International Observe the Moon Night

This Saturday, September 18, is the first International Observe the Moon Night. Inspired by a national Observe the Moon Night in the U.S., this global event hopes to inspire interest in lunar science, exploration, and astronomy.

National Geographic has a great blog post about the history of the event, complete with lovely photos, a video, and an outline to current and future lunar missions. Rich with links, including a link to the event's main website, the post is a good place to start learning more about the moon.

If you're inspired to go further, whether or not you have a telescope, Chuck Wood's Lunar 100 presents the moon's most interesting observing targets, with instructions for those who do have binoculars and/or a telescope, and links to images for the armchair observer. From there you can follow links to LPOD (Lunar Photo of the Day), maps, and all kinds of learning resources, including recommended children's books.

Approachable astronomy books

The Guardian has published another interesting Top 10 reading list, Stuart Clark's top 10 approachable astronomy books. I'm delighted to see the second and third books on the list, Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel, author of Longitude, and The Book Nobody Read : chasing the revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicusby Owen Gingerich.

I found both books thoroughly engaging through their approaches to their subjects: Galileo's story through his relationship with his daughter, and Copernicus' through Gingerich's study of the history of his famous book. Besides enjoying such well-written history, I was reminded of the methods we use to construct history--how talented authors turn the evidence of letters, books, etc., into these stories of our past.

As much as the study of astronomy helps us discern our position in the universe, these well-written histories help us discern our position in time. I'm looking forward to reading more of the books on this list.

Galilean Nights

Tonight through Saturday (Oct. 22-24, 2009), people around the globe will be looking to the skies to see what Galileo saw. Part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, the focus for the event, Galilean Nights, will be observing what Galileo observed--the beauty of Jupiter, its moons, our moon, and other wonders of the night sky that attracted Galileo's gaze. By seeing what Galileo saw over 400 years ago, this moment of history, when the evidence that the Earth was not the center of the universe, can be relived.

If you've never seen the brilliant jewels seemingly strung on an invisible line that are the moons of Jupiter through even the smallest of telescopes, I strongly encourage you to seek out one of the Galilean Nights events near you or to participate in one of the remote observing events. To look at the planets and stars is one way to understand our position in the universe, and to really grasp that we are poised on top of a big ball around which sailors navigate.

Philosophical Transacations, vol. 1

Volume 1 of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society is now available on Project Gutenberg and makes for fascinating reading. "For Anno 1665, and 1666," it contains such maritime treasures as "An Appendix to the Directions for Seamen, bound for far Voyages," (from which the image at left was taken), "Of the New American Whale-fishing about the Bermudas," and "Certain Problems touching some Points of Navigation."

There are also discussions related to the making of telescopes and barometers, as well as articles related to the discovery of a "permanent Spott" on Jupiter, such as this one from the issue for "Munday, March 6. 1664/5:"

A Spot in one of the Belts of Jupiter.

The Ingenious Mr. Hook did, some moneths since, intimate to a friend of his, that he had, with an excellent twelve foot Telescope, observed, some days before, he than spoke of it, (videl. on the ninth of May, 1664, about 9 of the clock at night) a small Spot in the biggest of the 3 obscurer Belts of Jupiter, and that, observing it from time to time, he found, that within 2 hours after, the said Spot had moved from East to West, about half the length of the Diameter of Jupiter.

The Ingenious Mr. Hook indeed.

100 Hours of Astronomy

Part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, 100 Hours of Astronomy begins on April 2 and continues through April 5. Events are scheduled around the world and there are many ways to participate--if you have clear skies, you can use this site to find an event near you and resources for observing. If skies are cloudy, this site will lead you to remote observing opportunities and live streaming events you can tune into online.