Mon May 29, 2023 MEMORIAL DAY
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is being observed today. It commemorates the end of the American Civil War. In 1884, Oliver Wendell Holmes said that both “…private and general stand side by side. Unmarshalled save by their own deeds, the army of the dead sweep before us, "wearing their wounds like stars." Another eulogy reminds us that those who fought for our country are as the soft stars that shine at night. Legend says that George Washington made the first sketch of a starry flag. But Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, first urged the use of stars in our flag’s design. We invoke the stars as our beacons in the dark. They shine on us all, the astronomer, the poet, those who labor, and those who fight to keep us safe, both in the sunlit day and in the starlit night.
Tue May 30, 2023 MT EVEREST ANNIVERSARY/ASTRONOMY CLUB MEET
On May 28, 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, became the first men to reach the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain on earth. This great peak is almost five and a half miles up. And yet that height is a mere trifle to an even larger mountain found on Mars. Mount Olympus is a giant dead volcano over fifteen miles high, about three times taller than Mount Everest! If you’re an explorer like Hillary and Norgay, but aren’t necessarily interested in climbing mountains, then perhaps you should consider exploring the stars from wherever you are. Tonight the Treasure Coast Astronomical Society will meet at the Science Center on Indian River State College’s Fort Pierce campus at 7:30 pm. Come on out and explore the heavens!
Wed May 31, 2023 THALES’ SOLAR ECLIPSE/A FORTUNE IN OLIVES
There was a solar eclipse on May 28th, back in the year 585 B.C. which was noteworthy in that its occurrence ended a war! As the historian Herodotus tells us: “Just as the battle was growing warm, day was suddenly changed into night. When the Lydians and the Medes observed the change, they ceased their fighting and were anxious to conclude peace.” And with that, a six-year war came to an end! Now this eclipse had been predicted by Thales of Miletus, the father of Greek astronomy. Thales was also knowledgeable on the subject of meteorology. When some folks told him that science would never make him rich, he went and figured out that upcoming fair weather would bring a good harvest of olives. So he bought up all the olive presses, and made a fortune in the olive oil market!
Thu June 1, 2023 MOON NEARLY FULL
It takes the moon a month to go through its phases - it starts as a new moon, and for a couple of days we can't see it, because it rises and sets with the sun, keeping its face hidden in dark shadow; then as the moon revolves, it becomes a new crescent moon, a thin sliver of moonlight above the setting sun; still, most of the moon is covered in darkness, its shadow falling upon its own face; then it becomes a half-moon in the sky, followed by a lopsided, egg-shaped moon, or gibbous moon. And now the moon is nearly round, its earthside face fully illuminated by the sun. Our lunar neighbor is taking up a position opposite the sun in the sky, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise. Two weeks have gone by. In two more weeks the moon will return to new.
Fri June 2, 2023 JUNE FULL MOON
The moon is full this weekend. It rises out of the east in the early evening, and can be found in the southern sky at midnight. By dawn the full moon will set in the west. The names for the June full moon are many: according to the Ponca Indians, this is the Hot Weather begins Moon – no argument there. Back in Europe, this was the Rose Moon, so named for the pink color of this full moon, which rides low in the southern sky. The Omaha Indians call this the Moon When Buffalo Bulls Hunt the Cows; to the Tewa Pueblo it’s the Moon When the Leaves are Dark Green. The Winnebago call this the Corn Tasseling Moon, while the Sioux regard it as the Moon of Making Fat. But to the Objiwa Indians, this is the Lovers' Moon, named for En-a-ban'dang the dreamer and A-nou-gons', or Little Star, who first met when the full moon rose.
