Analemma
On another subject: my favorite Astronomy Picture of the Day: but it might only be my favorite because I figured out what the analemma was myself, and I figured out that the moon would be “behind” by about 50 minutes every day myself, and I figured out that there should be, essentially, an analemma of the moon myself, and I’d figured out when (where) the moon is orange all before I ever saw the photo, so it was a nice confirmation of what I had figured out.
You should have been an astronomer, Jennifer! My favorite solar analemma picture (which may or may not be on APOD, I dunno) is one taken many years ago by someone in Boston, of all places. (Could Boston have that many clear mornings?) He shot a picture of the eastern sky every morning with a camera attached solidly to his window. All of the pictures for a year, when superimposed showed the normal figure-of-eight pattern.
What I’d like to do, if I lived in a place with no clouds at all (Yuma, Yemen?). is make a time lapse movie, one shot per day, of the constellations rising (or setting) at the horizon over the course of the year.
Comment by rakkity — March 6, 2007 @ 11:27 am
Well, it did take me more than several years of teaching science to figure out all those pieces. Teaching kept the questions alive, and since it’s 6th grade I’m not using Calculus or precise instruments.
In my student teaching year, I had to figure out for myself (because no one else even cared) why the science book said (on one page) that the lunar cycle is 29.5 days and also said (about 6 pages further on) that the moon both orbits the earth and rotates on its axis in the same amount of time (which is why we see the same side always) … in 27.3 days. I struggled with that one for a while — assuming it was a typo, even. But I think that whole process made me realize that the book wouldn’t actually answer the questions that observant students would have; I would have to figure it out in order to help my students make sense of it (and connect their experience to the science book).
OK, so I hope you’re wondering why 27.3 vs. 29.5 days on the lunar cycle thing. (Not you, rakkity, but the non-astronomers out there.) Here’s the thing. The moon is full when it is on the opposite side of earth from the sun, right? It takes 27.3 days to go around exactly once. (It helps to do this with coins on the kitchen table.) But in that 27.3 days, the earth has moved about 1/12th of the way around the sun (or around 30 degrees if you take a perspective from “above” the solar system). It takes the moon another 2.2 days (on average) to go the necessary 1/12th or 30 degrees so that it is again on the opposite side of the earth from the sun.
I dunno, rakkity, I think I’d want to see some less regular movement in my time-lapse movie. Maybe watch a planet doing a loop-de-loop? (Did you see the APOD of the moon and Mercury?) http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050307.html Mostly I’m just enjoying that some other really good photographers with creative astronomical ideas are out there.
Comment by Jennifer — March 6, 2007 @ 7:54 pm
Wow. I “get” it. Thanks Jennifer! Where were you when I was failing science?
Comment by Jen — March 7, 2007 @ 5:21 pm
haha im taking astronomy right now! i love the cool picture. we actually get to go up on the roof of one of the buildings once a week at night for our lab and study stars haha its pretty cool actually. the wother weekend we went up and saw the lunar eclipse, anyone catch that on camera? haha miss you all!
Comment by Debbie — March 8, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
annnnd just kidding, i didnt scroll down far enough to see the actual movie of the eclipse haha. that outdoes any photo ive seen.
Comment by Debbie — March 8, 2007 @ 3:33 pm
Dear Deb,
When I was at Wellesley College of the Sacred Heart I took Astronomy as one of my science requirements. At Wellesley, there is a high-end telescope, which one was to visit, alone at night, and view, well…. whatever, and write about it in a science journal. So I was an anxious kid, and not particularly independent at 18, and going to that outpost of campus by myself in the dark, when I was also direction-challenged and apt to get lost, was formidable. So I went when I could coerce a friend, and on the other nights, I wrote poems in my science journal.
Therefore, I am proud that you saw the eclipse.
And I miss you.
Diane
Comment by anon — March 8, 2007 @ 8:20 pm
Deb, wait a minute, what movie?
There are some pretty nifty eclipse photos on Wikipedia, “lunar eclipse”.
Are you visiting in this direction anytime soon? Hugs, AJ
Comment by Jennifer — March 9, 2007 @ 9:57 pm
i miss you all too! diane im impressed with your astronomy stories too haha and the movie was a movie that someone else had posted up on the blog…i think
love you all! unfortunately i wont be home until the summer, butttt i have a job at camp thoreau so ill be there for a loooong time haha cant wait to see YALL (just kiding i dont really talk like that, just had to throw it in)
Comment by Debbie — March 10, 2007 @ 1:11 am
Did I see the APOD of the moon and Mercury? Yessiree. That’s a great one. (My browser opens up to APOD first thing, and if–god forbid–I should miss a day or two of the web, I scour the APOD archives to see what I missed.) A fun thing is to search the archives for something like “eye” and see the pictures get better and better as the years go by.
Comment by rakkity — March 10, 2007 @ 1:16 am