Describes an activity that involves determining local solar time of the various parts of a total lunar eclipse--beginning of the dark umbral phase of eclipse, onset of totality, end of totality, and end of dark umbral phase of eclipse--and comparing to the solar time of the events at Greenwich to calculate the longitude at the place of…

Discusses issues involved in the future of astronomy education. Describes initiatives aimed at expanding and improving astronomy education. (JRH)

Discusses the events in the ninth century that moved astronomy away from the pursuit of mystical hermetic sciences and astrology back toward observation and measurement. Describes the achievements of astronomers and the instruments and calculations used during that period. (JRH)

Describes a method to teach introductory astronomy students about the phases of the moon. Uses video techniques to aid students in developing the skill of visualizing the same phenomenon from different frames of reference. (JRH)

Though traditionally the field of academic astronomy has belonged almost exclusively to whites, today several black scholars are beginning to make their mark in this scientific discipline. Profiles a group of contemporary African American scholars who are astronomers and astrophysicists, noting that there are at least four black graduate students…

Surveys the astronomical community on their familiarity with the work of Thomas Kuhn. Finds that for some astronomers, Kuhn's thought resonated well with their picture of how science is done and provided perspectives on their scientific careers. (Author/CCM)

This article briefly describes an activity for students to illustrate the relationship between orbital period and orbital motion. To do this, students should calculate the degrees per day that planets travel and then graph them as a function of orbital time. A brief list of resources is also included.

The Earth is a powerful, active, and ever-changing planet. Earthquakes and volcanoes reshape the Earth's crust with sudden bursts of movement or with eruptions that last decades. Powerful storms develop in the swirling atmosphere, creating cumulonimbus thunderclouds, lightning storms, and even tornadoes or hurricanes. Geological features and moist…

The heliocentric, or Sun-centered model, one of the most important revolutions in scientific thinking, allowed Nicholas Copernicus to calculate the periods, relative distances, and approximate orbital shapes of all the known planets, thereby paving the way for Kepler's laws and Newton's formation of gravitation. Recreating Copernicus's…

Much attention has been given to Newton's argument for Universal Gravitation in Book III of the "Principia". Newton brings an impressive array of phenomena, along with the three laws of motion, and his rules for reasoning to deduce Universal Gravitation. At the centre of this argument is the famous "moon test". Here it is the empirical evidence…

Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite say they have found newborn black holes, just seconds old, in a confused state of existence. The holes are consuming material falling into them while somehow propelling other material away at great speeds. "First comes a blast of gamma rays followed by intense pulses of x-rays. The energies involved are much…

Cosmology education has become an integral part of modern physics courses. Directed by National Curricula, major UK examination boards have developed syllabi that contain explicit statements about the model of the Big Bang and the strong observational evidence that supports it. This work examines the similarities and differences in these…

This article reports two studies investigating the relationship between noctcaelador (psychological attachment to the nightsky), and morning-evening preferences. Study 1 examined the relationship between the Noctcaelador Inventory (Kelly, 2004) and a shortened form of the Horne and Ostberg Morning-Eveningness Questionnaire (Chelminski, Petros,…

The role of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere is the subject of considerable discussion and debate. Global warming is well-documented, as is the continually increasing amount of greenhouse gases that human activity puts in the air. Is there a relationship between the two? The simple experiment described in this paper provides a good demonstration…

As the astronomy education community develops, a need has arisen for concrete research and evaluation methodologies, especially within informal educational settings. We propose one such methodology, action evaluation, which attempts to demystify the process of research/evaluation and recruit as partners those who are traditionally left out of this…