Jean in Wisc Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 I fell in love with the night sky 17 years ago when doing an astronomy lesson with my 3rd grader. 9 years latter I became the president of an astronomy club. I was an English/Language/Linguistics major (not science!). I went out under the stars 17 years ago to find constellations for my kids and didn't find anything more than the Big Dipper--something I could find before I spent those 2 hours under the sky. But I saw Saturn and nebulae and galaxies through the tele and fell in love... So, you see, when I say that last night I spent ALL NIGHT looking for the 110 deep space objects that Charles Messier charted around 1800, you can say I'm crazy, but all those nights on my hill have paid off: I found 106 (If you divide that out, that is a about 1 every 4 minutes. LOL). Missed 4--lost in twilight, a town's light pollution, or in the trees. One was my fault--someone called out a warning that M79 was going to hit the trees real soon, and I waited too long. FUN, FUN, FUN... :-) Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 :hurray: Can I send my kid to your house? She would love to spend the night looking up at the sky. I, OTOH, would rather spend the night . . . . sleeping. :leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted March 30, 2014 Author Share Posted March 30, 2014 Sure. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffybunny Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 We had a similar experience after reading Apologia Astronomy! We joined a club, bought a very expensive telescope, saw Saturn and Jupiter and fell in love, read Cosmos by Carl Sagan and went further into awe and wonder, drove 1000kms to an Astrofest, met lots of other astronomy lovers ... and this is just the beginning ... :hurray: The amazing thing about homeschooling is that it takes you places you never, ever thought you'd go. I'm also a literature major and never thought science would intrigue me like it now does. Life before homeschooling now seems so dull and restricted. It is why I even feel sorry for parents who send their kids to school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in NY Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Jean's Summer Sleepaway Astronomy Camp.... I see a moneymaker here, Jean.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanda7 Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I hope to do a Messier Marathon someday :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Congratulations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 I hope to do a Messier Marathon someday :) It is fun! I spent an entire summer working on the Virgo cluster; every time I went out, I ran through them quickly. Being able to find those 16 (?) galaxies in just a few minutes speeds up the whole marathon. The biggest problem is finding those in the early evening and morning that are just above the horizon--bad seeing plus not enough of the rest of the constellations to locate where you are makes them hard. But it is so much fun, especially when you have a group with each one trying to do his best. Each year I find a few more. :-) I love the book A Year-Round Messier Marathon Field Guide by Pennington. The grids and charts help a lot. But there is a free one--TUMOL: http://www.davidpaulgreen.com/tumol.html Hope you get to do one sometime. :-) Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 How very neat! Do you have to go somewhere especially dark to see all these? We don't live in a particularly big city, but it is amazing to me how bright it can be at midnight, and how few stars are visible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffybunny Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Jean, can you recommend a good highschool textbook in Astronomy for us? As per my previous post, we are no longer beginners yet most astronomy books for homeschool are for beginners, whereas the books for non-beginnners are bone dry. I've been looking for something challenging AND fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 I love you, Jean! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 How very neat! Do you have to go somewhere especially dark to see all these? We don't live in a particularly big city, but it is amazing to me how bright it can be at midnight, and how few stars are visible. You can do some star gazing in a small town, but it is better to have some place you can go under some dark skies.. I live in the country where there are a number of small towns about every 8 miles, and their light is always visible along the horizon, but my skies are fairly clear. I live in a green area on this map: http://www.astronomyforum.net/astronomy-locations/usa/ If you can find some one out side of town who would let you view the sky or, perhaps, a state park--that might give you a chance to see a bit more. Many come to our observatory who live in big cities, and they see the sky with all its stars and Milky Way for the 1st time. They are truly amazed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 Jean, can you recommend a good highschool textbook in Astronomy for us? As per my previous post, we are no longer beginners yet most astronomy books for homeschool are for beginners, whereas the books for non-beginnners are bone dry. I've been looking for something challenging AND fun. Probably not. :lol: I read a lot, but the only textbook I have is Astronomy Today. I'm reading it right now, and it is interesting to me--not sure for your child.It might be a good choice for you, though. I've listened to the Great Courses' Understanding the Universe. http://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/courses/course_detail.aspx?cid=1810 They are not entertaining, but they are interesting. (And they are not on sale which means you have to wait until they are. LOL) I have studied astronomy by going to the book store or library and sitting on the floor thumbing through their books; when I find something interesting, I buy it. Now that I inherited my mil's Kindle, I order a lot of samples and then buy them if interested. One could make a list of topics and then go looking for materials on each topic.Since you already have a background knowledge, this might be a fun way to cover topics of interest. Require 1,000 pages of reading for the year (or some such number) on the topics of your choice. I still enjoy Signs and Seasons, but you may be waaaaay past that. It depends what you have learned so far. It does cover stuff that normal textbooks do not. http://shadesofwhite.typepad.com/shades_of_white/2009/01/jay-ryans-signs-and-seasons-understanding-the-elements-of-classical-astronomy.html A large number of my books are field books--you know, the ones I use with my tele: 365 Starry Nights (Raymo), Stephen James O'Meara's books--only for the die hard telescope person, though.Turn Left at Orion is a good. Binocular Highlights (Sky and Telescope). I've read and liked Simple Stargazing by Vamplew, Galileo's Daughter by Sobel, Connecting with the Cosmos by Goldsmith, and Special Relativity 1 (An Everyone's Guide Series)--this series has a bunch of short books covering different topics. He writes well for the non-math/physics person. You might find something in that series... But generally, no, other than Astronomy Today, I don't have textbooks to recommend. I just follow my interests. :) If you want something to do outside, the Astronomical League has observing programs that I have learned so much from. I spend a lot of time getting my materials ready and the paperwork organized before I can go out and find/draw/study under the sky. I'm working on my Master Observer's award, and I have learned SO MUCH by doing these! http://astroleague.org/observing.html You could have your child make a power point presentation followed by showing a group the night sky--at the library or a homeschool group that would be good. It is amazing how quickly you learn night sky objects when you know you are going to have a group of kids standing around your scope asking "What's next?" LOLOL! :-) Enjoy the journey. Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted March 31, 2014 Author Share Posted March 31, 2014 I love you, Jean! :lol: :blushing: :biggrinjester: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanda7 Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 I love the book A Year-Round Messier Marathon Field Guide by Pennington. The grids and charts help a lot. But there is a free one--TUMOL: http://www.davidpaulgreen.com/tumol.html Hope you get to do one sometime. :-) Jean Own it. Love it :) My view is completely washed out to the south, and I'm surrounded by trees. My parents live only 5 more miles away but have an excellent viewing location. One of these days, when my toddler is older, I want to pull an all-nighter over there. The closest astronomy clubs don't do the marathons, unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Wisc Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Own it. Love it :) My view is completely washed out to the south, and I'm surrounded by trees. My parents live only 5 more miles away but have an excellent viewing location. One of these days, when my toddler is older, I want to pull an all-nighter over there. The closest astronomy clubs don't do the marathons, unfortunately. Maybe someone will join you if you say you are going to try it. We had 3 a few years ago. Each year another person or 2 joins the group. We had 6 people stay all night this year and several came and left half way through the night. It is especially helpful when you have a club house with a fireplace and a member who apparently cooked all week getting ready for the marathon. :-) In the early morning, when you aren't quite sure which stars belong to Capricornus, it is nice to have others standing next to you with lasers having an opinion--"Those are the two stars at the right corner." "Are you sure? because Aquarius's water jar is here, and it should be closer, shouldn't it?" Then when someone yells, FOUND IT!!! We know we are looking in the right spot! Or you can come to Wisconsin for a March vacation. :lol: Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in NY Posted April 2, 2014 Share Posted April 2, 2014 Chanda, you don't happen to live anywhere in the vicinity of Western NY, do you? (*Crosses fingers so I can give awesome club recommendation...*) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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