Category Archives: Education

Errors Published for Children

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An abundance of erroneous information can be found in books.  Unfortunately, that includes science books for children.  Recently I have been perusing children’s science books, looking for good material for the Vatican Observatory Faith & Science site, and I keep coming across things like the images below—a page from Scientists Who Made History: Isaac Newton (published 2001 by Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers: A Harcourt Company).  This is from a section of the book that talks about Newton studying the motions of the planets. Note the caption that reads “An early diagram from the 1600s showing the movements of the planets, all of which are travelling around the Sun in the center of the illustration”.  But note that, in fact, the Sun is not in the center of the illustration.  The Earth is in the center.  It is not travelling around the Sun; the Sun is travelling around it. The diagram is of the theory of Tycho Brahe.  Brahe’s name can be … Continue reading →

Sunspots for young children

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A recent Space Week workshop was attended by a class of young children. They ranged in age from 8 years down to 5-year-olds. A sun based drawing activity seemed like fun to me. I delivered a simple explanation of the power of our nearest star. How a sunny day helps us to smile, and how the sun does so many things for us every day. My presentation was very colourful showing off solar features like sunspots and prominences.  Sunspots for young children needed to be exciting and full of easy words.           I decided that drawing a sunspot would be achievable. Occasionally during workshops, I do a demonstration drawing to help kids to be more flowing in their efforts. Most kids will draw the edges of things and then try to add detail inside their shape. The shape they draw to start their effort dictates how the drawing progresses. Sometimes children get upset because their drawing … Continue reading →

Putting the “Verse” in the Universe

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Introduction When we think about STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math), “Arts” refers not only to visual and performing arts but also to all aspects of literature: creative writing, poetry, fiction, and so on. Students, including teachers and Girl Scout leaders in workshops, can create their own myths or legends based on an aspect of astronomy. “The Ball of Fire” by Maria Elena A long time ago when only animals existed they had nothing to worry about. But then one day they found a giant egg, and from the egg a dragon came out and started throwing fire balls. All of the animals started running. In those times the stars were cold and that’s why they were close to Earth. But when the dragon started throwing fire into the sky, all of the stars moved far away from Earth except for one that wasn’t strong enough to follow the other stars. The dragon threw a lot of fire balls … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Stellar Round Up

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This entry is part 91 of 185 in the series Across the Universe

This column first appeared in The Tablet in October 2008; we first ran it here in 2016 Black Mesa, Oklahoma sounds like the setting for a Hollywood Western. It looks like one, too. Every year at the Okie-Tex Star Party, three hundred amateur astronomers camp out for a week with their telescopes there, in hopes of dark dry skies. Some of their “amateur” instruments are larger in aperture than the telescopes of the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo. The miracle of computerized fabrication and the modern Dobsonian mount (a way of holding a telescope in place that replaces complex hardware with simple Teflon pads) has brought the cost of quality optics to the point where the price of a large telescope can be less than that of a small automobile. My GPS unit directed me as far as Boise City, two hours north of Amarillo, Texas; after that, I was following roads too small for most maps. I was there … Continue reading →

Endeavour Space Academy – 2019 Session #2: An Unexpected Lesson in Light Pollution

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I started off our last club meeting by showing my “In the Sky” post I’d written the day before – hey… why not!? Several of the students said that they had seen Ursa Major, and a couple said they could see the Mizar/Alcor double star! This week’s constellation was Cassiopeia; I showed the students where to find the constellation, and some deep-sky objects in the Cassiopeia, including the open cluster M103. I discussed the differences between open and globular star clusters, and showed a few examples of each. We discussed galaxy mergers, and I showed this animation of galaxy mergers seen from different perspectives: We then discussed how the Andromeda galaxy and the Milky Way will collide in several billion years; I showed this PBS video about the collision: During the video, one of the students asked my wife “What is that band of stars behind the narrator?” I stopped the video, and brought up a photo of the Milky Way … Continue reading →

Endeavour Space Academy – 2019 Session #1

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For our first after-school club meeting of 2019, Mrs. Trembley introduced us both as volunteer NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassadors; I told the students I was the outreach officer for the Warren Astronomical Society, and about the WAS’ free open house and star party – every 4th Saturday of the month at Stargate Observatory – which happens THIS Saturday! I told the students I work for the Vatican Observatory Foundation, and that I write a weekly “In the Sky” post… and that they should read it. 🙂 We told the students our goal this year was to get them observing the nighttime sky – we’re starting them off with the constellation Ursa Major (and the Big Dipper) – which I wrote about in my latest “In the Sky” post. I was truly surprised by how many of the students had never noticed the Big Dipper in the northwestern sky, or if they had, were unaware of what it was! I had … Continue reading →

Ssssss! Putting the STEAM in STEM

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Introduction In an earlier blog, Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences was discussed, i.e., different learners have different skills, strengths, and talents. Accommodating these differences may require a more diverse approach when teaching the physical sciences. We have also discussed the place of narrative and storytelling in the sciences. Now we turn to the use of the arts in the science curriculum. Where does your teaching style fit into the STEM vs. STEAM dichotomy? Or is there a “versus” between the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math approach and the addition of the Arts into the overall teaching plan? For a more detailed discussion of this topic, see Anne Jolly’s article “STEM vs. STEAM: DO the Arts Belong?” Ms. Jolly raises points from both “camps,” and then raises the question of how to include the arts “in an authentic way,” without diluting the focus of STEM education. Her list of how the arts can fit into STEM includes the areas of design, communications, … Continue reading →

Solar Art Exhibition in Hawaii

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                Exhibition in Hawaii Some time ago a painting of mine won a prize in the My Sun My Star Contest. This was a solar art competition involving photographs, drawings and paintings inspired by the sun. The contest was run by The National Solar Observatory in Boulder Colorado. One of the aspects of the prize is that my painting X-Ray Sun (above) will go on exhibition . On Friday September 20th if you are in Hawaii (how exotic) one of my paintings and in addition one of my solar drawings will be on show. Since the prize came my way I was asked if another work of mine could be included in their exhibitions. NSO requested one of my solar drawings. That sketch it is called East Limb Proms. The venue is The University of Hawaii – Institute for Astronomy, it is on the island of Maui. The event is an open day … Continue reading →

Plateau Sunrise

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This entry is part 7 of 11 in the series Lunarcy

Sunrise on the Aristarchus Plateau is always a thrilling sight whether in your first 60mm telescope or a 400mm cannon! The eye-popping crater Aristarchus (41km diameter) in the center of this image, is the brightest crater on the moon and at 175 million years old, a Jurassic Crater, it’s one of the younger ones. Some dinosaur had a front seat to a spectacular impact show! Notice the nice terracing on the interior wall of this crater. Most of the Plateau is in shadow here. Aristarchus itself is in the southeast corner. You can see the east side of the Plateau going north from Aristarchus. Above and to the right of Aristarchus is the arc of the partially flooded Prinz (49km) and the beautiful Rimae Prinz just above. Immediately above the north rim of Prinz is the odd crater Vera. It is the south end of one of the rimae that you can see running north a little further to the … Continue reading →

Hexagons in Space JWST

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Hexagons As far as I know hexagons in space are not common.  The only natural hexagonal shape I know of out there is the extraordinary storm cloud on the north pole of Saturn. However here on Earth, this shape is everywhere,  bees use hexagons in building their hives.  Hexagons hide in plain sight within our bodies, our skin and our DNA. The humble pencil is hexagonal to maximise its packing potential and help it not roll of your desk. The six-sided shape fits together perfectly with no gaps. Apparently, the geometry of  a hexagon uses the least amount of material to hold the most weight.  Hexagons can, therefore,  take a lot of force even if they are made from light material. The James Webb Space Telescope mirrors are made of Beryllium alloys.  This is a very lightweight  metal consisting of closely packed hexagonal structures within itself.  The skeleton behind each of the eighteen mirrors is also created with hexagonal shapes … Continue reading →

Light Thinking

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It’s raining as I write, water pours down the window like syrup in a jar. Montbretia in the garden seem to generate self-made light. Each flower punctuates the greyness with orange flames on stems within the hedgerow. It is often grey days that send me light thinking and remind me of how frequently I dwell on it. Recently I met Br Guy Colsolmagno for breakfast in Dublin. A sunny morning with the promise of more light to fill the day. We had a fun catch up chat within which were several moments of encouragement  sprinkled  towards my work. We then headed to the National Gallery of Ireland to see an impressionist exhibition. Sorolla Exhibition Sorolla was a Spanish master of light, the exhibition held fifty works spread over four large rooms in the gallery. All of Sorolla’s work in which the subjects were sails, sailing or water  mesmerised  me. I enjoyed his brush strokes, bold one stroke renderings of shirt … Continue reading →

What happens at a Vatican Observatory Summer School?

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It’s back to school time in the northern hemisphere, and at the Vatican Observatory we’re both celebrating our summer schools past and letting the world know about our Summer School, Future! First, some information about the upcoming summer school. It’s called the VOSS (for Vatican Observatory Summer School.) It runs for four weeks. It is open to students from around the world who are in the last years of their undergraduate or opening years of graduate studies in astronomy or astrophysics; it is held at our headquarters in Castel Gandolfo; it features a world class teaching staff (more about them, below); and it’s free. (If you can afford it, we ask you to pay some part of the cost of travel and housing; if you can’t, we cover it.) There are two restrictions on who gets to attend. First, we only want students who intend to continue in a career in astronomy. This is not for anyone who already has … Continue reading →