Wednesday Explorers Club ~ Close Encounter with a Comet!

In mid-December a comet named Wirtanen (46P) will be approaching the sun. And it may be bright enough that we’ll be able to see it without a telescope or binoculars. So make sure you’ve got lots of layers on, grab a thermos of hot cocoa, and head out to watch the sky.

Comets are dirty snowballs. Only much, much bigger! They are left over from when the stars and planet were formed billions of years ago. Comets begin their existence as huge chunks of rock and ice floating around in the Oort Cloud. That’s a cloud of icy bodies located about 186 billion miles from the sun, way past Pluto and its Kuiper Belt buddies.

The thing about comets is - you don’t see them until they’re close. When a comet comes near the Sun, the heat warms it up and causes the ice to sublimate. That’s a nifty word that describes what happens when ice turns into steam without becoming water first. Ice boiling off as steam releases dust and gas, too. All of this creates a thin atmosphere around the snowball nucleus as well as a tail. The tail can stretch millions of miles! Then the comet goes around the Sun and heads back into space. After a while we lose sight of it.

The last time 46P/Wirtanen flew by was in April of 2013. This year the comet will approach the sun on December 12 and fly closest to the Earth a few days later, on December 16. According to astronomers, this fly-by will be close, by comet standards - around 7.1 million miles away. That’s about 30 times as far as the moon’s distance from Earth.

Find out more! Check out this video and read more here.

Wednesday Explorers Club ~ Mars-watching

credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is going to be a great year for watching Mars. Over the next few months the red planet will get brighter in the sky - and by July it could outshine Jupiter. It will, says Deborah Byrd of Earth and Sky, look like a "red dot of brilliant flame" in the night sky. Check the sky maps at Earth and Sky over the next few months to follow Mars.

Science after Dark

My kids loved going outside at night. We'd watch meteors, listen to insects, and go on moon-lit walks to look for nightlife. Here's a couple of new releases to inspire the night scientists in your house.

themes: nonfiction, night sky, animal behavior

 Night Creepers
by Linda Stanek; illus by Shennen Bersani
32 pages; ages 3-8
Arbordale, 2017

Waking up.

Most of us will read that and think, "morning". But no, these are red foxes and they're just shaking off sleep for a night busy with adventures.

What I like about this book: Each spread introduces young readers to a nocturnal or crepuscular (active dawn and dusk) creature. We meet wolves, bats, flying squirrels. raccoons, owls, frogs, and fireflies. The left side of each spread features large text with animal actions: gliding, washing, preening. A column down the right side gives more detail about the animal's behavior, what they eat, how they hunt, and where they live. Back matter includes four pages of activities for creative minds.

Night Sky (NGK Readers series)
by Laura March
32 pages; ages 5-8
National Geographic Children's Books, 2017

When the sun goes down, dots of light fill the night sky.
Some of them move. Others are still. Some twinkle. Others don't.
Have you ever wondered what they are?

 Short chapters focus on the moon, stars, planets, and "flying objects" - meteors and comets. Simple text is accompanied by gorgeous photos of earth, sky, and other heavenly objects.

What I like about this book: In addition to the text, a reader can gain information from photo captions, text boxes, and side bars. I like the "Sky Word" boxes; each explains one term. And I like the occasional jokes along the tops of the pages: Why did the moon stop eating? There's a wonderful graphic showing how an eclipse works, tips for stargazing, and "7 Cool Facts About Space!" A quiz at the end, photo glossary, and table of contents add value for curious kids.

Beyond the books:

Go on a night walk. Listen to the sounds of animals, wind blowing through leaves. Feel the air - is is cool? damp? icy? warm? dry? What does night time smell like? Jot down your observations about what you see, hear, feel, smell.

What do night animals sound like? Here's an article that provides short videos of night time noises you might hear.

Watch the night sky for a month. Or more. What do you see? You can find star maps and upcoming meteor showers at EarthSky (click on "tonight" for maps of constellations and things to look for).

Take a field trip to the library for books about the constellations. Hunt down Greek legends, Native American stories, or other tales that tell how a constellation came to be.

Today we're joining the STEM Friday roundup - and we're also joining others over at Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review copies from the publisher.

Caroline's Comets

March is Women's History month, so I thought I'd kick it off with a true story of a woman in science:

Caroline's Comets, a true story
by Emily Arnold McCully
40 pages; ages 6-10
Holiday House, 2017

In 1786, Caroline Herschel became the first woman to discover a comet. She was also the first woman to be paid for doing scientific research.

Weaving Caroline's memoir and correspondence into the text, Emily McCully takes us into the life of an early astronomer.

Caroline's father was the first to show her the stars; her mother taught her the practical skills she would need. But then, when she was 22 years old, her brother William invited her to join him in England. In addition to helping around the house, he needed some help recording his astronomy observations - and some help building a telescope.

So Caroline became his assistant inventor. She pounded and sifted dried horse manure so her brother could build a mold for making the mirror. Their first telescope magnified things 6,000 times. That might not seem like a lot these days, but back in the 1700s it was astronomic.

They discovered that the Milky way was made of stars. They discovered a new planet (Uranus). And then, as the King's Astronomer, William began a sweep of the sky.Caroline discovered nebulae and star clusters and two new galaxies - and all the while she did needlework, kept William's accounts, and cleaned all the equipment.

Then, December 21, 1786, Caroline discovered a comet. McCully fills the pages with wonder, discovery, and comets. She also includes great back matter with a timeline, glossary, and additional notes.

 Today we're joining the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources. Review copy provided by publisher.

Wild Outdoor Wednesday

Tonight is a good night for sky-watching. There should be meteors. What else do you see? Hear? Are any geese migrating yet?

Remember to take your sketchbook or journal with unlined pages, something to draw and write with, and something to add color ~ watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, or markers.

Wild Outdoor Wednesday

Tonight is a good night for sky-watching. 

There should be meteors. 

What else do you see? Hear? Smell?

Remember to take your sketchbook or journal with unlined pages, something to draw and write with, and something to add color ~ watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, or markers.

Wild Outdoor Wednesday

Tonight is a good night for sky-watching. There should be meteors. What else do you see? Hear? Smell?

Remember to take your sketchbook or journal with unlined pages, something to draw and write with, and something to add color ~ watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, or markers.

Note: The forecast for tonight is: meteors. Read more about the Eta Aquarid meteor shower (and how you can see it) at EarthSky.

Wild Outdoor Wednesday

 Watch the moon rise. How do the smells and sounds and colors of the night differ from daytime? Capture what you see and hear and feel in your notebook using images, words, colors.



Remember to take your sketchbook or journal with unlined pages, something to draw and write with, and something to add color ~ watercolors, colored pencils, crayons, or markers.

The Secret Galaxy

The Secret Galaxy
by Fran Hodgkins; photos by Mike Taylor
32 pages; ages 6-11
Tilbury House, 2014

"You might not know I'm here.... but if you look when the night is deep you'll see me stretched across the sky."

Fran Hodgkins tells the story of the sky from the galaxy's point of view, starting with the Greeks. To them, the night sky looked as though someone had spilled milk. 

What they didn't see is how our galaxy whirls in a spiral. We are on one arm. "But don't worry," says the galaxy in a soothing voice. "Gravity holds everything together." So we won't go spinning off into the void.

Hodgkins combines lyrical prose with fact-filled sidebars that, combined with Mike Taylor's gorgeous photos, take us out of this world. We learn how stars are born and how they die. We meet a black hole and contemplate dark matter. There are a few answers and a lot of questions and in the end you'll want to head outside and look at the sky.

Fortunately, winter is a good time for galaxy-viewing - at least here in the northeast. The crisp night air makes the stars stand out brighter, especially on moonless nights. Best of all, hot cocoa tastes twice as good after a short star hike.

Today is STEM Friday. Head over to the STEM Friday blog to see what other bloggers are reviewing. Review copy provided by publisher.

Look for New Comet this Week & Next

The astronomers at Kopernik Observatory & Space Center say that we should be able to see a new comet this week. The comet, "PanSTARRS" was first detected in June 2011 and is believed to have originated in the Oort clout out beyond Pluto. With an orbital period of 100,000 years it's not going to be a frequent visitor.

The comet has been visible to the naked eye in the Southern Hemisphere for a few weeks; now people in the Northern Hemisphere will get a view. We should be able to see it through March 21 - look low in the west right after sunset.

Check out EarthSky for Everything You Need to Know about Comet PanSTARRS - including photos and a great video about how this comet formed.

And, as you look for PanSTARRS, keep in mind this advice from comet-hunter David Levy: Comets are like cats; they have tails and they do precisely what they want.

Stars Fall Out of Sky This Weekend!

OK, they’re not really stars. They’re the Orionid meteors, bits and pieces of Halley’s Comet left behind from the last time the comet passed by. Every year at this time the Earth passes through this debris – particles ranging from the size of dust to pebbles. All those particles zoom into our atmosphere at speeds of up to 25 miles an hour, burning up as they enter and streaking across the sky.

They radiate from the Club of "Orion the Hunter". If you want to see them, they tend to fly after midnight, and are best seen before dawn. The astronomers at Kopernik Observatory predict dark skies and a shower producing up to 30 meteors an hour for this event.

Clear sky or not, if you live anywhere near Vestal, NY you might want to head over to their program on “Comets and Meteors” this Friday night, October 19 at 8 pm. You’ll have a chance to touch a real meteor, watch how a comet is made, and view the Orionids as they fall out of the sky. They’ll also be open for meteor-viewing October 18 – 21 from 8 pm on (clear skies only). You can call 607-748-3685 for  sky conditions or check their website after 6 pm for a sky update.

For more about comets, meteor showers and all things related, check out EarthSky. And drop by STEM Friday for some books reviews and news you can use.