Jul 08
Jul 04
This article is for an anybody that wants to start looking at stars, but don’t know how or where to start.
So now that you know it won’t cost you money, what do you need to be able to explore the Universe around our home planet? Not much but it is very good to have a star chart at hand. They can be found in books that show you Star Charts or something referring to the Zodiac. They also come in different formats. From very simple ones with a few stars and connecting lines between them to others that look like wheels. You can find them at any Planaterium or Observatory. The cheaper the better as you onlu need one to show you the brightest stars. The rest you can fill in yourself.
A tip is to never buy your kid a cheap telescope or let parents buy you a cheap telescope. Reason for this is that it is far too difficult for a beginner to actually find a star looking through a cheap scope. If you manage to find one, the turning Earth will take it out of sight so quickly that you will have to start looking for it from scratch. This will frustrate you and before the night is over the telescope will be back in its box.
My second tip is a far cheaper option but one that will bring many nights of star gazing. Lend, borrow or buy a normal 10×50 set of binoculars. That is it as you’ll probably have one at home already. With this you can view entire constellations, star clusters , the moon and the planets. Things you can see once you know where to find Jupiter, are the four biggest moons.
Luck is also on your side as almost each school, but certainly each town has a library. This is your best resource for free literature on the stars, the Universe and the Solar System. Many of them have star charts in and it doesn’t matter how old the book, the chart will always be correct. These are combinations of constellations. Constellations you’ll recognize as they are mostly spots representing stars and lines connecting the spots. Try to find Orion or the Southern Cross or Scorpio so that you get an idea of how they look on paper and then go outside and see if you can find them in the sky. The Southern Cross lies in the south and Orion you’ll find pretty much moving from East to West over your head as the night progresses. Just keep in mind that sometimes it won’t be visible when you look for it. Then it will rise later or in the early morning.
Do you need to read a lot I hear you ask? Not really, but the moment you start to explore the stars, you will want to know more about them, where they come from and probably where they are going. This you can get in books written for children as this will give you the most elementary information.
To summarize, you need at least a star chart and at least one eye and you are on the verge of discovering the Universe. Only then do you need binoculars and once you know enough about the stars and how and why they move, then you can invest in a decent telescope.
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Leon Steyn Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Leon_Steyn |
Jun 20
Astronomy is now considered as the oldest science branch known to mankind.
At the beginning of 20 the century astronomy divided into two science branch. They are known as Theoretical astrophysics and Observational astronomy. Astronomy now enjoys the contribution of those two branches. Observational astronomy gathers astronomical data and analyzes the information whereas theoretical astrophysics implicates the analyzed data. Observational astronomy now referred as astrometry. Infrared astronomy is now a branch of astronomy which deals with heat radiation at the cosmos. Radio astronomy take care of galaxy explode, big bang and exotic stars.
Astronomy now enjoys one of the prominent science branches. We celebrate every landmark victories of astronomy. We are now able to clearly define the components of sun or we are able to measure the distance between earth and a distant star. Man is able to land on moon! This is the fascinating development of astronomy. Astronomy now enjoys the exciting time. Planetary missions initiated by man helps us to develop the frontier of our knowledge. Moreover now astronomy is an organized procedure whereas in olden days it was only an individual business.
Technology is the driving factor of astronomy which facilitates the astrophysicists to infiltrate in the secrets of nature. The world witnessed incredible development in the field of astronomy since 19th century. The incredible developments in technology since 1930 accelerated the momentum of astronomy research. It now enjoys all advantages of sophisticated technologies. Data analyzing and photo capturing of distant object is now a business of mater of seconds. The most famous astronomy research organizations are planning to send humans to our ‘neighboring’ planets. We have materialized research stations in space. These space stations assist us to gather data related to the universe easily.
Astronomy has a vast legacy when compared with any other science branch. The Greek, Indian, and Chinese astrophysicists contributed a lot for the development of astronomy. Copernicus and later Newton developed the astronomy by providing landmark contribution to the discovery of the basic theories astrophysics. They have started to broaden the boundaries of astronomy rather they have provided the pillars of the position of astronomy now among other science branches.
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Jun 19
What is astronomy? Most of the children ask this question while we say something about space or physics. Astronomy is a branch of physics.
Most of the kids may wonder when they realize the ‘size’ of the universe. Astronomy for kids starts from an answer to the question; what is space? There are lots of definitions available for the term ‘space’. However, anything that is beyond the atmosphere of our planet, earth, is considered as space.
A kid who is interested in astronomy definitely raises a question, how big our universe is. Because, children are very much interested in colours, size, number etc. The answer is crucial for kids in order to stimulate the interest with the subject astronomy. Actually, scientists have put forward lots of theories about the size of the universe. We can explain to the kid about the infinity theory and big bang theory to make astronomy for kids interesting. So, we are sure in one thing that we do not know the size of the universe. The most extreme object that we see is about 30,000 light years far. We can gently ask the kid to find out how big the universe is. It really sharpens the curiosity of the child about universe and makes astronomy for kids something enjoyable.
Does the universe have an end? Or being it eternal? Ask such questions to the kid, and encouraging them to find the answer is definitely useful. There are hundreds of books available in the market about astronomy for kids. Providing these books to kids is useful. There are lots of softwares available in the market to teach astronomy. If children are getting in touch with such softwares, they would be able to visualize the universe with the help of pictures and videos included in the software.
Explaining astronomy to a kid is obviously a tough task. The elders must include interesting stories and poems while explaining astronomy for kids. They can explain about the stars, black hole, a comet, and so on. Showing pictures, telling some stories from mythology etc. helps the kid to grasp the nuances of astronomy.
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