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GAM 2019 Blog
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The air feels bitter cold on a January morning, but most of the bundled four- and five-year-olds around me don't seem to feel it. Their nose tips are turning rosy as they shout together: “3, 2, 1…” “LIFT OFF!” There's a pause, then: Pffshew! The model rocket we're all watching zips up and away. The small crowd murmurs with delight, a collective “Whoah…” We lose the rocket in the glare of the Sun, then — pop! — its parachute opens and a flutter of orange shows us where the wind has taken it across the playing field. It's all over...
Star trail photography has gained popularity in recent years. What are star trails? The Earth rotates or spins on its axis about every 24 hours, causing an apparent movement of the stars overhead by about one-quarter of a degree per minute. If we leave a camera in a fixed position and point upwards, open the shutter in bulb mode and let the Earth rotate under the stars, we will create an image with star trails. Similarly we could take shorter exposures and superimpose (stack) the images with image processing software. Most images of star trails taken in the Northern Hemisphere...
As long as Global Astronomy Month has been enjoyed by the world, Globe at Night has been a part of its Dark Skies Awareness program. Globe at Night is the citizen-science campaign that asks everyone everywhere to rate the brightness (or darkness!) of their night sky very simply by matching what he or she sees (toward the constellation designated for that month) with star charts at www.globeatnight.org/webapp/ . For Global Astronomy Month this year, we are reinitiating a great way to get you involved in the Globe at Night campaigns. Try the Adopt-a-Street program!!! Especially March 27-April 5 when the...
Mike Simmons
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- Written by Mike Simmons
Most of us have lost our personal connection with the sky. Since the early 20th century artificial light at night has replaced the starlit dome we've lived under for millions of years with a wan, amorphous glow. But we've lost more than our view the stars. Our place in the Universe is now hidden from view. Before optics, ancients watched the Sun and stars move across the heavens, eventually realizing that the Earth itself was rotating, not a crystalline sphere overhead that encircled our planet. The enigmatic, seemingly irregular motion of the planets were understood once it was recognized that...
