Amazing Space Website

The Leonid meteor shower just finished up earlier this week, but beginning on December 6 we will be in the Geminid Meteor Shower. The Geminids will continue through December 19 with the peak viewing period coming on December 13 and 14 with perhaps 60 meteors per hour. There is a new moon on the 13th, so if the skies are clear it should be excellent viewing. Look to the east after midnight.

It seems there is always something interesting to see in the heavens above. If you are interested in astronomy, the Amazing Space website may be of interest to you. I visit it on a regular basis. The website is an outreach effort of the Formal Education Group of the Space Telescope Science Institute’s Office of Public Outreach. According to their website they promote the science and majestic beauty of the universe for use in the classroom. The website also states that the materials they develop for educators and learners of all ages are accurate, classroom-friendly, visually appealing, and carefully crafted to adhere to accepted educational standards. By producing and sharing classroom resources based on the Hubbell Space Telescope’s greatest discoveries, it is their sincere hope that young people will enjoy learning about the universe we inhabit, and perhaps pursue an even greater understanding of it in the future.

The website contains a wealth of information for anyone interested in astronomy and includes a gallery of images from the Hubble Space Telescope and online explorations. You can also explore astronomy by topic.

The part of the website that I find most interesting and useful on a regular basis is the monthly short movie “Tonight’s Sky” which serves as a monthly guide to Constellations, deep sky objects, planets, and events. It is a few minute long video on interesting aspects of a particular month which is well narrated with good illustrations and graphics.

The Space Telescope Science Institute is a free-standing science center on the campus of The Johns Hopkins University and is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy for NASA. Here’s a link to Amazing Space.

Chuck Lura

Natural North Dakota is supported by NDSU Central Grasslands Research Extension Center and Minot State University-Bottineau, and by the members of Prairie Public. Thanks to Sunny 101.9 in Bottineau for their recording services.