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This is the Classical Astronomy Update, an email newsletter especially
for Christian homeschool families (though everyone is welcome!)
Please feel free to share this with any interested friends.
IN THIS UPDATE:
- Announcements
- Welcome to the Newer Classical Astronomy Update!
- Signs & Seasons animated preview!
- New Signs & Seasons Yahoo Group
- Classical Webinar - Friday, August 3
- An Ode to Great Lakes "Astronomy Weather"
- Signs of the Seasons
- The Shortening Days of August
-
Dance of the Planets
But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh,
and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the
nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels
of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received
of my Father. And I will give him the morning star.
- Revelation 2:25-28
Welcome to the Classical Astronomy Update!
Hello Friends,
Welcome to the even newer, even better Classical Astronomy Update! As you all know, we've changed newsletter services yet again, and this time we're hoping to finally get it right!
We have joined AWeber, a company that was recommended to us as the "Cadillac" of email newsletter services, who guarantees 99.34% delivery! Unfortunately, with our former service the Update was only seen by about 25% of our subscribers, and the rest were probably spam-filtered.
However, in moving to this new service, about 2/3 of our subscribers did not sign on to join the new list. So if you like what we're doing at Classical Astronomy, please forward this newsletter to your friends!
If you're receiving the Update for the first time since 2006, there have been lots of changes! Check out our new redesigned web site at www.ClassicalAstronomy.com. Also in 2007 we've finally published Signs & Seasons, our homeschool astronomy curriculum. There's a ton of information including sample pages and a table of contents at our Online Ordering page. Signs & Seasons would be a great addition to your homeschool, or if you simply want to understand the sky.
Make This the Year Your Family Studies Astronomy!
Signs & Seasons Animated Preview!
We created an animated Flash movie showing all the nifty features of Signs & Seasons. It's two minutes long and we think it's pretty cool! Sorry, no sound, we haven't gotten that far along our learning curve! Check it out at the Classical Astronomy Blog.
Signs & Seasons Yahoo Group
Our friend San Antonio Sue has recently started a Signs & Seasons Yahoo Group! There's no messages yet, but if you're interested in chatting with others about Signs & Seasons and Classical Astronomy, this might be a good place to start. Please visit the main page for more info.
Classical Webinar - Friday, August 3
What are you doing in the afternoon and evening this Friday? Don't forget that we are participating in the Classical Webinar. The title of my presentation will be Discovering the Forgotten Sky: the Relevance of Classical Astronomy. If you're not familiar with this sort of thing, it's done through a web site called Webex, and attendees can hear audio of my voice and ask questions through text messaging. I've prepared a heavily-illustrated PowerPoint slideshow so that it's not just me droning on. Hope you all come and learn a few things about the sky and the history of astronomy.
An Ode to Great Lakes "Astronomy Weather"
Did you all see the big conjunction of Saturn and Venus last month? We didn't either! The mists that perpetually enshroud the Great Lakes prevailed once again! The same thing happened to our good friend Dr. Parsons, O.D. of Jackson, Michigan, who was moved to pen this solliloquy...
I was told I'd be seein' a sight real fine,
For Venus & Saturn would closely align,
I looked to the West, but broke down cry'n
Nothin' but clouds! Curse those wretched Rules of Ryan! (Of course, Dr. Parsons is referring to Ryan's Rules, my enduring contribution to astronomy -- rather a "Murphy's Law" of skywatching, as presented in the August, 2000 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine. )
Signs of the Seasons
The Shortening Days of August
By now, we've all noticed that our summer days are growing shorter. The longest day is over a month past and we can look forward to our daylight growing shorter until the shortest day in December.
While we all notice the lengthening and shortening of the days, a lot of people don't noticed that the change in daylight is not smooth and even. Actually, the length of daylight doesn't change very much for about a month on either side of the longest day. From late May through late July, the length of daylight only differs by a few minutes.
This is the result of the Sun's apparent path from north to south through the constellations. The Sun actually "climbs a hill" as it moves north through the constellations, and "levels out" as it approaches its northern extreme on the summer solstice, June 21.
As the Sun moves in front of the constellation Taurus during May, it is nearly as far north as it will be a month later, and appears to move "sideways" toward the east. This eastward motion continues as the Sun moves into Gemini in June and through Cancer in July. However, by August, the Sun is lining up with Leo, and appears to move increasingly southwards.
When the Sun is near its northern extreme at the summer solstice on June 21, it rises very far to the northeast and sets very far to the northwest, and reaches a higher place in the sky at noon. The northernmost Sun rises earlier and sets later, resulting in extra hours of daylight, hence the long days of summer.
As the Sun moves south again, the sunrise moves away from its northeastern maximum, and similarly the sunset is not as far toward the northwest. However, since the Sun is toward the north in July, the sunrises and sunsets are close to those of the solstices, and the days are only a bit shorter.
However, in August, the Sun is now much father south, and rises and sets further away from the places of the solstice. Also, the Sun is not as high in the noon sky. As a result, the Sun rises later and sets earlier, and the days are noticably shorter.
If this is bad news to some, the worse news is that the days will grow shorter even more quickly as we proceed through August and September. However, in the lands "Down Under," our loss is their gain as their late winter days grow increasingly long.
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Order online at our website or from one of our fine distributors.
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Dance of the Planets
Mars Spectacular in August????
It's become an annual tradition! Every summer, we start getting questions asking if the following email is true:
Two moons on 27th August
Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting in August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will culminate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles of earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27, 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.
As mentioned in the Update in years past, this report is a great distorted version of the Close Pass of Mars in August, 2003. Except Mars looked like a bright star, not a second Moon in the sky. We reported this in the Update at the time, and that edition here.
For a thorough debunking of this annual "Mars Hoax," check out this article at the Urban Legends Reference Pages.
Goodbye to Venus and a Rare Sight Down Under
In the Update, we've covered the entire 2007 apparition of Venus as an "evening star." However, we had several weeks of cloudy weather recently here in Cleveland as we missed seeing the last of Venus as it has vanished into the trees. If you have a clear horizon, such as over water, you may still be able to see Venus before it completely vanishes into the sunset, approaching its inferior conjunction with the Sun on August 18.
All the planets circle the Sun close to the plane of the Earth's orbit, known as the Plane of the Ecliptic. However, the LORD placed each planet in its own special orbit, and the orbit of Venus (like the other planets) is slightly tilted or inclined to the Earth's orbit.
This time, the Earth lines up with Venus when that planet is near the southernmost place in its orbit. Thus, Venus appears to pass at its furthest distance possible to the south from the Sun.
As a result, it may be possible for some observers to see Venus at inferior conjunction on the evenings and mornings of August 17 and 18, which is an extremely rare event. Not only that, but Venus should be visible before sunrise and after sunset, which would be unique indeed, since Venus would then appear as both a morning star and an evening star!
This event would only be visible by observers in the southern hemisphere, and the farther south, the better. While it might be possible to see this from Australia or South Africa, observers in New Zealand, southern Argentina, and Chile would be favored. Also, one would have to look over water with extremely cloudless skies to have any chance of seeing Venus under these elusive conditions.
Even if you do have an opportunity to catch this sight, don't expect it to be earth-shaking. It'll be one of those "science observations" that are impressive for what they represent, rather than how they appear. But if you are able to see such a rare sight, you can rest assured that you will be one of the very few people of the population of the Earth to see it!
If you do live Down Under and happen to catch this rare sight, please report it to us! We'll give you a special prize if you give us a detailed report, including the time and place of your sighting!
Coming in future Classical Astronomy Updates:
- Hopefully we'll get around to continuing our "pagan influences" series, and explain the differences between the science of astronomy and the pseudoscience of astrology.
- Mark your calendars now! North America will see an early morning eclipse of the Moon on August 28th!
Til next time, God bless and clear skies!
-jay
The Ryan Family
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars, which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
- Psalm 8:3,4, a Psalm of David
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