IYA2009 KC Kick-Off Photos

Checking out Venus.

Getting ready to go check out the Linda Hall

activities.

Heading to grab some hot cocoa and a chai.

Thanks to Doug for taking all of the photos last night.

He really was there!! : )

Image Unveiling at KCMSD Planetarium!

The International Year of Astronomy is a global movement designed to ‘bring the ‘universe down to Earth’.

Monday, Feb. 23rd, celebrates the 2nd anniversary of the Planetarium reopening and an unveilingof two colorful murals showing the Pinwheel Galaxy, M-101, in different wavelengths of light as seen through the lenses of three of NASA’s orbiting space observatory telescopes: Hubble, Chandra, and Spitzer.

Program features include:

• Keynote Speaker: UMKC Astronomer Dr. Dan McIntosh — “New Eyes on Galaxies”
• Telescope viewing of Venus, Saturn, and Comet Lulin (with help from the ASKC)
• A Special Planetarium Program
• Award winning Documentary Seeing in the Dark
• Activities and Information from the Linda Hall Library of Science and Technology http://www.lindahall.org/

Schedule of Events

• 6 - 9 p.m. Telescope Viewing
• 6 - 9 p.m. Hands-On Activities from the Planetarium and the Linda Hall Library.
• 7 - 8 p.m. Image Unveiling and Presentation: 'New Eyes on Galaxies' by UMKC Astronomer Dr. Dan McIntosh
• 8-9 p.m. Video: Seeing in the Dark
• 9:15 - 9:45 p.m. Planetarium presentation: Distant Suns - Finding Other Solar Systems in the Winter Skies

This FREE event is sponsored by the Kansas City MO School District and Starwalk Inc.

For more information please contact Bob Riddle, Planetarium Director: (816) 418-1818, or by e-mail at briddle@kcmsd.netVisit the Planetarium online at http://www.kcmsd-planetarium.net/.

Thanks to Kirbi Foster for compiling all of this info!

Raves & Rants gets Props!

Click the image to view the publication.







Thanks for your continued support and love!

Investing The Stimulus Money In Smart Kids And Their Green Projects

posted by Ira Flatow on Tuesday, February 3. 2009

How about taking some of that stimulus and bailout money we're investing in Detroit and investing it in kids who know how to get the job done?

Case in point: West Philadelphia High School Hybrid X Team. The high school students there built a car that gets 100 miles per gallon. They did it as an after school project. And they used commonly available, off the shelf parts, based on a Ford Focus chassis. That means this car could even past highway safety standards, long the nemesis of new car designers.

This is no elite, high priced academy. It's an inner city, urban high school. But what these kids have that a carload of Detroit car designers lack is the inability to say it can't be done. They just went out and did it.

As the team's leader teacher Simon Hauger told us on Science Friday, the school is entering the competition for the automotive X-Prize.

"If an inner city high school can do it, that says something," says Hauger of their hybrid car they will enter into the competition. The car will run 60 miles on a charge of electricity, and can be charged overnight. So why are we waiting 2 years for a Chevy Volt that gets 40 miles on a charge? These kids did that in 2004.

And the 100 mph car they are building now is one "even school teachers can afford," between 20-$25,000.

Why aren't we investing our stimulus money in these kids and others like them? Hello!!!!

This is a win-win situation. We invest our money in green technologies ready to use today. And we reward kids from the inner city for their smarts and moxie.

Mr. President, next time you want to visit a cutting edge, mean, green factory head out to West Philly.

Click here for more Science Friday: http://www.sciencefriday.com/blog/

FEB 12th: Happy Darwin Day!!

CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN

February 12, 1809 to April 19, 1882

Celebrate the life and discoveries of Charles Darwin!

The Darwin Day Celebration (DDC) promotes public education about science and encourages the celebration of Science and Humanity throughout the global community.

http://www.darwinday.org/

The Universe - Yours to Discover

Are you fascinated by the Universe? Do you ponder the Big Bang (did you know it didn't make a sound!)? Do you dream of alien life forms or of space travel? Was your nickname as a child, Moondog? Well, if so...

Did you know that the IYA2009 is currently underway?!

Say whhhhaaattt?!

Yep, that's right...the INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY 2009 is happening on a Planet near you...oh, I mean...on YOUR Planet!

There is even an organization dedicated to planning this year's special celebrations...the IYA2009!

Check out their stated mission and network.

"IYA2009 will promote and facilitate the creation of international networks to foster a global appreciation of the role and value of science and astronomy as a unifying activity for humanity.

IYA2009 will start up, connect and support networks of professional and amateur astronomers, educators and astrophysicists from all over the world, so that all these valuable sources of knowledge can be shared. The networks of hundreds, if not thousands of astronomical organisations, nationally and internationally, will be one of the legacies of IYA2009 that will last far beyond the year 2009.

The activities of IYA2009 are taking place largely at the national level, but a significant global network has already been created. This global network has reached 136 countries and a total of 140 are eventually expected to take part, making it possible to reach out to 97% of the world's population."

The IYA2009 was initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which is located in Paris and was founded in 1919. It's mission is "to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy through international cooperation." The IAU has approximately 10,000 members in 87 countries.

"Safeguard" the science of astronomy. Wow. That really hits home. Not just promote - SAFEGUARD. Those of you who know your history understand the critical importance of this one word. Galileo Galiliei, the first scientist to use a refracting telescope to make important astronomical discoveries, was imprisoned (under house arrest due to his advanced age) for his teachings of a heliocentric (sun-centered) Universe. (BTW..he also pioneered the "experimental scientific method.") Galileo was convinced of Copernicus' sun-centered theory based on his own observations of the Earth and other Planets through his use of telescopes. He went on to teach of his profound discoveries until he was convicted of heresy and forced to recant his support of the heliocentric theory by the Roman Catholic Church during the 1633 Inquisition. Galileo died in 1642 - the year Isaac Newton was born.


“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” - GALILEO GALILEI


So, I say let's CELEBRATE science..and most specifically, ASTRONOMY, in honor of this year's celebration and in honor of all people who have been persecuted for their pursuit of KNOWLEDGE and of a better understanding of the natural world/universe around them! Get out our binocs and your telescopes and let the star-gazing begin!


Click here for your US representative information and ask about National Nodes. National Nodes are subgroups within the International IYA2009 group who are responsible for organizing collaborations between professional and amateur astronomers. 136 countries are already involved and over 140 are expected to participate eventually.


If you want to participate on a local level, check out Kansas City's astronomy club:


Astronomical Society of Kansas City
Contact: Gary Pittman
e-mail: gary_rp@swbell.net
phone: (816) 228-4238
URL: http://www.askconline.org/

Coming soon to the sky above you...
Comet Lulin: one to watch in 2009

The bright Comet Lulin is expected to put on an excellent show in our night skies this month. It is easily visible in binoculars, and sharp-eyed observers may even be able to spot it with unaided eyes, if conditions are favourable. Estimates suggest it will be brightest around 24 February, when it will also appear to pass close to the planet Saturn.
















For more information about Comet Lulin, along with charts of where to find it in the sky, check Sky and Telescope's webpage:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/35992534.html

Image Caption: Comet Lulin on February 2nd, glowing at magnitude 6.5 with tail and antitail.

Credit: Paolo Candy (http://www.hesnet.net/candy/)

Inupiat Annual Spring Bowhead Hunt

Don't be Turned off by TV

Dressed warmly and mostly in white from the waste up (to be less visible while approaching bowhead on the water), these Inupiat (en-oo-pee-at) Eskimos await the perfect opportunity to strike a passing whale.

Inupiat Eskimos are the only people on Earth permitted by International Whaling Laws to hunt the once declining bowhead whale. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the bowhead whale were hunted by Yankee whalers to the brink of extinction. Only through strict regulations has the bowhead made a come-back.

Students take leave of school to be a part of the 50 teams of Inupiat hunters who head out onto the ice to hunt the bowhead in the Spring. "The sole purpose of hunting is to survive and feed our families," says an Inupiat hunter, "we can't plant gardens, so they go out."

NatGeo's television program, INSIDE, presented a beautifully done piece on the Inupiat whale hunters of Barrow, Alaska last week. Cole and I thoroughly enjoyed learning of the Inupiat's 6000 year (wow!) history in the region, were moved by the bowhead whales' importance in the lifestyle, spirituality, and health of the Native Inupiat Eskimos, and were saddened but realistic regarding the reports of the ever-shrinking Arctic Ice, which the Inupiat's utilize as a platform for their camps and as a launching grounds for their whalehunting expeditions.

If you have the chance, give it a watch (or ck out the link below)! You'll be amazed by how much you learn.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/inside/3479/Overview

Image courtesy Catherine Yrisarri / Hoggard Films

February 2009 - Dates to Note

Poetry & History Month

2nd: Groundhog Day

12th: Darwin's Bday

14th: Valentine's Day

16th: Presidents' Day

Birthdays:

6th: Baseball Legend Babe Ruth, 1895

12th: 16th President Abraham Lincoln, 1809

22nd: 1st President George Washington, 1732