazers realize the creativity of stargazers of days past, who identified these formations for future generations to enjoy.

Glow in the Dark Constellations (C.E. Thompson)

In each picture, one constellation is printed in glow-in-the-dark ink. Kids try to find the constellation on their own, then expose the picture to the light (to illuminate the ink), and finally take it to the dark to check their accuracy. We first purchased this book as a supplement for an elementary school science class and it became fun for the entire family.

Exploring the Night Sky: The Equinox Astronomy Guide for Beginners (Terence Dickinson)

Definitely a higher reading level, this is the most in-depth of my recommendations. But the detail and questions answered must be among the reasons Exploring the Night Sky was honored by the New York Academy of Science as an outstanding book for children.

There are many resources out there, these just touch on a few we’ve enjoyed in our home. As your kids learn to reach for the stars, don’t forget to let them hop in their Claim Your Star spacecraft and learn to navigate the cosmos, too!

Yesterday, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered an extraordinary outburst by a black hole in the spiral galaxy M83. “The flaring up of this ULX took us by surprise and was a sure sign we had discovered something new about the way black holes grow,” said Roberto Soria of Curtin University in Australia. Astronomers witnessed X-ray output increase by about 3,000 times, indicated by a bright blue outburst that was not previously there. “These results imply that the companion to the black hole in M83 is a red giant star, more than about 500 million years old, with a mass less than about four times the Sun’s. According to theoretical models for the evolution of stars, the black hole should be almost as old as its companion.”

A black hole is a region of spacetime from which nothing, not even light, can escape. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will deform spacetime to form a black hole. Around a black hole there is a mathematically defined surface called an event horizon that marks the point of no return. It is called “black” because it absorbs all the light that hits the horizon, reflecting nothing, just like a perfect black body in thermodynamics. Quantum mechanics predicts that black holes emit radiation like a black body with a finite temperature. This temperature is inversely proportional to the mass of the black hole, making it difficult to observe this radiation for black holes of stellar mass or greater.

The mystery and activity surrounding the black hole truly indicates why science fiction authors find this subject so full of creative potential. For astronomers, it has another kind of potential: furthering knowledge of galactic activity. The Chandra X-ray space-based telescope, launched in 1999, brings mankind powerfully close to the black hole witnessed yesterday is in the spiral galaxy M83, about 15 million light years from Earth.

Read more about the Chandra X-ray observatory discovery here.

Sources: Wikipedia, WPTV.com

Starry Night, put on canvas in 1889, was presented to me in a fourth grade art class. My own children were introduced to this piece in baby board books and preschool art, in an early appreciation of art and astronomy. It’s a picture that boldly portrays the wonder of the night sky each dot carefully dabbed into Van Gogh’s view, from which the sky stands out with bold wonder. We can imagine ourselves in that little village beneath, perhaps the only one awake, taking note of the galaxy.

This is one of Van Gogh’s most valuable paintings, but not his only talented representation of stars. For an interesting review of some of his varying night sky work, read more here.

Emilia has three older siblings to gush over her, and generous friends and family to give her blankets, clothes, and toys. So I’m sending her a star, named “Emilia Rose”, in the Taurus constellation. I chose a white “Type A” star simply for the color: white means purity and represents her newness.

I love to gift unique baby gifts. Babies grow so quickly, but in a way, they continue to grow into a star gift. From appreciating the night sky as tots, to visiting via our software, to an adult comprehension of astronomy, Emilia will always have her star. For now, though, I’ll send her certificate with a complimentary copy of “Goodnight Moon”.

Welcome to the world, Emilia!

If you’re in Virginia, visit the Smithsonian for the Welcome Discovery Celebration. It’s a free event, open to the public. Astronaut John Glenn himself (the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962) will be there to greet guests. If you’re not geographically close, you can still get up close and personal on the Smithsonian’s website.  Take your time and look for less-noticeable links to cool stuff inside the Discovery.

And now, let’s get nostalgic and enjoy the Discovery’s final take-off. She’s seen a lot of action, and will still be appreciated in retirement.

The Scale of the Universe goes down to 10e-24 and our company name, Sytosoft, was created because the next generation scientific unit is a Syto or 10-27. Also our platform is known as UnaVerse and Una is exactly how large this goes out to…10e27. So between Syto and Una we have just about captured the known universe.

Claim a star, jump on your starship, and travel through the galaxies. With our software, you’re not just looking at the stars: you’re EXPERIENCING them. It’s the difference between looking at a city map, or actually visiting a city and navigating the streets on your own. Nowhere else can you have this unique, incredibly realistic space travel experience. We are the only company with a 3D atlas of the galaxy, and our atlas documents every star and planet known. Every star is the proper distance, location and scale. You can travel and explore at the actual speed of light: it’s exactly what you would see if you were actually flying through space.

The experience is very cool. You don’t need to plan a trip to the planetarium, or wait for an exhibit. You’ve got astronomy at your fingertips. Claim a star for Global Astronomy Month!