Call to Arms

In his prologue to The Man Who Knew Infinity, Robert Kanigel writes,

"In a way, then, this is also a story about social and educational systems, and about how they matter, and how they can sometimes nurture talent and sometimes crush it. How many Ramanujans, his life begs us to ask, dwell in India today, unknown and unrecognized? And how many in America and Britain, locked away in racial or economic ghettos, scarcely aware of worlds outside their own?"

If that is not a call to arms, fellow educators and sociologists, to seek out and nurture young minds and spirits, I'm not sure what is. People often ask, "Why?" When I tell them I teach math and science to 9, 10, and 11 year olds. "When you could do so much more at upper school or university." Why? Because if no one is there to ignite their passion for the subject and its adventure, my colleagues of older students will have nothing to work with. My students' innocence and naïvety remind me of Ramanujan who came to Trinity with his inspiration, creativity and passion for numbers. Littlewood once said of Ramanujan, "Every natural number is a personal friend of his." My students come to me already mathematicians and scientists. What I bring to them is organization and communication skills while celebrating their awe and discovery.

I didn't start out sharing the quote to be quite so philosophical, really just wanted to put it out there, but it spoke to me and of the responsibility we have as educators to seek out and nurture those gifts of each and everyone of the students in our charge. And for us as "civilized, enlightened society" to ensure access to all minds and spirits to worlds they might otherwise not even know of.

Humbly submitted for your consideration and comment. mw

Sidewalk Astronomy with Jupiter Joe

photo courtesy Joseph Martinez jupiterjoeastronomy.org

I had a great time Saturday night (27 Feb 2016) doing astronomy outreach in the Bronx with Joseph Martinez (aka Jupiter Joe) and Camilla Corona . We introduced Jupiter to a bunch of people, maybe a couple of dozen or more, most of whom had never seen Jupiter, or even looked through a telescope before. It's always so much fun to reveal to people that bright yellow-white dot in the sky is a whole other world! Their disbelief at first sighting. The amazement and delight that begins to set in as they put it all together. And the awe that ensues as they walk away and they begin to try and wrap their brains around the experience.

photo courtesy Joseph Martinez jupiterjoeastronomy.org

As many times as I've observed Jupiter, it never gets old because it is always changing. The patterns in the banding of the clouds, the positions of the moons... Last night was no different. The two brown bands were very distinct. At the start of our session, only Ganymede and Callisto were visible. Later, we were able to observe the shadow of Io transit the face of the planet, traveling along one of the brown bands near Jupiter's equator. And finally, near the end of our session, we were able to see Europa emerge from behind Jupiter, moving into full view.

photo courtesy Joseph Martinez jupiterjoeastronomy.org

It was a great evening of observing and outreach. Thanks for extending the invitation Joe!

Jupiter - Venus Conjunction

The forecast was not very hopeful, cloudy skies all evening, but we were treated to several large breaks in the clouds throughout the evening. As the sun faded, Venus began to blaze bright in the western sky between clouds. A few minutes later, fainter and smaller, Jupiter became visible, less than a finger's width above Venus. A beautiful naked eye site, but of course we couldn't resist the opportunity to set up the telescopes and get a closer look! I had a brand new TeleVue 55 mm Plössel tucked away in my eyepiece box. A new acquisition at NEAF, I had yet to give the new EP first light. This was the perfect opportunity to use it and exactly the kind of observation it was purchased for. If my estimation was correct, both planets should fit nicely in the field of view mounted on the C8. I was not disappointed! Venus was a perfect crescent near the bottom of the view and hovering above her, Jupiter showing faint stripes and three of the four Galilean moons as tiny pricks of light aligned perfectly with each other.

Photo by Lauren Tucker

The seeing conditions held, so the next targets were the nearly full Gibbous Moon and Saturn. My son, Matthew, set up his NexStar 5SE and aimed for Saturn. Lauren got out the 90GT and aimed for the Moon. Now we had a mini star party set up! Next door were four teenage girls and the mother of one of the girls. Add a captive audience and our star party was complete! For most of the group, this was the first time they had looked through a telescope at the planets, so there was a lot of awe and amazement being expressed as they took a look through each scope and its target(s). Satisfied with their observations and experience of the historic conjunction, the kids went off to do other things. Matthew lingered a while longer and played hide and seek with Saturn as the clouds intermittently passed in front of the planet.

We all felt very fortunate that the clouds stayed away long enough to see the conjunction. Venus and Jupiter had set, the moon glowed behind its veil of clouds now and Saturn was completely hidden. Time to break down the telescopes and call it a night.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 2 – 10 - Sky

Lots of cool observations to make this week. Now if the sky will just clear...



This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 2 – 10 - Sky

Christmas Sunset

Sometimes the naked eye astronomy experiences are easily as spectacular as catching a Messier object or finding that elusive comet. Last evening was one of those special times. Late in the afternoon, we were driving south on I95 headed to family Christmas celebration in Washington, D.C. The sky was already dramatic with crazy wind blown clouds and an intense sun set against an intensely blue sky. A perfect winter afternoon. As Lauren commented, "our nearest star is really intense," she donned her sunglasses and asked me to take a few photos while she drove.

I began to pay close attention to the sky as the sun slowly started to set. The sun seemed unusually large and a deep yellow-orange like glowing hot iron. The clouded were back lit and the sky began to transition from blue to yellows and oranges. Then the show really began once the sun slipped below the horizon. As Lauren said, "Our nearest star is really showing off tonight!" The clouds first took on a salmon pink hue. Then magenta, and then a spectacular mix of true violet and magenta, unlike anything I remember seeing before. After nearly an hour of slowly transitioning colors, the sky was a dark orange and the clouds a steely blue.

Then, high to the southwest, we spotted the setting crescent moon. A bright white sliver where the sky transitioned from orange, to yellow, to blue. Looking through the rear view mirror, Lauren noticed the terminator beginning to rise, raising the veil of night from east to west, subtly, ever so slowly. Quite beautiful, with its own colors and often missed by sunset observers.

As if this weren't enough already, Venus appeared as a bright beacon in the field of orange sky, so bright I had to observe closely to be sure it wasn't the lights from an airplane flying directly toward us. No, steady position and intensely bright, it's Venus. The terminator slowly crept over us, defining an arc of light below the growing dark of night.

More than an hour had passed and now the sky was finally dark. Other stars were becoming visible, even with the bright headlights of oncoming traffic and street lights to the sides. Our final treat was a flyover of the International Space Station. Anticipating the flyover, my son and I started scanning the sky to the northwest for the rising spot of light. As usual, he was the first to catch sight of it, exclaiming, "there it is!" As the station rose high over our right shoulders, I quietly wished the crew of 6 a Merry Christmas, Buon Natale, and с рождеством.

 

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Orion EFT1 T-6 Days

In six days, NASA will launch the a test flight of the next manned space vehicle from Kennedy Space Center. Orion will make two orbits, reaching speeds of over 20,000 mph and test all the systems of launch and reentry. The test flight will be carried live on NASATV starting at 4:30 a.m. EST.

 

 

Don't miss history in the making!

#ImOnBoard

 

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Make Way for the Wintermaker - Sky & Telescope

Make Way for the Wintermaker - Sky & Telescope