Category Archives: Education

Faith, Science and Astronomy Textbooks

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Take a look at a new resource on the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science website!—brief reviews of astronomy textbooks from a “Faith and Science” perspective.  You will find all this under “Educational Resources”. The idea for these reviews arose from questions that Vatican Observatory/V.O. Foundation folks have received over time, and from one question in particular.*   A while back, someone used the contact link here on the blog to ask about astronomy textbooks.  The questioner asked if we could recommend an introductory astronomy textbook that would be suitable for Catholic homeschooling. This question produced a bit of discussion at the V.O.F.  What was the questioner looking for?  What would make an astronomy text more or less “Catholic-suitable”?  There are science textbooks, published for certain religious schools, that do not discuss, say, the Big Bang theory.  But the V.O. is a scientific establishment—we are not going to recommend a book that dismisses a major scientific idea that has good reasoning and … Continue reading →

Go Observe Plato

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  Plato – Walled Plain by Deirdre Kelleghan February 25th 2007 – 20:45UT – 21:45UT 200mm/F6/6.3mm – Plossel/193X – 8.19days – 300gm Daler Rowney paper/DR soft pastels/Black watercolour pencil/wooden cocktail stick.   This blog was first published in January 2018. If you read this today January 22nd 2021 you should have no problem finding Plato. Check the link below for Virtual Moon Atlas.  It would be my wish that you would go observe Plato and perhaps draw it. A pencil drawing or whatever medium you are familiar with. This particular version of Plato was sketched back in February 2007 , on an evening when the seeing was perfect. Sometimes our atmosphere can be very unsteady.  Observing the moon when this is happening makes the view very wobbly, therefore not conducive to sketching. When the seeing is steady, moon viewing can be very beautiful. Occasionally the sun’s light can become a momentary master sculptor of lunar features as it touches the … Continue reading →

JWST update – Hexagons in Space

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My small group at Space Camp in Louisburgh. Proud of their new James Webb replica mirror and knowledge !! What an exciting week regarding the JWST announcment that the launch date is set for October 31st 2021 !!! Am shareing my previous blog about a workshop I did back in September 2019 and in addition I am including a video about the announcment. Something to look forward to in the year ahead. Of course anything can happen when it comes to launches but the perparation is done. We are on the verge of the launch of  space programs most exciting telescope ever built   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, … Continue reading →

Go Observe M82 – The Cigar Galaxy

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Drawing M82 M82 pastels on black paper November 27th 2008 – 22:20 UT 22:45 UT some cloud made it longer to do Transparency Poor ,Seeing 6/10 No filters used Meade 16 inch FL 4000mm 22mm Nagler eyepiece = 181X – Co Kildare Ireland Back in 2008, I had the opportunity to draw something with a 16 inch Meade SCT. My friend’s observatory was in a semi-suburban / rural setting. It took me some time to get warmed up to the detail provided by that instrument. I had never seen the cigar galaxy (M82)  before in this way. Then I settled down to draw this long stretched out wonder in the night sky. It was the first time I saw any structure within this object, oh boy it’s great have tracking when sketching. M82 is an irregular galaxy. To my eye, it looked like one nebulous section was pulling away from the other elongated part. The longer part had a curve … Continue reading →

Pursuing the Conjunction Part 2

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Nesting Moon Floating Planets On December 18th there was a lot of clouds around in the south-west. My chances of seeing Saturn and Jupiter were not promising. However, I set up my materials and hoped for the best. I had my 15X70 binoculars on a tripod and my sketching materials. Pursuing the conjunction was still my goal even though the forecast for December 21st was abysmal. The four-day moon looked gorgeous above our pine trees. I waited for the clouds to clear until a handy gap offered me Jupiter and Saturn. The planets appeared like two white blobs in my 15X70 binoculars. This view did not bring me enough detail. Also, it was not dark enough to see any planetary colour or moons. However, it was great to see both planets within my field of view. I wanted something more. I figured Jupiter and Saturn would soon disappear into the cloud bank on the horizon. Therefore, I started a different … Continue reading →

Pursuing the Conjunction

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The forecast lately has been rain, rain and more rain. So I decided to get active in pursuing the conjunction as it builds toward December 21st.  Saturn and Jupiter the largest planets in the solar system getting closer and closer. The actual historic alignment may well pass my eyes by but the journey towards the day is worth doing. I took this photo on December 7th at 17:16 Jupiter easy to spot Saturn less so at that time. I had visions of drawing the two planets as they got lower in the apricot sky. Alas, that was not to be due to the precipitation overload in the following days. However, I did manage a partial drawing later that evening, which includes the lovely Delphinus. That drawing (below) had to be abandoned because of cloud and the fact that Jupiter dipped below my horizon before I got to add more detail to that small section of our galaxy. Pursuing the conjunction … Continue reading →

Drawing Active Region 2790

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Drawing Active Region 2790 It was mid-morning by the time I was free to observe active region 2790. That AR was the larger of the two visible on the solar disc. After I set up my chair, drawing equipment and solar telescope, it took some time to settle into the drawing. It is my habit to observe the subject before deciding on how I will deal with it. This was a very dramatic, active area. Swirling fibrils were well defined around the sunspot. Solar drawing is difficult because for me anyway, I have to break the view down into shapes. Then I can draw that shape on my page. However, many references back to the shape and the page must take place for the drawing to be accurate. Sometimes the view is stable for say ten minutes. Then it may deteriorate for a time before becoming crystal clear again. This process can be very time consuming and takes lots of … Continue reading →

Curiosity Launch

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NASA Tweetup On the evening pre-launch NASA tour I was privileged to stand within 150 yards of the Atlas V. The Mars Science Laboratory aka Curiosity perched on top ready to go. Silhouetted against the sun, this 191-foot assembly of scientific ambition stood tall. It was a little less than half the height of the Apollo Saturn V. At 363 feet the Saturn V rocket is the largest ever built and is more comparable height-wise to the familiar stainless street sculpture the Spire of Dublin which is 398 feet.  I was with 149 other people who were attending a Tweetup and various NASA people who were so kind and generous with their time. Our job was to tweet every nuance of the launch to the public. It was a truly enjoyable role. After our unlimited photographic bonanza, we left the launch pad to head back toward the Vehicle Assembly Building. On our journey groups of red-haired hogs appeared nearby, munching … Continue reading →

Science Week remote workshops

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This week was Science Week 2020 here in Ireland. My workshops have been a feature of the event for many years. Driving all over the country, presenting drawing workshops would be the usual format for me. However, this year the new normal was remote drawing workshops. |My Science Week remote workshops were born. A lot of hours goes into creating videos with drawing involved. Getting myself organised with a desk that had an overhead camera. Sorting out the filming, editing and sound by myself was a bit of a task. A learning curve for me that was well worth the journey and the effort. My videos were in use for Science Foundation Ireland’s Science Week in various schools around Ireland. They were also in use for Mayo Science Festival. I have to say that I missed the interaction with the children. However, I was very impressed with the drawings produced and was delighted that some teachers sent a selection to … Continue reading →

Space Week Apollo 11 – revisited

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Recently  I was lamenting the fact that I had no actual workshops for Space Week 2020 because of Covid 19. However, just a few days ago I was asked what would I have to offer for Space Week 2021. The theme is Women in Space, so I had no problem coming up with several online scenarios. Here below is a revisit to  a series of workshops on Apollo 11. Next year will, of course, be populated with information about NASA’s ARTEMIS mission plans.  Space Week 2018 During Space Week 2018 Let’s Go To The Moon offered children the chance to draw some aspect of Apollo 11’s iconic mission. Almost 400 took part in various venues across the country. This, therefore, offered me an ideal opportunity to vary the subjects of the drawing challenges. During all workshops, I offer a demonstration drawing. This is done in seconds to help the children focus on the important aspects of drawing. Drawing tuition Each … Continue reading →

Go Observe Clavius

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Christophorus Clavius Christophorus Clavius lived between the years 1537 and 1612. He would never have imagined that a crater named for him on the moon would be global news in October 2020. When I drew this very large walled plain back in 2008 all I knew about it was that it was named after a man who was a mathematician/astronomer. This week however with Clavius being in the news I had to have a closer look out of curiosity. It was time to revisit my drawing and pay attention to this area on the moon and plan to go observe Clavius once again. A flying discovery NASA’s Sofia telescope has discovered the signature of water H2O on the moon in the area of Clavius. Of course, this news supports the ARTEMIS mission planned for more exploration of our moon in the future. It also supports the SOFIA flying observatory and its multifaceted set of tasks. ESA also have future plans for … Continue reading →

Go Observe M42 again

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  Thinking about M42 again I was out looking at the sky on October 15th, the Milky Way was magnificent. However I was very tired so I did not get into drawing but I begin to plan for some in the coming weeks. During the night I looked out the window at Orion rising over the mountain.  M42 is always a wonder to behold by eye or in a telescope. Here is a previous blog on this stunning Messier Object in the sword of the hunter. Drawing M42 with an 8 inch telescope Back in December 2007 after a day of stormy winds and  rain the atmosphere seemed cleaner.  I had sketched comet 17/P Holmes for the last time. I  turned my scope to M42 in the magnificent sword of Orion. Every time I look at M42,my appreciation grows. Just to think that from my garden I can look and observe an object that is 1,500 light years away from … Continue reading →