C R E AT I O N H e a l t h GUIDEBOOK:
Wto alkthe Moon!
Keep goin g!
Good work!
GO!
FIRST WEEK Our Walk to the Moon begins with Super Blue Blood Moon
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A Super Blue Blood Moon A supermoon is when the moon’s perigee (it’s closest approach to Earth in a single orbit) coincides with a full moon. This occurs on average about every 414 days.
What is a Blue Moon? A Blue Moon is when two full moons happen in the same calendar month. and a supermoon happens when the moon’s perigee (it’s closest approach to Earth in a single orbit) coincides with a full moon. The supermoon also happens to be the day of the lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse occurs only at full moon. Only then is it possible for the moon to be directly opposite the sun in our sky, and to pass into the Earth’s dark umbral shadow, when the moon passes into Earth’s shadow. The red color comes from seeing all of the Earth’s sunrises and sunsets at that moment reflected from the surface of the moon— as is seen in a full eclipse. For moon watchers, the Supermoon (when the moon reaches its closest point to Earth in its orbit) will be the day before, on Jan. 30 at 4:58 am EST. The moon will be 223,068 miles from Earth, compared to the average distance of 238,855 miles, according to NASA. The Total Lunar eclipse (Blood Moon) will be on Jan. 31. The event will start in the early hours on Jan 31 and last into the morning of Feb 1. On America’s East Coast, and for Orlando, the eclipse will start coming into view at 5:51 am, Maximum: at 7:09 am, ending at 7:13am. Viewers in some places will not be able to see the entire event because it starts near moonrise or moonset. There may be a partial umbral eclipse beginning at 6:48 a.m. EST (Moon sets before start of total eclipse). For people who miss the early morning moon show they may catch the blue moon portion of the event at night on Jan 31, which will start at around 9:30 pm on the East Coast. For more information, go to www.space.com or www.timeanddate.com/astronomy
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SECOND WEEK Stargazers in the Night Sky
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Stargazers in the Night Sky When observing the night sky, and in particular deep-sky objects such as star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies, it’s always best to observe from a dark location, away from the light polution that surrounds many of today’s large cities.You will see more stars after your eyes adapt to the darkness — usually about 10 to 20 minutes after you go outside. Also, if you need to use a torch to view the sky map, cover the light bulb with red cellophane. This will preserve your dark vision.
For more information on skygazing, see the on-line planetarium: https://In-The-Sky.org. Check out their city and state customized viewing of charts, spacecraft, objects, data tables, resources, links, and news.
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THIRD WEEK
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Space Travel Moon Facts ňň Distance from Earth: 238,900 miles / with closer measurements: 222,761 ňň If Earth were the size of a nickel, the moon would be about as big as a
coffee bean.
ňň Orbital period: 27days – locked in orbit, always showing the same face ňň Sky: always black ňň Atmosphere: Very thin weak atmosphere, called an exosphere. It does
not provide any protection from the sun’s radiation or impacts from meteoroids
ňň Gravity: 0.166 of Earth’s (much weaker due to it’s smaller mass). , so we
would weigh about one sixth (16.5%) of your weight on Earth – that is why we experience weightlessness. If you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you’d weight 16.6 pounds on the moon.
ňň Sounds: None on the far side of the moon ňň Shape: Not round, shaped like an egg ňň Surface: Heavily cratered surface is the result of intense pummeling by
space rocks between 4.1 billion and 3.8 billion years ago
ňň Minimum temperature: -280 degrees Fahrenheit in darkness ňň Maximum temperature: 260 degrees Fahrenheit in full sun ňň More than 100 spacecraft have been launched to explore the moon ňň Twelve human beings have walked on the surface of the moon. ňň U.S. Astronauts have planted 6 American flags on the moon. However, an
international law written in 1967 prevents any single nation from owning planets, stars, or any other natural objects in space.
For more Space Travel Moon Facts, see: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/moon/indepth
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FOURTH WEEK Moon’s Surface
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Moon’s Surface With too sparse an atmosphere to impede impacts, a steady rain of asteroids, meteoroids and comets strikes the surface of the moon, leaving numerous craters behind. Over billions of years, these impacts have ground up the surface of the moon into fragments ranging from huge boulders to powder. Nearly the entire moon is covered by a rubble pile of charcoal-gray, powdery dust and rocky debris called the lunar regolith. Beneath is a region of fractured bedrock referred to as the megaregolith. The light areas of the moon are known as the highlands. The dark features, called maria (Latin for seas), are impact basins that were filled with lava between 4.2 and 1.2 billion years ago. These light and dark areas represent rocks of different composition and ages, which provide evidence for how the early crust may have crystallized from a lunar magma ocean. The craters themselves, which have been preserved for billions of years, provide an impact history for the moon and other bodies in the inner solar system. If you looked in the right places on the moon, you would find pieces of equipment, American flags, and even a camera left behind by astronauts. While you were there, you’d notice that the gravity on the surface of the moon is one-sixth of Earth’s, which is why in footage of moonwalks, astronauts appear to almost bounce across the surface. The temperature reaches about 260 degrees Fahrenheit (127 degrees Celsius) when in full sun, but in darkness, the temperatures plummets to about -280 degrees Fahrenheit (-173 degrees Celsius). For more information see: www.eyesonthesky.com
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FIFTH WEEK Comets
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Comets Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust roughly the size of a small town, and are often referred to as “dirty snowballs”. They are left over from the formation of stars and planets billions of years ago. When a comet’s orbit brings it close to the sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head larger than most planets. The dust and gases form a tail that stretches away from the sun for millions of kilometers. The comet making the closet pass by earth in 2018 is 46P/Wirtanen. It was discovered on January 17, 1948 by Carl Wirtanen at the Lick Observatory. It’s current orbital period is near 5.5 years, which means its apparitions alternate between good and bad with respect to the Earth, ie. 2013 was very poor and 2024 will be poor. 2018 will be excellent! December 16, 2018 will be the best viewing of comet 46P/Wirtanen as it will be the brightest. It will be making a very close approach to Earth and will be visible for up to several weeks and for may hours during the night. It will be the biggest attraction in December 2018 and could be visible to the naked eye from dark sky sites. It is known to be a “hyperactive” comet making it somewhat unpredictable with unexpected surges in activity – and visibility – possible as it passes by. For more information on comets: www. solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/comets/indepth
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SIXTH WEEK Planet Parade – March 7-8, 2018
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Planet Parade Three planets will form a cosmic conga line with the moon in March. Early risers in late February and into early March will be able to watch a planetary alignment dominate the southeastern sky at dawn, as Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter will seem to hover near each other in the sky. Over a few nights starting on March 7, the waning gibbous moon will appear to pay visits to each planet in the lineup. And on March 8, the moon will tuck itself between Mars and Jupiter. If you’re a complete novice at planet watching, let the moon assist you at locating the planets this month. In the course of one month, the moon passes by every planet, staying in the vicinity of each planet for a few days of the month. Look for the moon with Jupiter, Mars and Saturn, starting on the morning of March 7. Here’s when to see them in the Orlando area: Mars – Average visibility Rises: Thursday, March 8, 1:49 am Sets: Thursday, March 8, 12:06 pm Meridian: Thursday, March 8, 6:57 am Jupiter – Perfect visibility Rises: Wed, March 7, 11:23 pm Sets: Thursday, March 8, 10:08 am Meridian: Thursday, March 8, 4:45 am Saturn – Average visibility Rises: Thursday, March 8, 2:44 am Sets: Thursday, March 8, 1:05 pm Meridian: Thursday, March 8, 7:54 am For more information: www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/night; www.earthsky.org.
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SEVENTH WEEK Walked on the surface of the moon
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Walked on the Moon The First Astronaut was Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11, 1969) and the Last was Gene Cernan (Apollo 17, 1972). YEAR NAME
MISSION DATE
FACTS
1969 Neil Armstrong
Apollo
7/21/69
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
1969 Buzz Aldrin
Apollo
7/21/69
Hot dogs were the first food eaten on the moon (Buzz and Neil ate them).
1969 Charles “Pete”Conrad Apollo 12 11/14/69 1971 Alan Bean
Apollo 12 1/31/71
1971 Alan “Al” Shepard
Apollo 14 2/5/71
1971 Edgar “Ed” Mitchell
Apollo 14 2/5/71
1971 David “Dave” Scott
Apollo 15 7/31/71
1971 James “Jim” Irwin
Apollo 15 7/31/71
1972 John Young
Apollo 16 4/21/72
1972 Charles “Charlie” Duke Apollo 16 4/22/72
“I felt the power of God as I’d never felt it before.” Youngest to walk on the moon – 36 yrs
1972 Harrison “Jack’ Schmitt Apollo 17 12/11/72 First and only scientist to walk on the moon. Famous for taking the “Blue Marble” picture of the Earth – the most reproduced photo in human history. 1972 Eugene “Gene” CernanApollo17
Walk to theMoon!
12/11/72 Sang “I was strolling on the moon one day…”
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EIGHTH WEEK Satellites
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Satellites A satellite is a moon, planet or machine that orbits a planet or star. For example, Earth is a satellite because it orbits the sun. Likewise, the moon is a satellite because it orbits Earth. Usually, the word “satellite” refers to a machine that is launched into space and moves around Earth or another body in space. Earth and the moon are examples of natural satellites. Thousands of artificial, or man-made, satellites orbit Earth. Some take pictures of the planet that help meteorologists predict weather and track hurricanes. Some take pictures of other planets, the sun, black holes, dark matter or faraway galaxies. These pictures help scientists better understand the solar system and universe. Still other satellites are used mainly for communications, such as beaming TV signals and phone calls around the world. A group of more than 20 satellites make up the Global Positioning System, or GPS. If you have a GPS receiver, these satellites can help figure out your exact location. Most satellites are launched into space on rockets. A satellite orbits Earth when its speed is balanced by the pull of Earth’s gravity. Without this balance, the satellite would fly in a straight line off into space or fall back to Earth. Satellites orbit Earth at different heights, different speeds and along different paths. The two most common types of orbit are “geostationary” (jee-oh-STAY-shun-air-ee) and “polar.”
Why Don’t Satellites Crash Into Each Other? Actually, they can. NASA and other U.S. and international organizations keep track of satellites in space. Collisions are rare because when a satellite is launched, it is placed into an orbit designed to avoid other satellites. But orbits can change over time. And the chances of a crash increase as more and more satellites are launched into space. In February 2009, two communications satellites — one American and one Russian — collided in space. This, however, is believed to be the first time two man-made satellites have collided accidentally.
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What Was the First Satellite in Space? Sputnik was the first satellite in space. The Soviet Union launched it in 1957.
How to Spot Satellites If you go out and carefully study the sky near dusk or dawn, and you have relatively dark skies, the odds are that you should not have to wait more than 15 minutes before you see one of the more than 35,000 satellites now in orbit around Earth. Most of these “satellites” are actually just “space junk” ranging in size from as large as 30 feet, down to about the size of a softball. The Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) headquartered at Vandenberg AFB in California, keeps a constant watch on all orbiting debris. And in fact most satellites — especially the bits of debris — are too faint to be seen with the unaided eye. But depending on who’s counting, several hundred can be spotted with the unaided eye. These are the satellites that are large enough (typically more than 20 feet in length) and low enough (100 to 400 miles above Earth) to be most readily seen a sunlight reflects off them. The International Space Station (ISS) is by far the biggest and brightest of all the man-made objects orbiting the Earth. So what is the viewing schedule for your particular hometown? You can easily find out by visiting one of these four popular web sites: ňň Chris Peat’s Heavens Above ňň Science@NASA‘s J-Pass ňň NASA’s SkyWatch
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NINTH WEEK Constellations
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Constellations A constellation is a group of stars that are considered to form imaginary outlines or meaningful patterns on the celestial sphere, typically representing animals, mythological people or gods, mythological creatures, or manufactured devices. A constellation is a group of stars that, when seen from Earth, form a pattern. The stars in the sky are divided into 88 constellations. Using a star map will be your best bet for assisting in finding where to look for constellations, depending on your location and time of year. It’s different depending on where you live and on the seasons, so use something like AstroViewer that lets you enter your location and gives you a customized star map. Another good one is Starmap, which also has an iOS app, and you can download them in PDF and print them so you can take the maps outside with you. Something like Google Sky can also help you to practice identifying the shapes of the constellations. The Big Dipper is a group of stars that looks a bit like a ladle. This group of stars is contained in the constellation called Ursa Major (which means “The Great Bear” in Latin). The two brightest stars in the Big Dipper (Dubhe and Merak,) “point” to the North Star. The North Star, which is also called Polaris, is a star that always points north, while the other stars in the northern sky seem to circle around it. The seven stars of the Big Dipper are easily recognized and almost always visible. They form part of the backside and tail of the large bear. While the rest of the bear definitely takes the shape of its namesake, it’s not often visible in light polluted areas. The Big Dipper is more than just a pretty shape; the outer edge of its “bowl” will always lead you to the North Star, aiding in navigation for centuries past. Simply make a line with the two stars of the Big Dipper’s outer edge, extend that line up into the sky, and at about five times the distance between the two stars you started with, you’ll find the North Star. For more information: www.stardate.org/nightsky/constellations; www.enchantedlearning.com; www.allthesky.com
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N OT E S
N OT E S
Mission Control, we have landed.
CDT FHW-2018-0115