Inconstant Moon

Columbia University's Astronomy Department Public Outreach hosts an astronomy lecture and observing evening every couple of weeks. Last night, Summer Ash gave a wonderful lecture on the Moon. She began with asking the question "What is a month?" A seemingly simple question with a rather complex answer actually, summed up in two words: it depends. Sidereal, synodic, tropical, anomolistic, and draconic - each measuring a different aspect of the periodic nature of our satellite.

Summer Ash & Camilla Corona

The Moon is one of my favorite objects for telescope and binocular observation. As Summer's title says, it is fascinating because it is inconstant. Every time one looks at the moon, it is different. Different phases, different angles, even different portions of the surface are visible due to the combined effects of eccentricity, inclination and liberation. The result, over the course of a month, one can observe more than 50% of the lunar surface.

So go out this evening and start your first lunar month! The moon is a thin waxing crescent setting at 7:30 pm.

Also check out these lunar resources:

• Moon Globe app 
• The New Moon: Water, Exploration, and Future Habitation by Columbia Astronomy Professor Arlin Crotts 
• The Moon by Seymour Simon 
• My NASA Moon YouTube Playlist 

Posted with Blogsy

Sunset Time Lapse

Wind swept cirrus clouds set ablaze by the sunset. Experimenting with time lapse on the GoPro camera.

NWMSTEM

Who should we be following, liking, plus-ing… listening to in STEM and STEM Ed? I’ve read the articles and followed the social media fall out around the Kardashian Index and find myself moved to explore a different metric. 

Like many have already stated, I am disappointed but not surprised at how white and male the lists are. The latest “Top 50” list from Scientific American has many favorites of mine among the 50, yet features only 6 that are not white males. I teach many children who are non-white and half of my students are not male. My own children are female and/or non-white. I want to ensure that the voices they hear, that I am sharing with them, are more diverse than my own (a card-carrying white male). Granted, #1 on the SciAm list, Neil deGrasse Tyson once said of role models, “I didn’t have to have a black astrophysicist as a role model to become one.” Look who his mentor was and the exposure his mother ensured he got. We don’t all have Ms Tyson or Carl Sagan in our lives. Sometimes hearing a voice from a face that looks like our own is what we need. Sometimes that face just helps us know we aren’t alone in our pursuit. What is more to the point, we all benefit from a wider variety of voices. Different ideas, points of view, backgrounds all contribute to the body of knowledge.

Let's give STEM a more diverse face.

I ask for your help in creating a more diverse list of people who use social media as a STEM and STEM Ed communications platform. Please use the NWMSTEM form I’ve created to nominate yourself or someone whom you feel we should be listening to. And please share this with your followers so that we may cast a wide net.