Don’t put those hard hats away yet! It’s time to explore the different building materials that shape our tiny planet, Earth.
It’s time to head outside and experiment water’s effect on different garden materials. Which one do you think would be best for making mountains like the one in our photo? Continue reading
Hi all, Aurora here! I have been busy visiting one nebula after another. Many are right in YOUR neighborhood. Check out these pictures I took of the Eagle Nebula just for YOU!
This picture of the Eagle Nebula was taken by a backyard telescope. Can you see the eagle? Try tracing it out with your fingers.
Okay, so this picture was taken by yours truly using the Hubble telescope. Can you see the eagle better? What color does it appear? Reddish-orange, right? So what does that mean the Eagle Nebula is made up of? Hydrogen! What other gases do you see? Not sure if I told you this yet, but the green usually means there is oxygen. Green can also be another gas, but for now it’s oxygen.
Now, put your finger on the tallest pillar.
Finally, let’s look at the Eagle Nebula close-up! We can see a lot of details. Look at the tip! Did you know each tip holds onto a star? It’s like a star’s home! Totally cool, huh?
I have pictures from a lot of other fascinating nebulae, but you will have to wait till our next journey together for those. Until then, keep exploring and discovering!
Aurora
Music can be found everywhere, even Water. Explore music with your child using a few simple household items. Let’s see if you can line up a chorus line as well as Bing did in A Chorus Line!
Extend the activity by asking your child to add or subtract water from the jars to see what happens. Does this change the pattern? Add food coloring. Does that change the pitches? Play around and explore together!
The more water you have in a jar, the lower the pitch will be. You see, the sound vibrations you hear come from the jar, not water. So, as you add water it takes up more space — providing greater vibrating mass. The less water in the jar means there’s less weight to vibrate so the pitch is higher.
Happy exploring!
Good question! The word “nebula” comes from the Latin word that means “cloud,” which is what they look like to astronomers on Earth.
Edmond Halley (the astronomer who predicted when the “Great Comet” would return) was the first astronomer to suggest that the nebula contained dust and gas and he was right!
These large clouds of dust and gas serve our universe in a number of ways including the birth and death of stars. Continue reading
Have you ever wondered about your neighbors? No, I’m not talking about the people next door, but the creatures living right in your own backyard. The Happy Scientist, Robert Krampf shows us how to meet and greet our many legged friends.
