revolving rock

Rocket Launch Visible from SoCal Thursday Afternoon

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:05:00 +0000

From an article in today's OC Register:

"The largest rocket ever to be launched from the West Coast blasts off Thursday afternoon with a secret payload from Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the contrail should be visible from Orange County.

The unmanned Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle at 235 feet is 51 feet taller than the space shuttle and its propellant tank on the launch pad.

It's scheduled to soar into space at 1:08 p.m. on what should be a mostly clear, windy afternoon. Orange County residents who look to the northwest should be able to see the white contrail of the rocket.

'It's the largest vehicle ever launched from the West Coast, including the Titans launched in 2006,' said Vandenberg spokeswoman Jennifer Green. 'Definitely, you guys might be able to see this one.'

Read the rest of the article here.

Lunar Eclipse 2010 Video

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 05:36:00 +0000

Sadly here in southern California we missed out on the lunar eclipse due to the cloudy skies! :-(

If you're curious to see how the whole thing turned out, Florida amateur astronomer William Castleman stayed up very late and had clear views. He made this excellent video. Enjoy!

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

Two Profound Facts about Lunar Eclipses

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:00:00 +0000

(This is a follow-up on my earlier post, "Lunar Eclipse 2010".)

1. Once the Moon enters the central portion of Earth's shadow, it will be bathed in red-orange light. Why is that? Besides being very unusual and pretty, the cause of this is actually profound: that orange-red color is the light cast by the sum of all sunrises and sunsets happening on the Earth at that moment.

Don't follow what I'm saying? Here's a video I threw together:

2. Because the Moon is entering the Earth's shadow, it's a rare chance to directly observe the spherical shape of the Earth. While you've certainly never doubted the truth of the fact that the Earth is round and not flat, have you ever really sought proof for it? Unless you plan on a voyage to interplanetary space anytime in the near future, lunar eclipses are the most visually-arresting demonstration of the fact.

Incidentally, the ancient Greeks were the first to realize Earth's shape (and systematically compile the other evidence for it as well). Sort of turns the old "In 1492, everyone told Columbus he'd fall off the face of the Earth!" claim on its head! If true, those must have been some uneducated people, even for their own time.

For an explanation and schedule of the eclipse, see my earlier post, "Lunar Eclipse 2010".

Lunar Eclipse 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 07:51:00 +0000

(For my blog post "Two Profound Facts about Lunar Eclipses", click here.)

Mark your calendar!

There will be an eclipse of the Moon on the evening of Monday, December 20, 2010 and lasting into the early hours of Tuesday, December 21, 2010. This eclipse is especially well-visible from North America, and a lunar eclipse won't occur again until April 2014. (The last one occurred in August 2007).

This event is best-timed for people living on the West Coast. Here is the schedule (times listed are Pacific):

10:30pm - the Moon begins to enter the Earth's shadow
11:40pm - the Moon is completely covered
1:00am (Tuesday) - the Moon begins to emerge from the center of the shadow
2:00am - the Moon has completely left the Earth's shadow, eclipse over

(If you're in North America but somewhere other than the West Coast, simply adjust for your time zone. For example, in New York City, the eclipse won't start until around 1:30am Tuesday. For Chicago, the eclipse won't start until around 12:30am Tuesday.)

What is a lunar eclipse and why do we see it?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Full Moon passes into the shadow of the Earth. Since outer space is black, we don't usually see Earth's shadow or even realize that it has one. But it does--for the same reason you have a shadow when you're standing in bright sunlight.

Every couple of years, the Moon's orbit and Earth's orbit line up just right such that the Moon actually goes into the Earth's shadow, which makes it seem as if the Full Moon is disappearing. Here's a diagram:

As a result of this, here is what we see from Earth (see time-lapse video below). As can be seen in the video, notice that oddly, as the Moon approaches the very center of the shadow--where you might expect it to get darkest--it actually begins to turn reddish-brown instead.

In my next post, I'll attempt to explain why that is, and you'll learn two reasons why I think lunar eclipses are so worth checking out: Click here to read it.

Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks Thursday Night

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 21:45:00 +0000

A meteor streaking across the sky.
Photo credit: Nick Ares, Wikimedia Commons.

Meteors, sometimes called "shooting stars", are more common than most people realize. So long as skies are clear and dark, even on ordinary nights there are an average of 2 meteors per hour.

Meteors start out as tiny bits of rock floating in space. Earth's gravity attracts these bits of rock, causing them to enter our atmosphere and fall toward the surface of our planet. Since they have such a long way to fall, they reach speeds of hundreds of thousands of miles per hour. At speeds like that, the air around them actually causes friction, and so each bit of rock and the air around it heats up. Voila, that's what you're seeing when you see a meteor! (Most of them are so tiny--about the size of a grain of sand--that they actually vaporize before they get anywhere near the ground. Nonetheless, they and the air around them glows so much that you can easily see it as it falls.)

Every few weeks or so, the Earth comes near lots of bits of rock that have floated away from the tails of various comets in the inner solar system. When that happens, we have many meteors fall to the Earth at one time--usually over the course of one or two days. This is what we call a "meteor shower". Every August, right around this time, we have one of the best annual meteor showers, when for one night, about 60 meteors can be seen per hour. (Perhaps the word 'shower' is a bit of an exaggerated name--if a droplet of water per minute come out of your faucet, you'd call that a 'trickle' and not a 'shower'--but that's just what we call these events.)

There are meteor showers about once every 4-6 weeks, but some are better than others depending on the year. The August meteor shower, known as the Perseid meteor shower, is one of the most predictable ones. That means that it may not be the most spectacular shower (others can have hundreds of meteors per hour), but it's a decent show, and it's consistent. Other showers deliver numbers much higher than that some years, but in other years are much, much lower. For these showers, the number of meteors per hour are very hard to predict.

This year the Perseid shower reaches its best on the night of Thursday, August 12, though you can still expect to see some meteors on the nights before and after the peak. Either way, all you need to do is find a place away from city lights (especially street lights), let your eyes adapt to the dark, and lay back on something comfortable with your head to the sky. If the shower delivers, you should see about 60 meteors per hour, or an average of one every minute.

Here are some news articles containing further information:

"Perseid meteor shower will light up night sky this week"

"OC sky's alive with meteors"

In Case You Missed the Eclipse...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:38:00 +0000

Here in Orange County, a layer of coastal fog prevented anyone from seeing Saturday morning's partial lunar eclipse.

But lots of other people throughout the western United States, as well as eastern Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Australia, were treated to the event. One Orange County man, Dave Kodama, headed out to the Orange County Astronomers' private observing site located in the nearby desert, far away from city lights and rarely covered by clouds. There, he got an unobstructed view. He took this spectacular image, showing the Moon setting while still in the Earth's shadow. (If it looks far larger than it ever appears to your eyes, that's an effect of the telephoto lens he was using, which makes distant objects appear much larger than they actually are).

He also made the following video of the eclipse, from just before it began, to when the Moon starts to set (probably about 2 hours). Watch as Earth's shadow descends over the Full Moon:

One aspect of this eclipse that made it unique for observers in western North America was the fact that it occurred when the Moon was approaching the horizon. As anyone who has ever observed a rising or setting Moon knows, the Moon appears larger when near the horizon (a phenomenon known as the "Moon illusion"). It may surprise you to learn that the precise reason for this is still unsettled by scientists. The often cited notion that "you are able to compare it to objects of known size along the horizon", an instance of the optical illusion known as the "Ponzo effect", is considered inadequate by many scientists. But we can be sure it is definitely an optical illusion, and not some kind of magnification: witness the fact that the Moon appears the same size through a given telescope whether at the horizon or at the zenith.

Partial Lunar Eclipse!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:55:00 +0000

You might be interested to know that there will be a partial lunar eclipse very early on Saturday morning (June 26), beginning at 3:17AM Pacific Time, and lasting until moonset, about 2 hours later.

What is a partial lunar eclipse?
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes into the Earth's shadow. During a lunar eclipse, as the Full Moon passes into the Earth's shadow, it begins to look like a part of it is missing--almost like a bite was taken out of it.

If the eclipse is total, the Moon gets completely covered by the Earth's shadow. Once it reaches the central part of the shadow (usually an hour and half into the eclipse), it will begin to glow red, for reasons having to do with sunlight bouncing off the Earth's atmosphere. But this eclipse is only partial, meaning that the Moon won't get completely covered by the shadow, so we won't see that this time around. Instead it will look like this:

What time should I look?
You're going to have to get up really early. The eclipse begins at 3:17 AM Pacific Time, and lasts until moonset, which for us tomorrow is around 5:12AM. 4:38 AM is the moment of greatest eclipse; at that point 54% of the Moon will be covered by Earth's shadow.

Is it worth getting up this early? What should I expect to see?
You should expect to see a portion of the Moon "missing". Since it's not a total lunar eclipse, you won't get to see the Moon enter the reddish glow of the Earth's inner shadow. Some people don't find partial lunar eclipses that interesting, because it does just look a little bit like a crescent moon, and you can see a crescent moon twice a month.

But if you enjoy astronomy, you will find this event interesting. Here are three reasons why:

1) This missing portion of the Moon isn't a lunar phase, like a crescent moon. We see a crescent moon twice each month because of the changing angle at which we're looking at the Moon as it goes around the Earth. During a lunar eclipse, the Moon's phase is at first full; we're seeing its entire face lit up by sunlight. So when a part of it suddenly goes missing in a matter of several minutes, you're actually getting to see the Earth's shadow! It's not just that you're looking at the Moon from a certain angle.

2) Lunar eclipses are a great opportunity to get to directly observe, with your own eyes, the fact that the Earth is a sphere (ball), not flat. How do we know? Simply notice the shape of the Earth's shadow as it is cast on the Moon: it's curved! In fact the ancient Greeks were the first to pay attention to this fact and realize that the Earth is a sphere.

3) For us here in western North America, Saturday's eclipse will occur when the Moon appears very large! This is because for us the eclipse will be occurring as the Moon is setting. You have probably noticed that when the Moon is rising or setting, it appears much larger than it does higher in the sky. (This is an optical illusion, by the way.)

Is it dangerous to look at?
No, not even slightly. Lunar eclipses are not dangerous. Solar eclipses--when the Moon passes in front of the Sun--require caution, but only because staring at the Sun is dangerous in general. (During the moments before and after a solar eclipse is the only time you are likely to accidentally stare directly at the Sun. This is why they make special "solar eclipse glasses," to protect your eyes.)

How often do lunar eclipses occur?
Lunar eclipses are much more common than solar eclipses. Lunar eclipses occur about once a year, though not everyone gets to see them, depending on the time the eclipse occurs. And as you can see with this eclipse, not every lunar eclipse is total. The last total lunar eclipse visible in North America was Feb. 21, 2008, and the next one will be this Dec. 21, 2010. You can find more information about when they will occur here.

What If the Earth Had Rings?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:19:00 +0000

Very cool simulation! If the frame is cut off, you may want to click on the video and view it directly in YouTube.

(Hat tip: Michael D.)

Time-Lapse of Leonid Meteor Shower 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:47:00 +0000

Video by Dave Kodama, Orange County Astronomers.

Given that this video was taken from very dark skies, it is evident what I meant earlier when I said that the term "shower" is a bit of a misnomer. Definitely note that the streaks which can be seen early in the video are from airplanes. Meteors are visible later in the evening after the constellation Leo begins to rise, about halfway through the video.

Go Watch the Meteors... Maybe

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:57:00 +0000

If you've heard the hype about this year's Leonid meteor shower (the Leonids are the annual shower that occurs in November), you might wonder why I've been reluctant to add my voice to the chorus imploring you to go watch it.

That's because meteor showers are total crapshoots. It's definitely not a terrible idea to set your alarm and spend at least a few minutes during the wee hours Tuesday morning, but with some caveats in mind:

First of all, if you haven't ever seen a meteor (or "shooting star"), there are almost zero qualifications to heed. You absolutely owe it to yourself to see one at some point, so consider going outside early Tuesday morning, provided it's clear, and keep your eyes on the sky for 10 minutes or so. You'll see at least one. Especially if you go somewhere fairly dark, i.e. somewhere where you can at least see some of the constellations.

But...

For all but a very few meteor events, I think the term "shower" is a bit of a drunk metaphor. On any given night, there are always meteors; the average is about 2 per hour, or so I've heard. This is because there are just that many random rocks (albeit very small: most meteors that we observe are only sand-grained sized, if you can believe it!) floating around the vicinity of Earth's orbit.

A so-called meteor 'shower' occurs when the Earth passes through an entire debris field of small bits of rock left by comets which have passed nearby in recent years. It may surprise you to learn that these events happen about once every month or so, and this is when the number per hour greatly increases: anywhere from 20 to 50 to 100, or, in this year's most optimistic estimate for November's shower, possibly as many as 300 per hour. Mind you that would mean seeing a shooting star about once every 12 seconds, rather than once every 30 minutes.

(I recommend the following articles for further information: Will the Leonids Roar Again? and The 2009 Leonids Are Coming!)

If that turns out being the case, it may be a really neat thing to watch. Definitely beats having to spend an entire hour outside to see one or two!

But something tells me that if when you go to bathe tomorrow morning, your water were to release a drop from the spigot once every 12 seconds, you wouldn't call that a "shower". So keep your expectations realistic!

This event, in 1833, in my judgment would have been more properly called a shower:

Nothing Amazing, Nothing Rare...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:00:00 +0000

But it is neat: On Monday evening, October 26, 2009, Jupiter and the Moon will be a mere 3º apart (less than the size of your fist, at arm's length). Above: The view Monday night as predicted by Stellarium; click to enlarge.

Jupiter is currently the brightest object in our evening skies, but if you've not seen this planet with your own eyes, Monday evening presents you with perhaps the easiest opportunity ever to find it.

If you own a pair of binoculars or a small telescope, use them! The Moon looks spectacular with even the smallest optical aid, and often even small binoculars can allow you to detect Jupiter's four largest moons: the scene will appear as a bright "star" (Jupiter) surrounded by four tiny "stars" (Jupiter's four largest moons). The image below, taken by Mathew Wedel at 10 Minute Astronomy, gives you some idea:

On that note, it was exactly 400 years ago November that Galileo became the first human being to point a telescope at the sky and discovered the existence of those moons--and the existence of any object going around something other than the Earth! This represented the first direct evidence in support of the heliocentric theory of the solar system, and further fueled Galileo to uncover fundamental new truths about the nature of motion, laying the groundwork for the modern branch of science known as physics. Pretty pregnant observation, that.

Above: Galileo's own notes recording the relative positions of Jupiter's satellites over the course several days.

Big Sunspot Emerges

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 20:26:00 +0000

It's not much, but a sunspot has emerged which may become the biggest sunspot of 2009. Here's a video, taken using a special filter which blocks out the harmful rays of the Sun. (Source: SpaceWeather.com)

Here's a reminder never to look directly at the Sun, as doing so is dangerous and can lead to blindness. If you own solar eclipse glasses and you've taken good care of them (ensuring they have no holes or scratches), then it may be possible to see this sunspot. Another option is to look for the sunspot when the Sun's light is greatly diminished, as at sunset. However, as of this writing, the sunspot is very small and probably not visible to the eyes alone.

Sunspots usually appear in cycles of every 11 years. The last sunspot "storm", or maximum, was 2001, and we reached minimum in 2006. That means that sunspots should be starting to occur more frequently, as the next maximum is predicted to occur in 2012. This cycle has had an especially low minimum, so scientists are speculating that perhaps we won't have as many sunspots. (Famously, there was a period from 1645 to 1715 when the Sun produced very few sunspots, and some wonder if this may happen again!)

UPDATE: On Sunday afternoon (10/25/09) I attempted to see the sunspot using solar eclipse glasses (which are specially designed for safe viewing of the Sun) but could not see it. So at least for now, it's too small to be seen without special equipment.

For an Immediate LCROSS Update...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:27:00 +0000

Read the story here.

Rocket and Spacecraft to Crash into Moon on October 9, 2009!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:30:00 +0000

On Friday morning at around 4:30AM (Pacific Time), a rocket and spacecraft are planned to crash into the South Pole of the Moon. Both are unmanned.

Because the Moon has such little gravity and almost no atmosphere (which would help to keep it insulated from extreme heat or cold), the sunlight causes the daytime side of the Moon to be blazing hot: about 250°F, and therefore any water that might have existed would have long ago evaporated towards outer space. (The astronauts who landed on the Moon, for example, found only rocks--mostly basalt, and anorthosite, a rock similar to granite).

But in the 1990s, NASA's unmanned (remote-controlled) Clementine spacecraft discovered that the lunar South Pole contains a region of the Moon that never receives sunlight. Using a special instrument on board Clementine, scientists took a series of special photographs that help to reveal the chemicals of the object being photographed. The photographs of the Moon's South Pole seemed to suggest the presence of water, although scientists were not able to tell for certain.

Above: One of Clementine's (normal) photographs of the Moon's South Pole.

If water were found to exist on the Moon, that would be very useful to know. Water is relatively heavy and therefore expensive to transport into space. The presence of water on the Moon could make it cheaper to one day establish a permanent human settlement on the Moon. Water can also be used to create hydrogen, the main component of rocket fuel.

After the Clementine mission in the 1990s, eventually NASA planned future missions to follow up on this "lunar South Pole" discovery. The LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) spacecraft, launched this year, has made the most detailed maps of the Moon yet, identifying future safe landing sites and radiation levels. (Its cameras are so good that it's even been able to take photographs of the landing sites and leftover equipment from the Apollo astronauts, which you can see in the image below; you can read more here).

Another spacecraft, part of the LCROSS mission ("Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite"), has now finished taking even more chemical photographs of the Moon from space, and on this Friday will achieve its grand finale: firing a rocket toward the Moon's South Pole, followed by then crashing itself into the South Pole.

Above: LCROSS being launched into space on June 18, 2009.

Because of the Moon's low gravity, these collisions should cause debris to be ejected into space, which will allow both LCROSS (at least at first collision), LRO, and observers on Earth to use the same special type of camera to get an even more detailed view of the chemicals present.

Above: The LCROSS spacecraft being prepared to be loaded into a rocket, May 2009.

Will we find water? You'll have to wait and see! Photos and hopefully a video from the collisions will be posted here on this blog sometime next week.

Check back!

PS: Although the collisions can be observed from Earth, they are only visible using a telescope that is 10" or larger in diameter. It will be broadcast live on NASA TV (if you have access to that), although if you prefer to sleep at 4:30AM, you can always watch recorded coverage on the news, or check back on this blog in about a week. :)

More info: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/index.html

Rare Space Object Discovered by High Schooler

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:13:00 +0000

Read the full story here: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080925-student-discovery.html

(Hat tip: Jimmy Wales)

Seeing in the Dark

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:28:00 +0000

Here's another old post (from September 2007), resuscitated. But I know this was a worthwhile book, and the documentary looks equally worthwhile. Reported at the time by the SF Sidewalk Astronomers:

"Stargazing is the subject of Seeing in the Dark, a 60-minute, state-of-the-art, high-definition (HDTV) documentary by Timothy Ferris that [premiered in 2007] on PBS.... (story continued below)

The film, Ferris's third, is based on his book, _Seeing in the Dark_ (2002), named by the New York Times as one of the 10 best books of the year.

Seeing in the Dark will bring the wonders of the night sky in state-of-the-art HDTV to millions of viewers. The program features remarkable high-definition astrophotography, as well as the men and women, professionals and amateurs, who have seen and captured phenomenal images within and beyond our solar system and galaxy. It also explores how inexpensive telescopes, sensitive digital cameras, and the Internet now enable casual stargazers to get in touch with the cosmos.

Like the book, the film is in part a personal account of Ferris' life-long devotion to stargazing, beginning with his introduction to the night sky as teenager in Florida in the '50s.

'Seeing in the Dark is meant to alter, inspire and illuminate the lives of millions,' said Ferris. 'It introduces viewers to the rewards of first-person, hands-on astronomy--from kids learning the constellations to amateur astronomers doing professional-grade research in discovering planets and exploding stars. I hope it will encourage many viewers to make casual stargazing part of their lives, and a few to get into serious amateur astronomy.' "

Via Matthew Ota, Orange County Astronomers mailing list.

MIT Students Take Space Photos on $150 Budget

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:44:00 +0000

Read the full story here, http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-328198

Go to their website and find out more about their project here, http://space.1337arts.com/

New Horizons

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 May 2009 01:10:00 +0000

(Note: This is a post dated February 2007, from an earlier version of this blog.)

On February 28, 2007, the New Horizons spacecraft reached Jupiter orbit, and took the below photograph.

For those unfamiliar with this spacecraft, New Horizons is destined for Pluto and the other small, icy worlds beyond the orbit of Neptune. Neither Pluto nor these worlds have been photographed before, so there is something particularly significant about this mission: it truly represents the final frontier in this, our Age of Exploration of our solar system.

(Uranus and Neptune were studied by NASA's Voyager missions of the 1980s; Jupiter and Saturn have been visited even more times--with the Cassini spacecraft presently giving Saturn the most in-depth look we have ever obtained of that planet; don't miss the stunning photographs in December 2006's National Geographic).

As if this weren't exhilarating enough, New Horizons is also the fastest spacecraft ever launched. Upon its launch last year on January 17, it passed the orbit of the Moon in just nine hours. Nine hours! If that doesn't mean anything to you, consider that the Moon is 239,000 miles away from the Earth, and that it took the Apollo astronauts of the 1960s and 70s a full three days to reach it.

So, New Horizons has now arrived at Jupiter, a planet which at this particular moment happens to be a waystation along the path to Pluto. It will circle Jupiter just once, using the planet's immense gravity as a slingshot to give it one last boost off to its end goal. How fast is New Horizons travelling?

33,000 mph!

Even travelling at such great speed, it won't arrive at Pluto until... 2015. That tells you something about how far away Pluto is.

....

I think of my parents as having grown up at the dawn of the Space Age, and therefore having had the great fortune of watching its pinnacle with the Apollo missions of 1963-1972. But what many of us don't realize is that my generation has been growing up in a veritable Second Space Age. Those who have been willing to look, have been witness to the first in-depth exploration of Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. And this is to say nothing of the astounding achievements of our great space telescopes--especially Hubble--which for nearly two decades now have been making entirely unprecedented observations of stars, galaxies, and a plethora of celestial oddities from quasars to black holes. (The Hubble Heritage Project, since 1998, has been working to keep the public informed of the most awe-inspiring of these discoveries each month).

It is said that for the last Apollo mission, just three years after the first landing, the television networks did not even carry live coverage of the event (in fact the remaining missions had already been scrapped by the government for lack of popular support).

Far, far too many today make the same mistake of our fathers, who were, at best, blind to the achievement (and at worst, numb to it).

Let us resolve not be among these blind.

My (Lack of) Opinion About Pluto--and Its Implications for My Career

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Last Friday I posted about Illinois' state legislature passing a resolution to reject the "demotion" of Pluto to the status of 'minor' planet.

This is a subject that I sensed had been on the periphery of the news for three or four years now, and seemed to me that it had been more the punchline of a cute "throw-away" joke of a late-night talk show host than a serious issue, which is why I speculated the Illinois resolution might be tongue-in-cheek. I was surprised--and even happy--in finding that this issue is evidently contentious among some laypeople and science enthusiasts, as I witnessed from the commenter on my last post, Laurel.

As someone who writes science curriculum, I'm delighted to see this kind of discussion, because it's not often I get to see serious headlines discussing some of the daily issues with which I grapple.

That said, in my comment on my last post, I expressed my view that Pluto's status is a "relatively pedantic issue". Let me briefly outline three reasons why I think this is so.

(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

1. Over the course of the last ten years, astronomers have been continually discovering small, icy, Pluto-like bodies in the realm of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune. They've dubbed this region "the Kuiper Belt" (for astronomer Gerard Kuiper), and most interestingly, one of these objects--Eris--is even larger than Pluto itself. A few of these objects are near Pluto-size, however slightly smaller. The parallels to the "Asteroid Belt", or realm of small rocky objects between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, are obvious.

2. The issue is not about whether Pluto will be mentioned in schools. Claims to the contrary are misleading, as no one is questioning Pluto's status as a planet, rather its status as a major planet. The issue is simply that Pluto is obviously not anything exceptional beyond being one of several prominent members of the Kuiper Belt. The issue affects 3rd grade playground chalk drawings and clothing-hanger mobiles like this: M, V, E, M, Asteroid Belt, J, S, U, N, Kuiper Belt.

So why mention Pluto at the expense of other Kuiper Belt objects? I'm all for fairness... why not mention Eris and Sedna too? All of these objects have interesting stories behind their discovery and their inferred characteristics, stories that help bring the "Kuiper Belt" to life. (For the Asteroid Belt, that means mentioning one or two of the larger asteroids, too, like Ceres or Vesta.)

3. There are profoundly important, more obviously non-pedantic issues in science education which are in real, desperate, crucial need of public outcry. One obvious contender is the masquerading of creationism as something other than the religious doctrine it is, and the thoroughly dishonest equivocations of its proponents that evolution is "just a theory".

But I'll give you an even lesser known controversy in science education, and one I think even more deserving of your outcry: the divorce of science education from inductive reasoning, (reasoning that starts with the real world out there)--the method by which we reach scientific truths in the first place. The teaching of the planets makes an excellent case in point. How are we taught about the planets in school? We are given diagrams or lists. From these we make planet mobiles in third grade, and we memorize acronyms like "My Very Educated Mother...". But if we had to define the planets from the bottom up--I mean, according to the realm of our own personal, perceptual experience of the world around us--how many of us know for ourselves that planets appear as star-like dots of light above our heads, which wander against the general motion of background constellations known as the Zodiac? If we are even aware of the fact that the planets are accessible to our own naked eyes, how many of us know that these are only some of the planets, and that the discovery of other planets had to wait for the invention and refinement of the telescope? How many of us have even looked through a telescope and seen for ourselves Saturn's rings, and reflected upon the fact that this extraordinary wonder of our Universe has been routinely passing over our backyard for so many years of our lives?

Few if any people do know or experience these things. That students emerge from their science education with a better knowledge of diagrams and memorization schemes than with actual familiarity and true understanding of the real world around them, is an indictment of modern science education and what I would characterize as the "Platonic" intellectual vanguard which has long dominated the education colleges. (And, of course, we all know that the sad reality is that most students instead give up on science, citing it as "too abstract", "boring", and "too much memorization". Is there any wonder why?)

In my own work, I reject this, and in my career I hope to attempt to turn the longstanding tide to the other direction. I'm part of a small minority that thinks that education in science should respect a person's own actual body of experiences, enlarging upon it in a systematic way, and then building upon that. At this early stage, it's an overstatement to even call this a movement--we're extremely small as yet. But we do exist, and if you're interested in science, I hope you will hear more from our school of thought in the coming decades.

Illinois Government Worships God of the Underworld

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:43:00 +0000

And that's fitting... because Illinois state government keeps sinking to lower and lower rungs of the Underworld:

The lllinois State Senate passed a resolution to reestablish Pluto's "full planetary status" and declare an official "Pluto Day".

The full text can be found here. Although it appears it might be tongue-in-cheek, I've heard a rumor suggesting that this may have been serious legislation intended to save state money on science textbook revisions. (I can't substantiate that.)

So the State Senate is either assuming the role of satirical humor outlet, or a scientific assembly. Either way, a sound function of government by any rational standard!

I note that the resolution reads ambiguously: "... that as Pluto passes through Illinois' night skies, that it be reestablished with full planetary status". Should we assume they mean that Pluto is only a planet as it passes through Illinois' night skies?

At this point, I don't think it's unfair to assume that of them.

On the First Day of Christmas, My Hubble Gave to Me...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 23:22:00 +0000

These photos are well worth the minute or two of your perusal:

Online Hubble Space Telescope Advent Calendar

(Hat tip: Bob Rubendust, Champaign-Urbana Astronomical Society.)

The Planets Are Aligning... (Go Outside December 1st!)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:49:00 +0000

"Conjunction" is a technical term for when several planetary objects line up, as seen from our Earthly perspective.

It's been a while since I've paid any attention to a conjunction, largely because I've been quick to dismiss them as no big deal: Is it rare for two planets to be in the same general vicinity in the sky? Not really. In our sky, the planets are confined to wander through the band of stars that make up the twelve Zodiac constellations (Leo, Sagittarius, Cancer, Libra, etc.) Like racecars, they're all on the same racetrack, so to speak, so it's not surprising that occasionally they pass one another up.

Nonetheless, when Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter formed a triangle in the evening skies in early summer of 1991, I was mesmerized. Maybe it was because I was ten years old and easily impressed. More likely, however, is the fact that here was an easy, sure-fire way for me to distinguish planets from stars in the night sky. (I see that Wikipedia doesn't even list it as a "notable conjuction" of recent times, which suggests it probably occurs fairly often.)

I hadn't actually thought about that conjunction of 1991 until tonight, when I looked at the conjunction happening now. Right now, Venus and Jupiter are paired nicely together in the western sky after sunset. Something about their brilliant light makes them especially eye-catching. And best of all, on the evening of Monday, December 1st, for that night only, the Moon will sit beside them. This will be the best evening of all to witness the conjunction.

Is it rare? Not exceedingly so. (The Moon more or less follows the band of the Zodiac as well.) But it really is a pretty sight, and a grand opportunity to easily pick out the planets Venus and Jupiter. Venus is the brighter of the two.

---

Addenda:

(1) You don't need binoculars or a telescope to appreciate this. But if you have either, bring them along! A good pair of binoculars will allow you to resolve some small "stars" around Jupiter, which are in fact some of Jupiter's moons. A small telescope will reveal Venus to have a phase, just as the Moon does... only tomorrow night, Venus will be a little more than half full; whereas the Moon will be a crescent.

(2) For all this talk of mine that conjunctions aren't rare, there are some rare conjunctions that have been especially worth viewing. In 2002, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury (the five planets visible to the naked eye) lined up in April, visible shortly after sundown. This won't happen again until 2060--and will only be visible before dawn (which poses no problem for those of us who will be old fogies by then, already awake for an hour).

(3) In case you're thinking about it, but too afraid to ask: Do planetary alignments have any adverse effects on the Earth? Earthquakes? Tidal waves? I direct you to Phil Plait:
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planets.html

Fireball!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 06:09:00 +0000

I witnessed a probable fireball streaking low on the horizon at 6:58pm this evening, seen in the northwest sky while waiting at a stoplight at the intersection of Trabuco & Lake Forest Blvd., in Lake Forest, CA.

In order for me to have noticed this from inside my vehicle facing the glare of bright street lights and traffic signals, I would guess it was a pretty bright object.

Did any others see this?

(posted earlier by me earlier this evening to OCastronomers) So far I have received one response: "I did not see your fireball, but I saw a bright bolide last night during the Orionids meteor shower. Good stuff!"

Launch Alert! (Southern California Observers)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 02:41:00 +0000

A Delta II rocket is scheduled for lift-off this Friday evening from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 7:28:21 pm Pacific Time.

According to "Launch Alert", this rocket will appear to rise vertically for a few seconds and then slowly head south. It will deliver Italy's COSMO-3 satellite into orbit, which will provide high-resolution radar images of Earth.

The launch should be visible for at least 200 miles (weather permitting).

Go check out http://www.spacearchive.info/ for more info.

Green Rain

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:30:00 +0000

This is the coolest aurora borealis photo I have seen yet.

From the October 6th edition of "SpaceWeather.com":

Saturday night, Oct. 4th, in Russia's Kolyskia peninsula, storm clouds gathered over Mt. Khibiny and the rain began to fall. Lo and behold, it was green:

[Click to see]

Northern Lights posing as rain are a common occurance in this arctic part of Russia, where photographer Aleksander Chernucho keeps his Nikon D200 close at hand for midnight photo-ops. On this night, the clouds pulled back revealing a bank of auroras so bright they turned the harbor waters as green as the sky: photo. "Good storm!"