PHASES OF THE MOON

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Each month our Moon passes through eight phases. These phases are named after how much of the moon we can see, and whether the amount visible is increasing, or decreasing each day.

It takes our Moon about 29.5 days to completely cycle through all eight phases. Occasionally (about every 2.7 years) there are two Full Moons in the same month. This is referred to as a Blue Moon. Hence the saying "Once in a Blue Moon".

New Moon	The side of the moon facing the Earth is not illuminated. Additionally, the moon is up through out the day, and down through out the night. For these reasons we can not see the moon during this phase.
Waxing Crescent	During this phase, part of the Moon is beginning to show. This lunar sliver can be seen each evening for a few minutes just after sunset. We say that the Moon is "waxing" because each night a little bit more is visible for a little bit longer.
First Quarter	During first quarter, 1/2 of the moon is visible for the first half of the evening, and then goes down, leaving the sky very dark.
Waxing Gibbous	When most of the Moon is visible we say it is a Gibbous Moon. Observers can see all but a little sliver of the moon. During this phase, the Moon remains in the sky most of the night.
Full Moon	When we can observe the entire face of the moon, we call it a Full Moon. A full moon will rise just as the evening begins, and will set about the time morning is ushered in.
Waning Gibbous	Like the Waxing Gibbous Moon, during this phase, we can see all but a sliver of the Moon. The difference is that instead of seeing more of the Moon each night, we begin to see less and less of the Moon each night. This is what the word "waning" means.
Last Quarter	During a Last Quarter Moon we can see exactly 1/2 of the Moon's lighted surface.
Waning Crescent	Finally, during a Waning Crescent Moon, observers on Earth can only see a small sliver of the Moon, and only just before morning. Each night less of the Moon is visible for less time.

GALAXIES

There are billions of Galaxies in the Universe. Some are very small with only a few million stars. While others could have as many as 400 billion stars, or even more. There are three kinds of Galaxies, Spiral, Elliptical, and Irregular. The only difference between the three is what shape they are

Spiral

 

 

 

The most beautiful type of galaxies are Spiral Galaxies. Their long twisting arms are areas where stars are being formed.

Where do the spirals come from?
Like ripples in a pond, the spiral arms seen in this kind of galaxy are circling waves. These waves cause new stars to form. That's right, they are like star farmers, planting star seeds where ever they go.

What causes the waves to glow?
Some of the new stars created in the wave are very large. Because of their size these large stars glow brighter than their smaller cousins, causing the nearby dust clouds to glow brightly. Thus any area near one of these waves glows like a fluorescent light.
In other words you can't actually see the waves, the spirals that we see are the glowing clouds illuminated by large, hot stars. As the waves move on the clouds behind them dim down, no longer glowing until another wave passes through.

Why doesn't the whole galaxy shine brightly?
The large bright stars created in the waves don't live very long. Their large size makes them burn all their fuel quickly. Usually they die before they ever leave the wave. Only the smaller stars which do not glow brightly survive to leave the waves they formed in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elliptical

 

 

 

The stars found in Elliptical Galaxies are often very old. This is because elliptical galaxies don't actively create new stars. The only stars found with in them were created along time ago.
Although they are usually smaller, this type of galaxy can be large. Most have only a few thousand stars, but some can have billions of stars.
The stars in an elliptical galaxy are often very close together making the center look like one giant star. If the Earth were inside an elliptical galaxy it would be bright both day and night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Irregular

 

 

 

Irregular Galaxies are simply all the galaxies which are not spiral or elliptical. They can look like anything and have many different characteristics.
Many irregular galaxies probably used to be spiral, or elliptical until they had some kind of accident which changed them such as crashing with another galaxy.
Many other irregular galaxies probably were never spiral or elliptical; they simply didn't evolve that way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Local Group

 

 

 

                              There are billions of galaxies in our Universe. Most of these are clumped together in small groups. Our own galaxy which is called The Milky Way Galaxy lies within a group of galaxies that we call The Local Group.

The Local Group consists of about 30 galaxies. The three largest are The Andromeda Galaxy, The Milky Way Galaxy, and Triangulum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neil Armstrong - First Moon Landing 1969

The Biggest Stars In The Universe

UNDERSTANDING SCIENCE.....!

To understand what science is, just look around you. What do you see? Perhaps, your hand on the mouse, a computer screen, papers, ballpoint pens, the family cat, the sun shining through the window …. Science is, in one sense, our knowledge of all that — all the stuff that is in the universe: from the tiniest subatomic particles in a single atom of the metal in your computer's circuits, to the nuclear reactions that formed the immense ball of gas that is our sun, to the complex chemical interactions and electrical fluctuations within your own body that allow you to read and understand these words. But just as importantly, science is also a reliable process by which we learn about all that stuff in the universe. However, science is different from many other ways of learning because of the way it is done. Science relies on testing ideas with evidence gathered from the natural world. This website will help you learn more about science as a process of learning about the natural world and access the parts of science that affect your life.



Science helps satisfy the natural curiosity with which we are all born: why is the sky blue, how did the leopard get its spots, what is a solar eclipse? With science, we can answer such questions without resorting to magical explanations. And science can lead to technological advances, as well as helping us learn about enormously important and useful topics, such as our health, the environment, and natural hazards. Without science, the modern world would not be modern at all, and we still have much to learn. Millions of scientists all over the world are working to solve different parts of the puzzle of how the universe works, peering into its nooks and crannies, deploying their microscopes, telescopes, and other tools to unravel its secrets.




Science is complex and multi-faceted, but the most important characteristics of science are straightforward:

• Science focuses exclusively on the natural world, and does not deal with supernatural explanations.
  
• Science is a way of learning about what is in the natural world, how the natural world works, and how the natural world got to be the way it is. It is not simply a collection of facts; rather it is a path to understanding.
  
• Scientists work in many different ways, but all science relies on testing ideas by figuring out what expectations are generated by an idea and making observations to find out whether those expectations hold true.
  
• Accepted scientific ideas are reliable because they have been subjected to rigorous testing, but as new evidence is acquired and new perspectives emerge these ideas can be revised.
  
• Science is a community endeavor. It relies on a system of checks and balances, which helps ensure that science moves in the direction of greater accuracy and understanding. This system is facilitated by diversity within the scientific community, which offers a broad range of perspectives on scientific ideas.

To many, science may seem like an arcane, ivory-towered institution — but that impression is based on a misunderstanding of science. In fact:

• Science affects your life everyday in all sorts of different ways.
  
• Science can be fun and is accessible to everyone.
  
• You can apply an understanding of how science works to your everyday life.
  
• Anyone can become a scientist — of the amateur or professional variety.

WHAT IS SCIENCE?

The word "science" probably brings to mind many different pictures: a fat textbook, white lab coats and microscopes, an astronomer peering through a telescope, a naturalist in the rainforest, Einstein's equations scribbled on a chalkboard, the launch of the space shuttle, bubbling beakers …. All of those images reflect some aspect of science, but none of them provides a full picture because science has so many facets:

 

• Science is both a body of knowledge and a process. In school, science may sometimes seem like a collection of isolated and static facts listed in a textbook, but that's only a small part of the story. Just as importantly, science is also a process of discovery that allows us to link isolated facts into coherent and comprehensive understandings of the natural world.
  
  
• Science is exciting. Science is a way of discovering what's in the universe and how those things work today, how they worked in the past, and how they are likely to work in the future. Scientists are motivated by the thrill of seeing or figuring out something that no one has before.
  
  
• Science is useful. The knowledge generated by science is powerful and reliable. It can be used to develop new technologies, treat diseases, and deal with many other sorts of problems.
  
  
• Science is ongoing. Science is continually refining and expanding our knowledge of the universe, and as it does, it leads to new questions for future investigation. Science will never be "finished."
  
  
• Science is a global human endeavor. People all over the world participate in the process of science. And you can too!

This section describes what makes science science. You can investigate:

• Discovery: The spark for science
  
  
• A science checklist
  
  
• Science has limits