Dear Friends,
The primary purpose of this e-mail is to alert you to this Saturday morning’s total lunar eclipse, which will be visible in the western United States, Hawaii, Oceania, and Asia. See item 1 below for details; be sure to set your alarm on Friday night, since the eclipse (in the U.S.) will be visible before dawn on Saturday.
1. Lunar Eclipse Saturday morning (Dec. 10)
2. Latest news on Earth-like planets
3. Successful launch of Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity
4. (Not the) End of the World Cruise – Dec. 2012
5. Autographed Book Shop Now Open
6. Mark Your Calendars — USA Science Festival, Solar Eclipse, Venus Transit
Also, for anyone interested, I was recently interviewed about Math for Life on radio KGNU; click here to read about it or listen.
Best wishes,
Jeff
P.S. As always, I welcome responses, so don’t be afraid to comment; I’ll do my best to respond.
1. Lunar Eclipse in western U.S., Saturday Morning (Dec. 10)
For people in the western U.S., Hawaii, Oceania, and Asia there will be a great total lunar eclipse on Saturday. Totality will last about 50 minutes, starting at: 6:06 am Pacific time, 7:06 am mountain time. East of that you won’t see it, but west (Hawaii and to Asia) just adjust for your time zone. Best way to observe the eclipse is to go out at least a half-hour before totality begins, so you can watch Earth’s shadow moving across the face of the Moon. No equipment necessary, just your eyes. Two great web sites discussing lunar eclipses in general and this eclipse in particular are: (1) EarthSky web site; (2) NASA Science News for the eclipse.
For Classroom Discussion:
- Saturday is not only the eclipse but it is also a full moon. Is this a coincidence or not? (Answer: not — a lunar eclipse can occur only when Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon, which means the Moon and Sun must be on directly opposite sides of the Earth, which is the condition for full moon. Thus, a lunar eclipse can happen only at full moon. Similarly, a solar eclipse can happen only at new moon.)
- Do people in different places on Earth see the lunar eclipse at the same time or at different times? (Answer: At the same time. Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon for a fixed period of time, so everyone on the night side of Earth sees the event at the same universal time (UT, also called Greenwich Mean Time); of course, the local times will be different depending on your time zone. Note that this is not the case for a solar eclipse, since the Moon’s shadow on Earth is much smaller than Earth and effectively glides across Earth during the eclipse; that is why it is possible to “chase” a solar eclipse in an airplane.)
- Why can’t people in the eastern U.S. or Europe see this particular lunar eclipse? (Answer: Following up on the prior question, the eclipse occurs at a fixed time and totality lasts less than an hour — and this time period happens to occur while it is daytime in the eastern U.S. and Europe. In other words, any particular lunar eclipse is generally visible to about half of our planet — the half that is in night so that it can see the full moon.)
2. Latest News on Earth-like planets
You probably saw this week’s news about the discovery of an “Earth-like planet” around another star. Very exciting, but be sure to be aware of the caveats. First, this discovery comes from the Kepler mission, which is undoubtedly one of the most important science missions of our time. However, Kepler sees only the dimming of a star caused by a planet passing in front of it (an event called a “transit”), not the planet itself. This means that at best, Kepler can discover an Earth-size planet, and an Earth-size planet is not necessarily Earth-like (just ask Venus!). In this case, Kepler has found a planet that is actually somewhat larger than Earth, but is located in the “habitable zone” around its star, which is the zone in which surface oceans of liquid water are possible in principle, assuming the planet is of the necessary size and has the necessary geological characteristics. For a little more background, check out this New York Times article. And if you want to understand it better, please see my book Beyond UFOs, which discusses this topic in both Chapter 6 and in the Afterword to the paperback and e-book editions.
3. Successful launch of Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity
On Nov. 26, NASA successfully launched the largest and most sophisticated robot rover ever sent to another word. The Mars Science Laboratory, nicknamed Curiosity, is schedule to land on Mars in August (2012). Click here to watch the launch, and visit the mission home page to learn much more about this exciting mission.
4. (Not the) End of the World Cruise
Although you may have heard otherwise, the Mayan calendar does NOT predict the end of the world next December, which is why my friend Doug Duncan has organized a Caribbean cruise that will visit Mayan ruins at that time. Click here to learn more about the cruise. And just in case you’re still worried about the world ending, remember this: Throughout history, the end of the world has been predicted countless times by thousands of people, and so far, 100% of them have been wrong. (And if anyone is ever right, there will be no one around to give them credit — which is presumably why they always try to sell their books in advance of the predicted date…)
5. Autographed Book Shop Now Open
I’ve finally gotten around to opening a web storefront where you can order autographed copies of my books directly from me, paying by credit card. Hurry if you need books in time for the holidays. You’ll find links on my web site, but quickest starting point is here.
6. Mark Your Calendars – USA Science Festival, Solar Eclipse, Venus Transit
Events next spring that you won’t want to miss:
- Washington, DC, April 27-29: The second USA Science and Engineering Festival will be held in Washington, DC, April 27-29 2012. All events are free, and it should be great if you have an opportunity to attend. I’ll be there with both an exhibit (for Big Kid Science) and doing a few presentations.
- Partial solar eclipse, May 20: This will be an annular eclipse for parts of the world, and the largest % partial eclipse in the U.S. that we’ve had in quite a while.
- Venus Transit, June 5: As seen from Earth, Venus passes across the face of the Sun less than twice a century, with the two transits coming just 8 years apart. For this century, the first occurred on June 8, 2004, and the second will occur on June 5, 2012 — and then there won’t be another until 2117. So if you missed the one in 2004, this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
All for now…