LPI Earth and Space Science Newsletter
June/July 2008
August 1– Total Solar Eclipse (visible in Canada, Greenland, Asia)
August 12 – Perseids Meteor Shower Peak
September 22 – Autumnal Equinox
October 8 – Space Shuttle Mission to Service the Hubble Space Telescope
Free Online Astronomy Informal Educator Workshops
Apply now for Astronomy from the Ground Up's next FREE online workshop for science, nature center and museum educators! Offered by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, training is through e-mail, videochat, and telephone. Participants get a free toolkit, learn fun techniques for presenting astronomy and interpreting current events, and become part of the growing Astronomy from the Ground Up community. The next online course is scheduled to begin September 8–October 3. Applications are accepted up to August 1.
From Space Sciences Discoveries to Mayan Culture
This 2-day teacher professional development workshop will include topics such as space weather, seasons, magnetism and the electromagnetic spectrum with a special emphasis on working with Latino communities. Workshop on August 16 will be at
Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, and November 15 at the
Pickelweed Community Center, San Rafael, CA. Registration deadline is August 13.
Earth Science Short Courses and Fieldtrip at Houston's GSA Convention
Two Earth science short courses and a field trip to Galveston Island will be part of the Geological Society of America / Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies convention in Houston, October 3 – 5, 2008. There will also be a free symposium “Evolution in the Classroom: Teacher Forum” and teacher reception.
Live Webcast of Eclipse
On August 1, 2008, a total solar eclipse will occur as the new moon moves directly between the Sun and the Earth. The moon’s umbral shadow will fall on parts of Canada, Greenland, the Arctic Ocean, Russia, Mongolia, and China. The Exploratorium’s eclipse expedition team will Webcast the eclipse live from northwestern China.
Solar System Ambassador Events
NASA Solar System Ambassadors are giving presentations nationally at local venues - libraries, schools, state parks, museums and more - across the U.S. Solar System Ambassadors is a NASA public outreach program; Ambassadors are space enthusiasts bringing the excitement of space science and exploration to the public in their local communities.
Earth Science Week Contests 2008
The American Geological Institute (AGI) is sponsoring three national contests in conjunction with Earth Science Week 2008: No Child Left Inside , October 12-18. All U.S. residents are encouraged to enter Earth Science Beyond your Front Door, the 2008 photography contest, which asks people to explore the geologic world through the camera. Students grades K-5 who enter the Visual Arts Contest Studying our Earth should show themselves as an earth scientist actively studying our planet. The Essay Contest, open to students in grades 6-9, is themed Earth Connections. Entrants are asked to discuss the interconnected geologic processes that take place in their community and how those processes in turn affect them. All entries are due October 17, 2008.
JPL Von Kármán Lecture Series and Web casts
The von Kármán lecture series offers the public a front-row seat into exciting JPL-managed missions, significant science findings and futuristic technologies being developed at the Lab for NASA. The free monthly series, named after rocket pioneer and JPL founder Theodore von Kármán, takes place at JPL and Pasadena Community College. The lecture is also available via a live webcast or web archive. Upcoming lectures include Cassini Mission to Saturn Highlights (Jul. 24 & 25) and Keeping an Eye on Earth's Changing Climate (Aug. 21 & 22).
Teacher Technology Award
The Vernier Software & Technology/NSTA Technology Awards will be given to seven educators judged to have created the best inquiry-based, hands-on learning activities using data-collection technology interfaced with computers, graphing calculators and other handheld devices. Up to one elementary teacher, two middle school teachers, three high school teachers and one college-level educator will receive the technology awards. Each award consists of $1000 in cash, $1000 in Vernier equipment, and $1000 toward travel and expenses for attending NSTA’s 2009 National Convention. Entries are due by October 15, 2008.
"Increase Your Green" School Competition
Do Something is inviting America's middle and high schools to reduce their carbon footprint this fall through the "Increase Your Green" competition. Participants must make concrete efforts toward reducing the environmental impact of their school. The main judging categories are: 1) energy saved; 2) garbage reduced, recycled, and reused; 3) number of people involved/impacted; and 4) innovative quality of actions and ideas. The competition opens October 13 and closes December 8.
Geotimes Videocast
The American Geological Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce Geotimes videocasts. The premiere videocast takes a look at the current developments related to the Chaitén eruption in Chile. Geotimes Online is now producing original videocasts of Earth-related news. The videocasts cover current geologic news, including natural disasters, current research and public policy affecting the geosciences. Anchored by staff writers of the magazine, the videocasts supplement Geotimes regular earth science news items throughout the month.
Sun-Earth Day: Total Solar Eclipse in China
This Eclipse page includes Make-and-Take activities for public outreach, articles, stories and activities for educators, and podcasts with Fred Espenak (aka "Mr Eclipse").
Twitter from Mars
The Phoenix Mars Landers on Twitter; get updates from Mars!!
Astronomy Podcasts from ASP
Audio recordings of twelve public lectures by noted astronomers are now available as free MP3 downloads at the web site of the nonprofit Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP). These talks were recorded at Foothill College in the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series. Each hour-long lecture on some exciting development in our study of the universe is followed by an extensive question and answer period, in which the speaker gives further details and personal glimpses about the topics under discussion.
Mars Activities
On May 25, NASA’s Phoenix Mars Mission landed on the arctic plains of Mars. The mission is studying the history of water in the Martian arctic and examining the possibilities for life. There are a number of activities available on the Phoenix site, including
MarsBots: Robotic Learning Module,
Mars and Earth: Science Learning Activities for After School,
Buried Water Ice on Mars,
Getting Dirty on Mars, as well as posters and resources.
Meteorology Activities for Grades 5-9
Meteorology: An Educator's Resource for Inquiry-Based Learning for Grades 5-9 was developed to enhance the understanding of inquiry-based learning from the educator/teacher’s perspective as well as from the learner’s perspective. Topics include weather and climate, temperature change, barometers, air density and weight, humidity, precipitation, and more.
AGI Earth Science TV Series
The four-part television series “Faces of Earth,” produced by the American Geological Institute, is being broadcast nationwide on The Science Channel in the coming weeks. With dazzling cinematography and computer-animated graphics, “Faces of Earth” explores how Earth is continually changed by the forces of nature.
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This photo from the Phoenix Mission shows the trench and ice at the surface of Mars. |
Phoenix Mission Finds Water on Mars
Modified from http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/06_20_pr.php and http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/07_18_pr.php
Scientists confirmed the presence of water ice near the surface beside NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander on June 20, and anticipate even bigger discoveries from the robotic mission in the weeks ahead. The mission has instruments for analyzing soil and ice to determine whether the local environment just below the surface of far-northern Mars has ever been favorable for microbial life. Key factors are whether the water ever becomes available as a liquid and whether organic compounds are present that could provide chemical building blocks and energy for life. Phoenix landed on May 25 for a Mars surface mission planned to last for three months.
The mission has dug a trench in the hard soil, and gathered shavings into its laboratory ovens to analyze the gases released when the soil is heated.
Samples of shallower, non-icy soil have already been examined in Phoenix's wet chemistry laboratory and optical microscope, and a fork-like probe has checked how well nearby soil conducts electricity and heat.
The wet-chemistry analysis so far inticates that the soil is similar to surface soils found in the upper dry valleys in Antarctica, and has a high pH. Scientists also found a variety of components of salts that include magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride.
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Artist's concept of the Milky Way's structure based on Spitzer survey. ASA/JPL/Caltech |
The Milky Way Remapped
Modified from
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/home/19599619.html
Our map of the Milky Way galaxy has changed considerably over the past several years. Astronomers are challenged by the interstellar dust blocking our view of most of the Galaxy. New findings using the Spitzer Space Telescope suggest that the Milky Way has just two major spiral arms, along with two minor ones, rather than four equal ones as theorized in the past.
Previous studies led astronomers to conclude the galaxy has a pronounced central bar and four major spiral arms, but when scientists analyzed the Sagittarius and Norma arms, they saw gas and clusters of young stars but fewer stars overall than in the Scutum-Centaurus and Perseus arms.
What's more, the Scutum-Cen Arm connects nicely with one end of the galaxy's central bar, as does the Perseus arm with the other. In this model, Sagittarius and Norma become mere "minor arms." Many other barred spiral galaxies have this structure, dominated by two spiral arms originating from the bar's ends.
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| A map of the 100 explosions observed since late 2005 |
Explosions on the Moon
Modified from http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/21may_100explosions.htm?list812372
Over the past two and a half years, NASA astronomers have observed the Moon flashing at them not just once but one hundred times. The flashes are explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the Moon. The first detection came on Nov. 7, 2005, when a piece of Comet Encke about the size of a baseball hit Mare Imbrium. The resulting explosion produced a 7th magnitude flash, too dim for the naked eye but an easy target for the team's 10-inch telescope.
Meteoroids hit the moon with tremendous kinetic energy, traveling 30,000 mph or faster, so that even a pebble can blast a crater several feet wide, melting the rocks and soil on the lunar surface hot enough to glow like molten lava.
Newly Formed Stars Challenge Models of Star Formation
Modified from http://www.vanderbilt.edu/news/releases/2008/06/18/newly-born-identical-twin-stars-show-surprising-differences.60514
An analysis of a young pair of binary stars with almost identical masses in the Orion Nebula has revealed surprising differences in brightness, surface temperature and possibly even the size of the two. The study suggests that one of the stars formed significantly earlier than its twin. Because astrophysicists have assumed that binary stars form simultaneously, the discovery forces theorists back to the drawing board to determine if their models of star formation can produce binaries with stars that form at different times.
According to current theories, mass and composition are the two factors that determine a star’s physical characteristics and dictate its entire life cycle. Because the two stars condensed from the same cloud of gas and dust they should have the same composition. With identical mass and composition, they should be identical in every way. So the astronomers were surprised when they discovered that the twins exhibited significant differences in brightness, surface temperature and possibly size.
