23 results for author: James Lewis


May 26th brings us a total eclipse of the moon

From 6:11 AM to 6:26 AM Central DaylightTime on that date (mark your calendar!) the moon will be completely in Earth’s total shadow (known as the “umbra,” Latin for “shadow.”

The fascinating hobby of Moon study: Part 2

In my earlier article about the Moon, I suggested viewing the full Moon with binoculars as it rises in the east. That has been an especially awesome experience for me and I recommend it to others who may wish to learn more about the Moon.

The fascinating hobby of moon study

First, watch the full moon rise from the eastern horizon — preferably with binoculars. It’s fun to see the top ridge of the moon come up first, then the rest of the moon. Select an eastern horizon that is free of obstructions. Your horizon should be as clear as possible and as level as you can find.

TAURUS THE BULL – THE CONSTELLATION FOR JANUARY 2021

Taurus the Bull, the star constellation for January 2021, is pretty hard to beat. For me, it has about everything one would want: the remnants of an exploding star, two beautiful star clusters and an attractive giant orange star. Taurus is easy to find. First, find Orion the Hunter in the southeast sky. (You may want to go to www.skymaps.com to help you locate features in the night sky for each month.) Locate Orion’s belt stars, create an imaginary straight line connecting the stars, then follow the line up and to the right. You will come to a prominent “V shape” of stars. You have found Taurus’ face. If you follow the sides of the ...

MARS IS HERE AGAIN

  I am really excited to be writing about Mars. I grew up in the days when it was widely believed that Mars had canals which carried water to many places on the planet. There were creatures, maybe even people on the planet, which had a culture older than any on our Earth.   The Mars creatures in the public’s mind were vastly more intelligent than Earth dwellers. They used the canal water for agriculture, manufacturing and drinking.   In October 1938, Orson Welles and other radio actors presented a radio drama which pretended to cover, in a fake newscast, an invasion of Earth by Martian creatures. It was very realistic. ...

HERCULES

  It’s October already. Nights are getting longer. You don’t need to wait so long after supper to get out to star-gaze. When it’s dark enough and the skies are clear, you must go outside to see the stars.   This month we are featuring the constellation Hercules, well-placed above the horizon in the western sky. There are many interesting things about this Constellation, but we’ll mention only a few highlights.   Hercules is one of the strong men in Greek and Roman myth. Hercules was fathered by Zeus, the chief god and the mortal woman was Alcmene. Naturally, Zeus’ wife became jealous, but that’s another story. ...

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS

  Art Linkletter was right when he said “Kids say the darndest things.” Kids have an amazing way of transforming our world into a wonderland. I wish I could remember all the funny things that youngsters said to me when I worked in the one-room schools of Marathon County from 1954 to 1965. I remember some which I would like to share with you.   I was working in the two-room school in Knowlton, which is in south-central Wisconsin. The elementary teacher of grades 1 – 4 referred three first graders who lisped. I knew that 6-year-old children who lisp usually outgrow it in time, but I needed to keep a record.   Picture ...

SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT COVID-19

  Over eleven hundred deaths from Covid-19 have happened in Wisconsin. This is more than terrible! This number represents a huge loss to all the families who have lost parents, children, relatives and friends. Each person’s life touches dozens of others.   We need to know more than the numbers. We need to know why this disease is so dangerous and horrid for us and the whole world.   Surprisingly, Astronomy Magazine (September 2020) supplies answers in an article by Dr. Jeff Hester, astrophysicist. Hester writes in his article, “Learning the Hard Way,” about the Covid-19 illness instead of his usual articles about the ...

JUPITER IS KING IN AUGUST

  How wonderful it is to see the sky on our many dark nights and to consider that each object in the sky is special in its own way.   For August, our special object is Jupiter, which commands the southern night sky as king! Jupiter is the brightest object in the south, just east of the teapot of Sagittarius.   Sagittarius is part of the zodiac and is an archer in legends. But a teapot shape is recognizable as part of Sagittarius and Jupiter is to its left.   Jupiter has many wonderful features:   Jupiter is huge. It is 88,850 miles in diameter, 11.2 times the diameter of Earth, which is 7927 miles in ...

THE BOBOLINKS ARE BACK

  The bobolinks came back in May. This is a really big deal because these amazing birds started on their super-long journey to their summer home, including our area, in February 2020.   They had to take about three months to travel 5000 miles. Here is the clincher: much of their journey is right across the Gulf of Mexico, over endless stretches of water. They wintered in southern Brazil.   When they arrive on our farm, they sing their cheerful “I made it again; I made it again” song. The cheer of their song is enough to dispel sadness. Bobolinks are said to sing at their best when in flight.   They came to ...