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Astronomy Current info: Updated 05 July 2008 |
M20, the Trifid Nebula, in Sagittarius |
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2. Unit Synopsis Updated each unit 3. Assignments Updated weekly 4. Astronomical Happenings Updated weekly 6. Mt. Baldy Sky Viewing Updated monthly 7. TIE Sessions Updated monthly 8. Pictures of Class Activities Updated 4 July 2008 11. The Sky over Chaffey High School Note: Java must be installed and enabled. Turn off any pop-up blockers. |
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| 1. To treat you with respect at all times. | 1. To treat me and your colleagues with respect at all times. |
| 2. To provide you with an orderly environment. | 2. To attend class and participate in an orderly manner. |
| 3. To provide necessary discipline. | 3. To always cooperate and never disrupt. |
| 4. To provide competent instruction and motivation. | 4. To study and do all of your work. |
| 5. To provide the required content. | 5. To learn and master the required content. |
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Unit Synopsis: Astronomy is not offered for the 2007-2008 school year.
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| Monday, August 10 | ||
| Tuesday, August 11 | ||
| Wednesday, August 12 | ||
| Thursday, August 13 | ||
| Friday, August 14 | ||
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Current and Recent Astronomical Happenings:
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July 5-6, 2008
— Saturn, Mars, Regulus and the moon make an attractive grouping in Leo low in
the west 1 hour after sunset. Think: photo opportunity! Image
at right is from Sky
and Telescope. Below is my image taken July 5 at 9:20 pm PDT.
Click on the image for a full size view.
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| May 24, 2008 — The sun passing through Taurus is captured by the SOHO spacecraft. The Hyades, Pleiades, and Venus are all visible in the images at right. Click on each image for a bigger view. The sun's faint corona can be seen as well as the occulting disk and its bracket used to block the intense light coming from the sun's photosphere. In the Hyades, stars as faint as magnitude 10 are visible. Image credit Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Homepage. |
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| May 10-18, 2008 — The best time to conveniently see Mercury is now. Look in the west after sunset and the planet closest to the sun will be low in the north west shining at magnitude 0. Through binoculars, the planet should look reddish. Don't confuse Mercury with equally bright but yellowish white Capella some 20 degrees to its upper right. Image at right is from Sky and Telescope. |
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August 27, 2007
— The annual Mars hoax email chain letter is back with new and improved,
yet
false, claims that Mars will look as big and as bright as the full moon on the
night of August 27. This email is a classic case illustrating how poorly
the public understands science in general and astronomy in particular.
Read the Sky and
Telescope blog on this hoax for more. The illustration at right is
from that article.
Sky and Telescope editor Alan McRobert ends his
blog philosophically: "'The Mars chain letter is not a bad thing, it's
a good thing! It is an immunization. If you make a fool of yourself by sending
it to your friends and family, you may be embarrassed enough not to send them
the next e-mail chain letter you get, which may not be so harmless.' |
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| March 2, 2007 — The Great Crossing: check out the movie made by Cassini Mission scientists of a ring crossing by the probe orbiting Saturn. Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI. |
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| Keep an eye on Cassiopeia — it contains a naked-eye star that may brighten and dim dramatically in the coming months. Image at right and more info are available at Sky and Telescope. |
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| Check out Delta Scorpii. Use the diagram at right to identify the star in the middle of the Scorpion's head. For the last five years, this star has been unusually bright (normally all three stars in the head appear about the same brightness. In 2005, AAVSO reported its magnitude as bright at 1.64. See the Sky and Telescope article for more information. Scorpius is easy to view low in the south after sunset through the early Fall. |
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Current Almanac: Click here to go to Sky and Telescope's almanac section. You may enter your location (zip, city, and state) to customize for your location. Here you can obtain current sun rise and set times, moon rise, set and phase information, visible planets, International Space Station visibility predictions, and a current sky map.
Mt. Baldy Sky Viewing: Our thanks go to the owners and staff of Mt. Baldy Ranch RV Park who have graciously allowed us to use a portion of their park for our sky viewing rather than the parking area on Glendora Ridge Road. Our preferred times of the month for sky viewing are between new moon and first quarter moon. This allows us to view the moon while shadows on its surface are strong but before the moon becomes excessively bright for viewing deep sky objects. Naturally, we also need favorable weather. Tentative dates are:
Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Thursday, September 13, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Monday, September 17, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Monday, October 15, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Wednesday, December 5, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008 at Chaffey High School
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at Chaffey High School
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 at Chaffey High School
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at Chaffey High School
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at Chaffey High School
Normally we meet at the 4th Street parking lot, go to dinner together, then drive to the mountains. We return to Chaffey at approximately 9:45 p.m. In case our observing site is unavailable, we may set up on the Chaffey campus, either on the baseball field or on the North Quad (yes, the light pollution generated by our campus and by surrounding Ontario are a real bother!).
TIE Schedule: The times listed are local time in Ontario. Students are advised to contact Mr. James or to check weather conditions at Las Campanas Observatory an hour before hand in order to confirm the day's observing schedule. Remember, the weather in Chile will not necessarily be the same as it is in Ontario. TIE has evidently ceased operation. The particulars are unknown, but we are endeavoring to find out what has happened to this fine organization and what we can do to secure remote observing opportunities for ours students in 2009-2010. Stay tuned...
Date
Time Purpose
TBD
TBD
Weather permitting at the remote telescope, each session is nominally two hours in duration.
Yes, there is homework most days, due the next day. See the important information below and above.
In order for your child to participate in after school activities, whether on campus or off campus, we require that an insurance card and permission to attend field trip card be filled out and on file with the instructor.
Contact me by e-mail or call me at (909) 988-5560 ext. 2434 if you have any concerns regarding your student's progress in Astronomy, my teaching, or the course content. I will respond within 24 hours.