Astronomy Handbook

ASTRONOMY HANDBOOK 63 Table of Contents Section 1 – The Night Sky Purple Section 2 – The North Polar Sky Green Secton 3 – The Winter Sky Pink Section 4 – The Spring Sky Yellow Section 5 – The Summer Sky Blue Section 6 – The Autumn Sky Orange Section 7 – Other Information Red 64 Section 1 – The Night Sky Table of Contents Page Subject Myths & Legends included? 2 Teaching Astronomy - 4 A Little History - 6 The Universe & Milky Way Estonian 9 The Stars & Our Sun Greek, Native American, Scandinavian 16 The Planets Greek, Native American 25 The Moon Native American, Chinese 36 Asteroids, Comets, Meteoroids Native American 39 Greek & Roman Gods - 40 Constellations: An Intro Native American 65 Teaching Astronomy Most schools that come to TOS like to take astronomy. It’s a great opportunity for the kids to sit quietly, look at stars and planets that they may not be able to see in a town or city, and listen to myths and legends about the night sky. This information offers a good foundation to astronomy. Please read it and absorb as much as you can before you arrive. During training we will concentrate on learning constellations and the stories associated with them. Astronomy lasts an hour-and-a-half. We will usually start off with a few games (which we will also show you during training) to burn off some of the kids’ energy, and to wait for it to get dark. Once the stars come out, you will gather your team and find somewhere around camp to look at the night sky. After the games portion, you’ll have about an hour to spend with the kids. Enjoy the awe and wonder that they will have of what they’re looking at; many of them will not have seen stars as clearly as they can at Camp. Teaching astronomy is a whole lot easier if the kids are comfortable and focused on you. Try to find somewhere they can lie down without getting wet or bitten by ants and away from other teams. Also, make sure there are no lights nearby, which will wash out the stars and that you’re sitting in a place where approaching car lights will not be a distraction (if possible!) If car lights cannot be avoided, have the kids turn away to protect their night vision.. If you choose grass make sure it is dry and clear of ant piles! You can always take out a tarp if the grass is wet or sticker- ey, but be aware that it will constantly rustle with fidgety children. If you have blankets available specifically for astronomy, by all means use them! Set your expectations from the start – no walking around (have them sitting or lying down – make sure they’re facing the same direction), no talking when you are, etc. You can also tell them that if they see a shooting star, to make a wish, and at the end we’ll tell each other how many we saw. This limits the screaming out every other minute! You should have a teacher or adult chaperone from the school with you. 66 There are many ways you can teach astronomy – some people prefer facts, others storytelling; most people do a mix of both. We tell schools that we give a “constellation tour” of the sky, so that part is not an option! Stories and myths are very much enjoyed, and can send an eerie silence over the noisiest of groups. There is a lot of information in this handbook. If you’re new to astronomy, try not to be daunted. We’ve tried to keep the information contained here as concise as possible, without all the physics and detail that tend to confuse or intimidate most people. However, you will always get the kid that knows everything and will ask you a multitude of questions – it’s nice to feel like a genius and be able to answer every one. Telescopes If you are working at one of our Outdoor School locations that maintain telescopes, there are a few additional things you need to know. At some point during your star gazing/story telling time you will be called over to the telescopes. Somebody will be manning the telescopes, which will be focused on a planet, the moon, a double star, or something similarly cool! If you find out what it is beforehand then you can tell your team about it so they are prepared for what they will be looking at. After your team has been up, you can return to your spot and resume your lesson; or, if you’re the last group, head in for evening snack. Try to keep the kids as quiet as possible when walking to and from the telescopes, as not to disturb other groups. There are several objects that we may look at through the telescopes. Keep in mind that not all objects are up 365 nights a year, so we will look at what is the best viewing for the season and night. Our favorites include: • The moon – this is on the STAAR test, so teachers really like this as an option! • Saturn – the rings are clearly visible as well as moons. • Jupiter – The gaseous bands and great red spot are visible as well as moons. 67 • Alberio (the Double Star in Cygnus – Summer sky) – the stars are different colors. • Orion Nebula (summer sky) – the birthplace of stars. Other stars and planets are completely unexciting through the telescopes… they simply look like big bright dots. So while you may really want to look at Mars, it’s honestly quite boring through our scopes. 68 A Little History Since the beginning of civilization, people have been fascinated by the night sky. The ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Arabs and Egyptians were among many throughout the ages to study the heavens. They believed that the skies were a battlefield where gods and demons fought and ruled over their lives on Earth. The changing moon, the setting of the sun, the positioning of the stars, the bright comets, were all signs from the gods. Believing in a relationship between the heavenly bodies and earthly events, the ancients reasoned that if they could learn more about the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars, they would be in a better position to predict the weather, the onset of changing seasons, and other natural events. They also believed that they would be better able to serve those gods of the sky and in doing so improve their fate on Earth. The beliefs of our ancestors have been passed down to us in a number of ways – astrology, the belief that planets and stars had the power to affect our lives (invented by the Babylonians 3,000 years ago), remains widely recognized; and the names the Greeks and Romans gave to the planets and stars are still used today in the study of astronomy (the word “astronomy” is derived from Greek for “to name a star”). On a clear, dark night you can see approximately 1,500 stars with the unaided eye. The sky that you see differs very little to that seen by our ancestors thousands of years ago. However, since the invention of binoculars, earth-based telescopes and space telescopes (artificial satellites) we are able to “see” a lot more. History Fun Facts! • Many of the words and expressions we use today originate from old stargazers; for example, disaster means “evil star”, and the word consider means “to observe stars carefully for an omen”. • Great stone circles, such as Stonehenge in England (built about 3,500 years ago) may have been used to study how the Sun and the Moon moved through the sky. 69 Random Fun Facts! • Satellites are used to study Earth’s land and weather, beam TV pictures and telephone calls, even to spy on other countries. The IMEWS satellite can be used to give early warning of a nuclear explosion. • There are about 200 artificial satellites whirling around the Earth. • Yuri Gagarin survived the first manned spaceflight in 1961, but was killed in a plane crash seven years later. • To run their equipment, artificial satellites only need about the same amount of power as an electric toaster. • The Space Age began on October 4, 1957, when Russia launched the satellite ‘Sputnik 1’. It also started the Space Race. • In November 1957, the Russians sent a small dog, called Laika, into orbit on Sputnik 2. She orbited Earth for a week and was the first living thing in space. • Over a ton of space dust falls to the Earth every day. • Astronauts become a little taller in Space. There is less gravity, so their bones are less squashed together. 70 The Universe The Universe consists of a lot of empty space, with huge swarms of stars called Galaxies. There are billions of galaxies in the Universe. Our Sun is a star that belongs to a galaxy called the Milky Way containing about 100 billion stars. The Solar System is the name given to our Sun and all the planets, moons and space debris that revolve around it. In our solar system there are officially eight planets orbiting the Sun, over 60 moons orbiting those planets, and other space bodies in the form of dwarf planets, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets. Gravity is the pulling force that exists between things. Just as the Earth’s gravity keeps us on it’s surface, the Sun’s gravity keeps the Earth in its orbit, and the Earth’s gravity keeps the Moon in its orbit.

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