December 2005

• Holiday Shopping Guide
  
  
• Planetary Update
  
  
• The Moon
  
  

The FOURTH Annual Holiday Shopping Guide!

Find the Constellations, by H. A. Rey was suggested to me by one of the guests of the Planetarium. I'm not sure of his name, but I want to thank this anonymous person for such a great selection. H. A. Rey, as you may know, is famous for the Curious George series of books. I grew up with those books, but somehow, this book on the constellations slipped by me when I was a child.

For the young reader in your life, this is a perfect introduction to the constellations. I can also safely say that the adults who read this book will learn new and easier ways to imagine the shapes around the stars. AND, recent editions have included charts to show where the planets will be for the next year, and how to spot those, as well!

If you would like to continue on the theme, another book would fit in quite well... The Stars: A New Way to See Them, also by H.A. Rey, revisits the information noted in the book above. When I started researching Find the Constellations, I stumbled over this book, and decided I liked it at least as much.

Finding the constellations is the way that astronomers all over the world keep track of the sky. It's the way we 'map out' the sky. Each constellation describes a region of the sky. When we talk about the region of the sky called "Pegasus" for example, each astronomer knows where that is in the sky, and we can view the same thing even if we are in different parts of the world. The constellations are to the sky what nations are to a map. So, learning the constellations is a good base of operations for an interest in astronomy. These two books can give the young astronomer in your life a good foundation.

The most common advice requested of me around this time is in regards to a good telescope. I will provide my usual caveat at this point: remember that every telescope can be frustrating to use at first. Most people don't put in the amount of time to get comfortable using their scope. Every one of them has their own quirks. That being said, a telescope can provide a very rewarding experience. Moon craters, Saturn's rings, star clusters, nebulas, and other galaxies are all viewable with a simple telescope. Seeing those objects with your own eyes can be a powerful experience -- I still remember the first time I saw Saturn with my own eyes (I was in 8th grade) and it's probably one of the events in my life that has led me to where I am right now. A good telescope to start with would be the Star Blast Astro Telescope by Orion Telescopes. It is a 4.5 inch reflecting telescope. This telescope is advertised for use by kids, but any age will enjoy the use of this scope. It comes with a great finder-scope (probably the most important part of the telescope), and two eyepieces for different magnifications. It's a great starter scope, but one you will stick with for many years. It's a solid scope at a reasonable price.

It's nice to come to the Planetarium and be surrounded by stars. Sometimes, you might have an urge for a Planetarium program at a time when there is none available! Well, you could always install a Planetarium at home. It's easier and less expensive than you might think. The Discovery Star Theater Home Planetarium is a nifty way to project the stars in your own home. For only $30, it's a reasonable way to experience the layout of stars when you can't come here to the full-sized Planetarium.

This projector works best in a small, dark room with little on the walls. Many youngsters bedrooms are just the right size for it. A small spare room or large empty closet could work, as well. If you have a round 7' by 7' room with a low domed ceiling, that would be perfect! It comes with a little light to make meteors, which is kind of fun. It also comes with an educational CD and Discovery Channel DVD about space.

The Planetarium shows the stars, but if you would like to study our little neighborhood of space, our Solar System, one of the best ways is to use an orrery. An orrery is a model of the Solar System that has the planets on bars that allow them to rotate around a model of the sun.

The Discovery Planetary Challenge is an orrery which sits atop a console containing a Solar System quiz game! Hundreds of questions about space are included. In our age of electronic games, it is sometimes hard to grab and hold the attention of young learners -- the lights, sounds, and interactivity of this clever little toy is a perfect way to keep the kids (and the astronomically curious adults!) focused and learning.

Last year I reviewed a video game called Katamari Damacy. It involved making stars, and you created some stars and constellations and could view them in a virtual Planetarium. The game had a huge underground following, achieving a near cult status among gamers looking for a fun, quirky, original, non-violent video game. This year, the adventure continues...

The sequel to this great Playstation 2 game is called We Love Katamari, and is a wonderful tribute to the original - but you can jump right into it without having played the first edition. Once again, your character, The Prince, is given the task of recreating celestial objects by rolling around a sticky ball (called a Katamari), gathering up every day objects, until the ball gets large enough to place in the sky. This time, instead of rolling up stars, you are, for the most part, making planets! Again, you can view them from a 3-D virtual Planetarium in the game. Depending on what you roll up, your planet is described differently -- you might make a Stationery Mercury or a Flowery Uranus.

There is a bunch more variety in this version of the game, and there are many more levels than the first. There is also a very challenging 2-player mode, where you each control the same sticky ball -- it takes some real cooperative coordination.

The astronomy involved is pure fantasy, but if you love astronomy, video games, wild music (animals sing out one of the songs!), and quirky gameplay, We Love Katamari is a great choice.

Planetary Update

The Moon

The phases for this month:

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