Eclipses, Planets, and Stars

• PRINT

There is no doubt in my mind that Nature's most exciting spectacle is a total eclipse of the sun. Rather than being an event to be witnessed, a total solar eclipse is an exhilarating experience. Every fiber of a human being becomes involved. So too birds, animals, and even plants are affected by the onset of darkness at midday.

The apparent wanderings of planets through the background of stars is always intriguing. That they are capable of stopping their motion, turning around, stopping again, and then resuming their original direction has captivated human minds since antiquity. How? and indeed why? are queries needing answers.

Stars bright and faint, of every color of the rainbow, in an ever-changing parade of beauty night after night throughout the year seize imagination and evoke wonder. What is a star? Where do stars come from? Where do they go? And as we gaze at their patterns, what really do we behold?

Eclipses, planets, stars! Excitement, imagination, wonder!

It all adds up to ASTRONOMY!

Total Eclipse of the Moon
On February 20, stargazers had the rare opportunity to watch one of nature�¢����s most beautiful wonders�¢����a total lunar eclipse.

News From Outer Space
This News from Outer Space collection follows the exciting developments happening in the world of space exploration, from the dwarf planets populating our solar system to improvements being made to the International Space Station.

LESSON PLAN	Reading and Writing about the Solar System Use this lesson to teach students about the solar system through reading and writing .
ONLINE ACTIVITY	The View from Hubble See what the Hubble Space Telescopes sees in this slide show.
BOOK INFORMATION	The Stargazers A book full of fascinating facts and pictures all about billions and billions of stars: how we can look at them, what their names are, and what they teach us.