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Sir Christopher Wren
Space Travel
Since the beginning of time, people have looked to the heavens with wonder. In the book of Genesis in the Bible, the people decided to build a tower that would reach heaven. According to the scriptures, God saw that people could do anything they wanted to do if they worked together, so He caused people to speak different languages and scattered them around the earth -- He later destroyed the tower as well. The attempt to build the Tower of Babel happened after the great flood, but before Abraham's covenant with God. Yes, humans have always been fascinated by the sky…the heavens….and the desire to reach out and touch it.
Back in the 1960s, President John Kennedy challenged America to put a man on the moon before any other nation could accomplish the feat. On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center with astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. aboard; the destination was the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. He uttered the historic words, "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Space travel became a reality.
Since that historic day in 1969, we have sent unmanned space craft to Mars and Saturn. They have sent back some truly amazing photographs. We are learning more and more about our solar system and the other plants that circle our sun.
America's space program is still at work and the possibility of space travel is a very real possibility. There are many problems that must be overcome before a manned space craft can be launched and sent to other planets, but I do believe that someday it will happen -- maybe not in my lifetime, but someday.
See Also:
Wildlife Watching
Solar Eclipses
The Stars
Our sun is a star. It is one of the billions of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. On a clear night, when you look up at the sky, you can see thousands of stars with your naked eye. If you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope, you can see more stars than you could ever hope to count.
Each star is unique, but they all share things in common as well. Stars are born from interstellar gas clouds, nuclear fusion causes them to shine and stars die. Sometimes the death of a star is a very dramatic event.
Cold interstellar clouds or nebula, like the Orion Nebula and the Eagle Nebula, are the incubators and nurseries from which stars are born. An extremely simplified description is that gravitational collapse happens and forms a rotating gas globule. The resulting globule spins faster and faster. The central core becomes a star while the other material becomes planets or asteroids.
The life of a star begins and ends with a battle between two forces: gravity and pressure. It takes energy for a star to live, and this energy comes almost entirely from nuclear fusion of lighter elements into heavier elements. This is the energy through which a star can shine for millions or billions of years.
Stars fuse hydrogen to helium for most of their lifetime. This is referred to as the "main sequence" of a star's life. Our sun, Vega, Sirius, and Spica are all stars that are in their main sequence. Once the hydrogen in the core of a star has been used up, the star becomes a red giant like Betelguese, Arcturus, Aldebaran and Antares.
A star's life is limited because the hydrogen at the core is not self-replenishing and will eventually be used up. A star cannot depend upon thermal energy to resist the pull of gravity forever, and a star's final fate depends on whether something other than thermal pressure manages to halt the relentless crush of gravity. |
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More articles:
Famous Quotes and Quotations
Stars
Galaxies
Humor About Astronomy and Space
History of Astronomy (IAU Commission 41)
Nicolaus Copernicus
Planting by the Moon
Ah, the moon! The moon has been studied by astronomers (both professional and amateur) for centuries. We even reached out and touched it when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon 1969. The moon has been the subject of songs, movies, and poetry, and probably always will be. Astronomers have always been utterly fascinated by the moon, and mankind has been fascinated by how it affects the earth and earthlings since time began.
We do know without a doubt that the moon regulates the ocean tides. It is also a certainty that sleeping with moonlight on your head will not turn you into a werewolf or drive you insane. Some beliefs about the moon have been proven true while others have been proven not true.
Farmers have planted according to the moon for centuries, and more and more farmers are returning to those moon-planting axioms every year. Why? Because they work. Planting root vegetables when the moon is "waning" will produce more root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, turnips, beets, etc. Planting vegetables when the moon is increasing will produce more vegetables that produce above ground (beans, peas, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.).
Planting and gardening by the moon gets even more specific. For example, it is better to turn soil when the moon is in the last quarter. The moon tells farmers and gardeners when it is to their advantage to plant, as well as when it is to their advantage to pull weeds or turn soil.
There are many who doubt the validity of planting by the moon, but consider that the moon does have an effect on humans (you can get a lot of debate about that statement). We don't fully understand everything we know about those effects yet. You can ask any policeman, clergyman, doctor, or nurse and they will tell you that during a full moon, there are more crimes committed, more suicides, and more babies born.
Related Topics: Famous Astronomy Quotes,
Astrological Signs, Mirrors and Lenses
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