Discusses the theory behind the changes in the times of sunrise and sunset and the sun's apparent gradual week-to-week motion. (JRH)

Presents activities to help students develop an awareness and appreciation of star patterns through observation of the night sky. Includes the name of a contact person for acquiring star maps. (HTH)

Offers encouragement and advice to physicists who might be asked to teach a college astronomy course for nonscience majors. (JRH)

Describes the theory behind the workings of the Hubble Space Telescope, the spherical aberration in the primary mirror that caused a reduction in image quality, and the corrective device that compensated for the error. (JRH)

Describes several significant observations by amateur astronomers of recent, spectacular clouds and storm systems on Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. (Author/JJK)

Discussed are the behaviors of particles and energies in the magnetic fields of neutron stars. Different types of possible research using neutron stars as a laboratory for the study of strong magnetic fields are proposed. (CW)

Distinguishes between Galileo's original 20-year trial and the subsequent 350-year controversy and the historical aftermath of the original episode from the reflective commentary on it. Provides an in-depth characterization and sketch of the historical aftermath and reflective commentary. Contains 90 references. (Author/WRM)

Introduces an activity unit in which students observe the moon in different time frames and collect information. (YDS)

Discusses the five upcoming shuttle missions, two Russian missions to the International Space Station, a scheduled visit to the Hubble Space Telescope for maintenance, and other events in the solar system. Includes a list of monthly events. (YDS)

Compared the effectiveness of two instructional approaches in the acquisition of basic concepts of astronomy by 63 fifth graders, half of whom received standard textbook-based instruction. The rest received instruction that took preconceptions into account and that focused on the plausibility of scientific conceptions. Results supported the…

The current time "measuring system" has taken on a life of its own, bearing only an approximate resemblance to the natural occurrences it set out to measure. The "analemma equation of time" was created to precisely set our clocks by converting irregular sun time to the even, regular tempo of mean time. In this article, the equation is described in…

For most of history, humans have been watching the night-sky (Hawkins, 1983). Historically, individuals have watched the night-sky for aesthetic appreciation and to gain insights and knowledge (Brecher & Feirtag, 1979). Despite the long history of night-sky watching among humans and the apparent importance of the behavior to large groups of…

Models are crucial to science teaching and learning, yet they can create unforeseen and overlooked challenges for students and teachers. For example, consider the time-tested clay volcano that relies on a vinegar and-baking-soda mixture for its "eruption." Based on a classroom demonstration of that geologic model, elementary students may interpret…

The Moon's cycle of phases is one of the most familiar natural phenomena, yet also one of the most misunderstood. This probably comes as no surprise, but research has found that a significant segment of the population, including both elementary students and teachers, mistakenly believes that the Moon's phases are caused by the shadow of the Earth.…

The authors teach an astronomy unit in their seventh-grade course that they find never fails to motivate and stretch the imagination. The questions students ask are wonder-full: "What was here before the universe?" "If there was nothing before the Big Bang, where did energy and matter come from?" "Does the universe have a boundary, and if it does,…