IN THIS UPDATE:
- The Vision of Classical Astronomy
- The Gibbous Moon Passes Jupiter Tonight!
I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. - Psalm 16:7
Dear Friends,
Many thanks to everyone who ordered the inaugural issue of our new monthly eZine, the Classical Astronomy Celestial Almanack . An
Update reader wrote to ask whether the Almanack will be replacing the Update newsletter. In case others are also wondering, the plan is to continue the free email newsletter in a shorter, more limited form, and include special topics, but the $3.00 Almanack will be an expanded version of the newsletter that includes more illustrations, to cover the sky events in much greater detail than we ever could in the free newsletter. The goal remains what it has been from the beginning, to help families and others learn to become observers of the night sky.
We've been providing the Classical Astronomy Update email newsletter for free for 10 years now, having started in the spring of 2002. As we've explained many times over the years, I'm just a busy homeschool dad with a full-time day job, doing Classical Astronomy on the side as a ministry/hobby. We do not draw income from our "company" and we basically cover expenses with the sales of our curriculum. We are committed to not soliciting donations, and will only continue our operation if sales are sufficient to pay the bills.
Anyway, we hoped that our newsletter readers would support the Almanack. I'm sorry to report that the early statistics have not indicated much interest. Of the 3000 readers of this newsletter, only six have ordered the Almanack directly. Most of the response as been from regular customers of CurrClick who have ordered it directly through that site. We purposely priced the Almanack low, hoping that it would encourage a volume of readership, we didn't think that three bucks was a lot to ask.
Don't know about other working dads, but I can't continue to devote time and effort away from the family to create a product with no interest. I understand it was Christmas time, and the Almanack is a new product, so we'll keep trying for a few more months, to see if it catches on. But 2012 will be a very exciting year for the night sky, and it will be a shame if homeschool families miss out on these beautiful sky events if Classical Astronomy is defunct.
The Vision of Classical Astronomy
Let me just a share a bit of the vision that has motivated me to promote astronomy since 1990. Some people think that astronomy is a special subject for "people who like that sort of thing." Most people consider astronomy an optional subject, even people who like it. But as explained many times over the years, visual astronomy was an essential subject for all of pre-industrial history. It has practical value for navigation and timekeeping, which is the God-appointed purpose for creating the Sun and Moon (Gen. 1:14). Though a
ll cultures in the world have historically used the Sun and Moon for timekeepers, the study of the sky (and of all creation) should have a special meaning and purpose for Christians The Apostle Paul wrote:
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: - Romans 1:20.
In other words, in addition to any practical, utilitarian value, we should study the visible things in God's creation to better understand the LORD's divine nature. Indeed, the Apostle directed these words to the unbelievers of his time, pagans who worshipped God's creatures, including the Sun and Moon. But let me so bold as to submit that many Christians in today's generation are also "without excuse," like the pagans of old.
Americans in today's modern world live behind a comfortable wall of technology. We have replaced the LORD's timekeepers with clocks and other gadgets. Most of us live our lives under artificial electric light, rather than the "two lights" that the LORD placed in the sky. In so many other ways as well, our artifical man-made world has insulated us from God's creation.
Today's modern technological conveniences are not necessarily bad things, but it can be a bad situation when we rely on them to such a degree that they displace the LORD's creation. When we fail to observe and appreciate the visible things that God has made, we miss out on an opportunity to learn from them about His invisible qualities, His "eternal power and Godhead." In this way, we fail to understand this aspect of our Creator, and our lives are made poorer, including the lives of our children.
Though all of us "are without excuse," I've been told many excuses why people do not learn Classical Astronomy. Some tell me that they live in a cloudy climate, and/or in a light polluted city where not many stars are visible. Yet our family lives in Cleveland, Ohio, a light-polluted city upon the cloudy shores of the Great Lakes. Also, I first learned Classical Astronomy while living "inside the Beltway" near Washington, D.C., one of the most light polluted locations on Planet Earth. I'm here to tell you from personal experience that, while it may not be easy to see the sky from such places, but it is not impossible. Cloudy weather and streetlights need not be excuses.
I also hear from many homeschool moms who are intimidated by science, and many hard-working dads that are too tired at the end of the day to help much with homeschooling. Yes, these are indeed challenges, and we have them too in our own household. However, these should not be insurmountable obstacles, and certainly should not be permanent excuses for not teaching our children about the LORD's eternal power and Godhead from the visible things that He placed in the sky above.
One excuse that I often hear is that homeschoolers are not even interested in receiving our free newsletter because "we're not studying astronomy this year." In this way, so many people have passed on the chance to learn about unique, once-in-a-lifetime sky events, simply because they are not on the family syllabus. It's also written that "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handiwork," but I wonder what that means to people. How can we see the glory of God's handiwork if we never bother to look?
Another problem I see is with curricula. Our modern mentality toward science education is to read a science curriculum, close the book, and feel that we learned about science. However, I would submit that our children get a much better science education by looking under rocks at centipedes and potato bugs than they do from reading a science book about bugs. Similarly, they learn more about plants and animals by exploring their world than by reading science books on those subjects. While curricula are certainly useful, and can enhance our experience, they are not a replacement for that experience, and have little value without the direct observation. I'm sure most people will agree as concerns the study of bugs and plants and animals.
Yet astronomy is a conspicuous exception. A typical astronomy education today consists of reading books about the Sun, Moon and planets, and learning factoids about celestial objects, their sizes and distances, and their physical properties. Rarely does an astronomy curriculum provide instructions for going outside to observe the Moon's changing phases from night to night, or for following the Sun's changing position over the seasons, or learning how to identify the stars and visible planets on a clear night. The purpose of Classical Astronomy has always been to get people outside looking at the sky, in our Classical Astronomy Update free email newsletter, in our Signs & Seasons
curriculum, and now with the monthly Celestial Almanack .
So anyway, Friendly Reader, it's fine if you are really not interested in ordering our Celestial Almanack. We hope you will look elsewhere and find a resource that better suits your needs, that will help you become a diligent observer of the sky, to better appreciate the LORD's attributes as revealed in His creative work. However, we are creating the Celestial Almanack
to be a handy, colorfully-illustrated, user-friendly resource that will make the mysteries of the night sky available to your family. For this reason, we hope you will consider selecting our resource for teaching your family.
Thanks, your friend,
jay ryan
The Gibbous Moon Passes Jupiter Tonight!
On the second day of 2012, there will be a conjunction of the waxing gibbous Moon and Jupiter. On the evening of Monday, January 2, the day after First Quarter, look at the Moon in the hours after sunset as it passes within five degrees to the north of the bright planet Jupiter. For those who have never identified Jupiter before, yes, that really is the big planet! So tell all your family and friends! Lunar conjunctions with Jupiter are always beautiful sights each month, and the Moon will draw even closer to this bright planet in the following months throughout 2012.
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The evening sky is absolutely beautiful during January, 2012! The winter sky is always a wonderful sight, but this year, the bright planet Jupiter shines brightly overhead in the early evening. You can't miss Jupiter, since it's the fourth brightest object in the sky, after the Sun, Moon and Venus.
On the evening of New Year's Day, the First Quarter Moon hangs high in the sky after sunset. The Moon begins the year in the constellation Pisces, and continues to move eastward through the ecliptic constellations over the following nights, as it waxes (or increases) through the gibbous phases. The Moon passes through Aries on January 2, where it lines up with bright Jupiter. This will be a very conspicuous sight in the night sky. Jupiter is so bright, and always makes a pretty pair with the Moon during lunar conjunctions. (one-star activity -- totally easy to see.)
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The inaugural edition of the Celestial Almanack, Vol. I, No. 1, for January, 2012 features the following sky sightings:
