Jobs
Links
Can you catch the eye
of the beautiful Pleiades sisters?
Or distract Orion from his hunt?
Can you get Venus to look your way?
Or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out to play?
Do you know the first thing
about the sky’s constellations?
I’m speechless in awe ...
Words fail me!
The Book of Job in the Bible
of the beautiful Pleiades sisters?
Or distract Orion from his hunt?
Can you get Venus to look your way?
Or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out to play?
Do you know the first thing
about the sky’s constellations?
I’m speechless in awe ...
Words fail me!
The Book of Job in the Bible
Highbury Astronomy Page
Religion and Science
400 years ago this year Galileo carried a telescope out into a very dark night and for the very first time showed other people what it was like to look through a telescope at the moon and the stars.
What he saw amazed him! He was the first to see the craters and mountains on the moon, the rings around Saturn and the moons of Jupiter. It excited him to discover that the cloudy band that streaked across the middle of the sky and we know as the Milky Way was made up of countless faint stars.
To mark the 400th Anniversary the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy.
Why should the United Nations be so excited?
Look at the night sky and you begin to realise the scale of the Universe. If you could look back at our planet from the closest thing in the night sky, the moon, you would see one world and you wouldn’t see any frontiers between countries.
There’s no better way to realise that not only are we citizens of one nation, but we are citizens of the world.
Astronomy evenings like the ones we have from time to time at Highbury especially with our Cubs and Scouts will be happening all over the world.
UNESCO hopes that as more and more people look at the night sky and begin to understand more about it it will “help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the universe through the day and nigh-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery.”
So, why not try and re-discover your place in the Universe and start looking at the night sky with a sprit of adventure and a sense of wonder and discovery!
One good place to start in the summer months is with the Summer Triangle. I recently came across a wonderful Chinese story about the Summer Triangle on the One Minute Astronomer site. I adapted it into a PowerPoint display for a Primary assembly.
I will never forget joining the Astronomy team at the World Scout Jamboree! With the help of Brian Sheen of the Roseland Observatory and Francisco Diego I took photos of the moon, solar flares on the sun, and the crescent Venus at mid day. I also handled some moon dust and listened into a conversation between a number of Scouts and the International Space Station.
My favourite Astronomy Web Sites
If you want to print off a star chart that will show you everything to look for in the Night Sky then Skymaps.com is the place to go. Not only can you print off a chart of the night sky for this month, it will also point out the highlights to look for. I have found a 10 x 50 pair of binoculars is the best thing to use ... Much better than a telescope especially if you are starting out!
If you want to make your own Star Wheel to identify the stars on any night Uncle Al’s Star Wheel is very simple to make and an excellent guide to the stars!
The next program to look out for is a Planetarium program. This will give you a map of the night sky for the very night you are looking. The best one to start with is the one that comes on the Sky and Telescope site. Get permission before downloading the java applet.
For a much more detailed Planetarium program the one my friends at the Scout World Jamboree recommended was Stellarium. It’s a superb program and one I will be using from now on!
The next treat is to find a map of the Moon. This interactive moon is great fun: you may have to duck the meteors! This is a good chart of the moon too!
The next treat is to find a map of the Moon. This interactive moon is great fun: you may have to duck the meteors! This is a good chart of the moon too!
The Astro Mini Course is a brilliant introductory course on Astronomy ... It comes from the One Minute Astronomer web site. You can subscribe to their regular ‘one minute’ mailings on astronomy too:
The One Minute Astronomer’s Astro Mini Course
Day 4 - Telescopes and Binoculars: the Basics
If you want an introduction to Astronomy then try the BBC Astronomy site! You can meet up with Patrick Moore there!
Another good introductory site is The Society for Popular Astronomy. Rob Lacey, one of our church members, recommends this one highly!
Another really good introduction to the night sky is at the intriguingly titled Space Weather site.
It was great fun talking to the International Space Station at the World Scout Jamboree and then watching it pass over head an hour later! Heavens Above is the place to go in order to track the ISS and other satellites too. There are lots of interactive maps of the night sky that you can localise to your own position.
Visit the International Year of Astronomy web site to find out all about the International Year of Astronomy.
There is a brilliant set of videos available to download on the International Year of Astronomy Web Site. There’s a Trailer telling you all about this special year and a series of superb programmes called Eyes on the Skies.
It was great to welcome Duncan Willoughby of the Cotswold Astronomical Society to Cubs. He stayed on to give another talk to parents and friends as well. The plan was to bring telescopes and to do some star gazing - but as ever it was cloudy. He gave a brilliant talk with lots of slides explaining how stars come into being.
During this 400th Anniversary year of Galileo’s first use of a telescope the story will no doubt be told again of the way parts of the church took offence at Galileo’s work. What won’t be told is the fascination his work had for many of Christian faith. One of those overawed by the telescope was the great English poet, George Herbert. Click here to read about George Herbert’s awe at seeing through a telescope.
One of my favourite introductions to Astronomy and the Universe is Bang! The Complete History of the Universe by Patrick
Moore, Brian May and Chris Lintott. When I first read it I was particularly struck by comments they made about the relationship between science and religion. It prompted me to write a reflection for Highbury News. Click here to read those reflections on the relationship between science and religion.
This is not only the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of the telescope, it is also the 200th Anniversary of Charles Darwin, and the 150th Anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species. I see no conflict between my Christian faith and the theory of evolution. You can read some of my reflections on Darwin, science and religion here!