Tag: moon

50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing!

 

 

Do you remember where you were on these historic dates, July 16, 1969 and July 20, 1969? I am sure that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong know exactly where they were!

July 16, 1969 Apollo 11 launched from Cape Canaveral Florida with Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins on board, beginning their historic flight to the moon.

July 20, 1969, 4 days later, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans to ever land on the moon and Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon! While taking a step onto the moon, Neil Armstrong said the famous quote that was heard around the world, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” These 2 days in history, will never be forgotten.

What science learned about the moon will also never be forgotten. The astronauts also returned to Earth with the first samples from another planetary body. Lunar rocks, core samples, pebbles and sand from the lunar surface were brought back to Earth. Scientists studied these items to learn more about the Moon, the Earth and the inner solar system.

Scientists have always been curious about space and what was out there. Children are curious as well and seem to be interested in learning everything they can about space and planets.  What if, alongside our team of professionals, students would be guided through the learning process, becoming real scientists performing real experiments!

High Touch High Tech, Science Made Fun has been around for 25 years and has been committed to moving STEM education forward within our community. HTHT  is a proud supporter of the Science, Technology, Engineering & Math initiative that is taking our Nation by storm. We encourage educators to ‘think outside of the box’ & challenge their students to find the science that surrounds us each day. This has made us an invaluable resource & trustworthy tool for teachers across the country.

Some of the Space Programs that we offer are:

Flight Command

Mission Control

Follow that Planet

Zoom to the Moon

Staggering through the Stars

These are just a few of the many space programs that we have. Whether your looking for preschool, elementary programs, afterschool programs or even Birthday Science Programs, we can accommodate your science needs!

Check out our website for more information or you can reach us at 800.444.4968 or by email us at info@ScienceMadeFun.net

 

High Touch High Tech, Science Made FUN

Hands-on FUN experiments for ages 3-12!

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NASA Video Show’s the Moon Between Spaceship and Earth!

To view the footage, please visit: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/nasa-spaceship-captures-epic-shot-of-moon-passing-072105645.html

The image shows the moon passing between the NASA climate observatory and Earth. It was captured by a NASA camera on board the Deep Space Climate Observatory on July 16, 2015 over the space of five hours. In the image it shows the fully illuminated ‘dark side’ of the Moon that is not visible from Earth.

The images were acquired by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel camera and telescope on the DSCOVR satellite, which orbits about 1 million miles from Earth.

To view the image, please visit: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/nasa-spaceship-captures-epic-shot-of-moon-passing-072105645.html

The Science of Moonbows

Dumgoyach, via Wikimedia Commons

With National Moon Day approaching on July 20th and the Anniversary of the Apollo 11’s first landing on the Moon, we felt it appropriate to feature the science of moonbows in this month’s newsletter.

A moonbow is also commonly referred to as a lunar rainbow. A moonbow is a rare natural atmospheric phenomena that occurs when the Moon’s light is reflected and refracted off water droplets in the air.

Moonbows are much fainter than rainbows made by the sun and often appear to be white. This is due to the smaller amount of light reflected from the surface of the moon. The light from the moon is usually too faint to be perceived by the receptors in the human eye, it is difficult for the human eye to discern colors in a moonbow. However, the colors in a moonbow do appear in long exposure photographs.

A bright moon near to its brightest phase known as a full moon is needed in order to have a chance at seeing a moonbow. It must be also be raining opposite the moon, the sky must be dark and the moon must be very low in the sky (about 42º above the horizon). All these put together makes seeing a moonbow very special and rare!

There are some locations around the world where moonbows occur more frequently. Most of these locations tend to have waterfalls, which create layers of mist in the air. Some of these locations include Yosemite National Park in California and Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in Kentucky. Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe and Waimea in Hawaii.

Moonbow at Victoria Falls; By Scolopendra33 via Wikimedia Commons

Moonbow at Lower Yosemite Falls; By Brocken Inaglory via Wikimedia Commons

Moonbow over Kula, Hawaii; By Arne-kaiser via Wikimedia Commons

 

Sources:

http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/moonbows.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbow

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/where-to-catch-a-moonbow

http://fullmoonphases.com/moonbow/

Why It’s Best to Watch A Total Solar Eclipse from 39,000 FT!

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Joe Rao, an associate astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History’s Hayden Planetarium in New York, discovered that an Alaska Airlines flight traveling from Anchorage to Honolulu would be passing directly through the path of last night’s total solar eclipse.

After months of emailing back and forth with Alaska Airlines to get the flight pushed back by 25 minutes, they finally agreed. “We recognize our customer’s passions,” Chase Craig, Alaska’s director of onboard brand experience, said in a release. Being above the clouds is one of the major perks to seeing an eclipse from cruising altitude. Rao says, “You also get a chance to see the moon’s shadow sweeping across the landscape. At 37,000 feet, that’s a dramatic sight to see.”

What’s the different between a Solar and a Lunar Eclipse?

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes between the Moon and the Sun, and the Earth’s shadow obscures the moon or a portion of it. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking all or a portion of the Sun.

Image Source: Pixabay.com- Solar Eclipse

Upcoming 5 Total Solar Eclipses

Dates Path of the eclipse
Mar 8 / Mar 9, 2016
Aug 21, 2017
Jul 2, 2019
Dec 14, 2020
Dec 4, 2021

Source: timeanddate.com

 

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/lucky-airline-passengers-see-total-solar-eclipse-plane-180110520–abc-news-topstories.html

http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/total-solar-eclipse.html

What Will You Do With Your “Leap Second”?

June 30 will be the longest day in three years, because you’ll get one extra second in your day—a leap second. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service adds a leap second every few years to keep the clocks we use to measure official time and the speed of Earth’s rotation in sync. The addition will mean that the last minute of June will have 61 seconds; while 23:59:59 usually becomes 00:00:00, the leap second will ensure the time becomes 23:59:60. How will you spend your extra second today? Check out this video by National Geographic for more information about the “leap second”!

Asteroid 2004 BL86 Coming Close to Earth!

Get excited sky watchers! There is an asteroid that will be flying by very close to Earth tonight, January 26, 2015! Asteroid 2004 BL86 will come about 745,000 miles from Earth. That is equivalent to about 3 times as far away as the moon is from Earth. This event will not pose any threat to hitting our planet but it will give researchers a chance to observe a major asteroid up close! According to NASA, “Asteroid 2004 BL86 is big — about a third of a mile (a half-kilometer) in size. It will be the closest known asteroid this large to pass near Earth until 2027, when an asteroid called 1999 AN10 flies by.” The best chance at viewing this astronomical event will be from 8pm EST Monday until 1am EST on Tuesday, but it will not be observable by the naked eye. A telescope or binoculars may just do the trick however. OR if you don’t own any of that equipment, no worries! You can watch the event from the comfort of your own computer screen.

Here is the link to the 2004 BL86 asteroid event: http://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2014/12/06/potentially-hazardous-asteroid-357439-2004-bl86-close-encounter-online-event-26-jan-2015/

Rare Blood Moon Event

Image Source: Pixabay.com

Look to the sky’s early morning on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 for a rare lunar event! We are in store for a total lunar eclipse. The last one we had before 2014 was dated back to December 2011. The total lunar eclipse that is taking place early morning on October 8, 2014 is the second of two total lunar eclipses in 2014, and the second in a tetrad (four total lunar eclipses in series). Other eclipses in the tetrad are those of April 15, 2014, April 4, 2015, and September 28, 2015.

Not only are we going to be able to experience a total lunar eclipse, but it is said that the moon will glow a reddish hue, which is were the name “blood moon” comes from. The moon will be turning this red color because of sunlight that is scattered throughout the earth’s atmosphere.

If you are in for cloudy skies this evening, don’t worry, you can watch the lunar event live online. Just follow this link to the The Slooh Community Observatory and NASA: http://live.slooh.com/stadium/live/slooh-covers-the-total-lunar-eclipse-of-october-2014-as-it-slides-across-the-pacific-ocean 

Here are a list of times to start watching!

Wednesday’s eclipse times:

Partial eclipse begins: 4:15 a.m. CDT

Total eclipse begins: 5:25 a.m. CDT

Moment of full moon: 5:51 a.m. CDT

Greatest eclipse: 5:55 a.m. CDT

Total eclipse ends: 6:24 a.m. CDT

Moonset: 6:45-7 a.m. CDT in Alabama

Partial eclipse ends: 7:34 a.m. CDT

Eastern times are one hour later, so be on the lookout starting around 5am if you are on the east coast!

Last Lunar Eclipse until 2014

Look in the western sky Saturday morning before dawn, and if the weather is clear and you’re in the right place, you will be rewarded with the last lunar eclipse of 2011.

For just under an hour, the disk of the full moon will almost disappear, turning a dark, rusty red.  The catch for Americans is that you’ll miss almost everything unless you’re west of the Mississippi.  Totality — when the moon is completely consumed by Earth’s shadow — begins at 6:06 a.m. Pacific time Saturday, and ends at 6:57 a.m. Even on the Pacific coast, dawn will start to brighten the sky before the eclipse is over.

Still, if you happen to be up, a lunar eclipse can be a quiet, refreshing experience.  Depending on the atmospheric conditions where you are, the moon may turn a rich orange, or it may become hard to pick out in the sky. The reddish hue comes from sunlight that is bent by Earth’s atmosphere. As happens during a vivid sunrise or sunset, most colors other than red are absorbed by the air. Read More

Did You Know?
A lunar eclipse takes place when the moon, following its orbit around us, passes directly behind Earth as seen from the sun.  It is the opposite of a solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth. Since the moon’s orbit is slightly tilted, the bodies do not align perfectly during most months — but the rules of orbital mechanics are such that in any given year, there will be at least two and no more than seven solar or lunar eclipses.

See Google’s Lunar Eclipse “Doodle” from June 2011