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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
- The Sky This Month Flash Animation
- Signs & Seasons News
- Dance of the Planets
- Saturn, Mars and Venus in the Summer of 2008
- Signs of the Seasons
Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him,
sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens
of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. - Psalm 148:2-4
Welcome to the Classical Astronomy Update!
Hello Friends,
It's been two months since the last Classical Astronomy Update. Welcome to everyone who has newly subscribed since then. Many thanks to those who wrote asking about the delay, we appreciate your interest.
I apologize for the delay, but the fact is, I've been intensely busy with my "day job" for the last two months. Yes folks, I do have a real job! This free newsletter doesn't pay the bills, and neither does Signs & Seasons, our self-published homeschool astronomy curriculum! Thanks to all who have already ordered Signs & Seasons, and thanks in advance to everyone who will order it!
During the hiatus, we've had some lively discussions over at the Classical Astronomy Yahoo Group. Thanks to all who participate there. You're all welcome to join our growing little online community at the Yahoo group.
Announcements
"The Sky This Month" Flash Animation
For a long time, I've been wanted to experiment with Flash animations. In the last several weeks, I finally figured out some things and created a short, simple flash movie of the events discussed in this month's Classical Astronomy Update. If "a picture is worth a thousand words," then an animation must be worth 10,000 words for helping to visualize some of these astronomy concepts!
Please check this out at our Sky This Month page, I think you will all enjoy it. And tell your friends! Please visit:
The Sky This Month for June, 2008
cross posted at the Classical Astronomy Blog at HomeschoolBlogger.com.
Signs & Seasons News
Signs & Seasons received excellent placement in the recent CBD catalog, with a nice review from Nigel Andreola. S&S is available from CBD, and you can order it from the Christianbook.com Signs & Seasons page.
In response to popular demand, we hope to soon offer a Signs & Seasons Field Journal and Test Manual. This workbook will include all the field activities from Signs & Seasons with handy charts and tables for recording observations of the sky and other activities. Also, pre-made volvelles are included to help your homeschooler create these nifty analog computers that model the sky.
Timesheets are also included for recording time spent on astronomy activities, to help establish hours for high school credit. Also, tests and answer keys are created for each chapter, to measure your highschooler's progress in learning the subject matter.
You will not want your homeschool to be without this! Keep on eye on the Update for more information!
Dance of the Planets
Saturn, Mars and Venus in the Summer of 2008
During June, 2008, the Sun is in line with the stars of the constellations Taurus and Gemini. As a result, the constellation Leo, which is to the east of Gemini, is visible in the western sky in the evening after sunset.
Over the summer, the Sun will appear to move toward Leo, and the Sun will line up with this constellation during August. So over the summer, Leo will appear to sink lower toward the western horizon each night, until it becomes lost in the Sun's twilight glow.
In this season, the bright planets Saturn and Mars are wandering through the stars of Leo. So we can observe these planets sharing the western sky with Leo during the warmer evenings of June.
Keep an eye on these celestial objects over the weekend of June 7 and 8. The waxing crescent Moon will pass Mars on Saturday, June 7, and will pass Saturn the next night, Sunday, June 8. Keep an eye on the Moon as it moves through its waxing phases during the early weeks of June.
The dazzling planet Venus is currently invisible as it is lost in bright glow of the Sun. Venus has concluded a long stretch as the Morning Star, and its swift orbit has drawn it again into alignment with the Sun. Venus will reach superior conjunction on June 9, when it lines up directly with the Sun.
After that, the swift moving Venus will emerge from the Sun's evening glow and again become visible as the Evening Star. Keep your eyes toward the western horizon in the evenings of late June as bright Venus will begin to crawl higher and higher above the sunset.
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Order online at our website or from one of our fine distributors.
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Signs of the Seasons
The Summer Solstice
During June, the Sun will be passing through the stars of Taurus the Bull, and this constellation is therefore not visible, hidden behind the Sun's bright glare. Toward month's end, the Sun will enter the constellation Gemini the Twins. But in early June, you can still see the bright twin stars of Gemini, "Castor" and "Pollux," hanging low in the western sky after the sunset.
On about June 21 each year, the Sun reaches the northernmost extent its annual cycle. This day is the summer solstice and is traditionally regarded as the official "First Day of Summer" for observers in the northern hemisphere. On this day, the Sun is at its highest point of the year in the noon sky for observers in the northern hemisphere, and the shadows at noon are the shortest they can be. In coming months following June, be sure to watch the noon shadows, and notice how the they get longer as the months go by.
 On the summer solstice, you can see the Sun rising very far to the north and later setting very far to the north. For this reason, the Summer Solstice is also "The Longest Day of the Year." The Sun is above the horizon for most of its 24 hour cycle and the length of daylight is greatest for people living north of the Equator.
Here in Cleveland, the daylight on the longest day lasts about 15 hours. Cleveland is near latitude 40 degrees North, along with many other large American cities, such as New York, Washington DC, Chicago, and San Francisco. So the length of daylight is about the same for these cities as well.
However, the length of summer daylight is even greater for places further north. At the Arctic Circle, the Sun doesn't even set on the Summer Solstice! If one were way up in Alaska or Iceland, one would see the solstice Sun rising in the north at midnight, wheeling a full circle all the way around the sky, and again touching the horizon in the north the next midnight!
Coming in future Classical Astronomy Updates
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We'll do what we can to stay tuned to the summer sky as it wheels into position in the coming months.
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The bright planet Jupiter will be returning to the evening sky in July, and we hope to cover that in detail very soon.
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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