Astronomy at School?

Hi all,

I guess that issue may be considered part of space policy as it is
often where future astronomers and astronauts may first encounter the
topic of what is "out there" and become fond of it. Also, it spreads a
general knowledge of basic things like causes of day and night, seasons
and other things where astronomy and earthly matters meet. I am very
curious what it is like where you live in. In Poland astronomy used to
be a regular subject at school around the time of the golden space era
of the 1960s, then was degraded to becoming part of physics classes in
the 1980s and driven completely out of school curricula around now. So,
what are you opinions on that? Is astronomy still taught at school
where you live? Should it be taught at school at all?

Regards,

Karol P.

wrote:
Hi all,

I guess that issue may be considered part of space policy as it is
often where future astronomers and astronauts may first encounter the
topic of what is "out there" and become fond of it. Also, it spreads a
general knowledge of basic things like causes of day and night, seasons
and other things where astronomy and earthly matters meet. I am very
curious what it is like where you live in. In Poland astronomy used to
be a regular subject at school around the time of the golden space era
of the 1960s, then was degraded to becoming part of physics classes in
the 1980s and driven completely out of school curricula around now. So,
what are you opinions on that? Is astronomy still taught at school
where you live? Should it be taught at school at all?

Regards,

Karol P.

In the 1960's,terrestrial ballistics extended to sending rockets into
space was a genuine human achievement but it is not astronomy although
you would hardly know it.

I see the Polish people watch the work of the countryman (Copernicus)
destroyed by less careful men, without objection and even with their
full support but then again, astronomy is an individual pursuit that
does not pander to nationalistic sentiments.It is however open to
false ideologies and although the spurt of interest generated by
humanity's first endeavor into space in the 60's is a genuine
achievement,the exotic and novelistic concepts of the eartbound
creatures still moves in the opposite sub-geocentric direction.

Even with imaging of the Earth from space and with priority given to
climatology and global warming,these guys still can;'t provide the
correct explanation for hemisopherical weather patterns (seasons).They
still attribute a variable axial tilt to the Sun rather than adopt the
changing orbital orientation against fixed axial orientation -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seasonearth.png

What is a little (unintentionally) off-putting with those correct
images is that it gives no real idea of the Earth's change in orbital
orientation and it can be easily fixed by not showing the difference
between the orbital shadow and solar radiation facing in the same
direction,at least in the June and Dec images.

I teach astronomy at all levels all over the UK

It is still taught in all schools but at differeing levels

Cheers

Andy

StarDome Planetarium - Your Window On The Universe - Officially Out Of This
World!

Mr Andrew R Green B.Sc(Hons) FRAS.

www.stardome-planetarium.com
www.stardomeplanetarium.co.uk



wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi all,

I guess that issue may be considered part of space policy as it is
often where future astronomers and astronauts may first encounter the
topic of what is "out there" and become fond of it. Also, it spreads a
general knowledge of basic things like causes of day and night, seasons
and other things where astronomy and earthly matters meet. I am very
curious what it is like where you live in. In Poland astronomy used to
be a regular subject at school around the time of the golden space era
of the 1960s, then was degraded to becoming part of physics classes in
the 1980s and driven completely out of school curricula around now. So,
what are you opinions on that? Is astronomy still taught at school
where you live? Should it be taught at school at all?

Regards,

Karol P.

differing even!

"oriel36" laboured on in message
ups.com...
SNIP
Even with imaging of the Earth from space and with priority given to
climatology and global warming,these guys still can;'t provide the
correct explanation for hemisopherical weather patterns (seasons).They
still attribute a variable axial tilt to the Sun rather than adopt the
changing orbital orientation against fixed axial orientation -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seasonearth.png

DEEP BREATH

Let's try to get rid of some of your confusion about the seasons. The
Earth's orbit is in the shape of an ellipse, so that sometimes the Earth is
a tiny bit closer to the Sun than at other times. But this does not account
for the seasonal weather change. You can imagine that if the seasons were
caused by the Earth's orbit, people in the northern hemisphere and people in
the southern hemisphere would have the same seasons. For example, if winter
occurred because the Earth was further away from the Sun, everywhere on
Earth would be cold at the same time. Summer in the northern hemisphere
occurs at the same time as winter in the south, and vice-versa. It turns out
that the Earth's orbit is nearly perfectly circular, and the difference
between its closest point and its furthest point is very small. In actual
fact, the Earth is furthest away from the Sun in June when it is summer in
the northern hemisphere.
The Earth is a very special planet in many ways. Just as Earth's unique
atmosphere and its distance from the Sun work together to make Earth the
right temperature to support life, Earth's orbit and its tilt work together
to create the seasons. The tilt of Earth's rotational axis and the Earth's
orbit work together to create the seasons. As the Earth travels around the
Sun, it remains tipped in the same direction, its axis pointing towards the
star Polaris. This means that sometimes the northern half of the Earth is
pointing towards the Sun (summer), and sometimes it is pointing away
(winter). These points in the Earth's orbit are called solstices. The
Earth's tilt remains an almost constant 23.5 degrees to the plane of the
ecliptic, apart from a very very slow and tiny precession which takes place
over thousands of years.

Notice that when the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, the
southern hemisphere is tilted away. This explains why the hemispheres have
opposite seasons. The link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seasonearth.png demonstrates this
perfectly.

Halfway between the solstices, the Earth is neither tilted directly towards
nor directly away from the Sun. At these times, called the equinoxes, both
hemispheres receive roughly equal amounts of sunlight. Equinoxes mark the
seasons of autumn and spring and are a transition between the two more
extreme seasons, summer and winter.

There is no black magic or mumbo-jumbo to all this, Gerald. If you point
your backside towards the fire it will get hot - if you point it away at an
angle it won't get so warm. Even first year primary school children can
understand this simple 3-dimensional trick of the light, so it is is
difficult to understand why you drag ancient figures and heliocentricity
into your endless drivel. We all KNOW the earth orbits around the sun. We
all KNOW its axis is tilted and that combined with its 12 month orbit this
yields the seasons. You can dress the mechanism up any way you want; it
doesn't change what is fundamentally a very simple concept. But if you feel
the need to challenge any part of the above explanation (an explanation that
is shared by the same scientists who successfully send probes with pinpoint
accuracy to the furthermost planets of our Solar System) then please state
clearly where you think the errors lie. I wait with baited breath.

"oriel36" wrote in message
ups.com...
SNIP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seasonearth.png

What is a little (unintentionally) off-putting with those correct
images is that it gives no real idea of the Earth's change in orbital
orientation and it can be easily fixed by not showing the difference
between the orbital shadow and solar radiation facing in the same
direction,at least in the June and Dec images.

The only thing 'wrong' with the presentation of those images, in an
astronomical sense, is that they show the Earth with its polar axis vertical
rather than at 23.5 degrees to the vertical. The shadow and illuminated
portions are precisely what happens in reality.

Andy G wrote:

I teach astronomy at all levels all over the UK

It is still taught in all schools but at differeing levels

Usually as a part of the physics syllabus, but it is available as a
separate GCSE exam qualification through Edexcel (formally London
board). Details available at:

http://www.edexcel.org.uk/quals/gcse...specification/
(it was an easy extra certificate for anyone keen on astronomy)

A quick glance at the modern syllabus suggests that it has become more
qualitative and all the spherical trig for rising setting and
coordinate transforms has been removed.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Christian Astronomer wrote:
On 11 Dec 2006, wrote:
Hi all,
I guess that issue may be considered part of space policy as it is
often where future astronomers and astronauts may first encounter the
topic of what is "out there" and become fond of it. Also, it spreads a
general knowledge of basic things like causes of day and night, seasons
and other things where astronomy and earthly matters meet. I am very
curious what it is like where you live in. In Poland astronomy used to
be a regular subject at school around the time of the golden space era
of the 1960s, then was degraded to becoming part of physics classes in
the 1980s and driven completely out of school curricula around now. So,
what are you opinions on that? Is astronomy still taught at school
where you live? Should it be taught at school at all?
Regards,
Karol P.

It is a sad testament to what the viciously Anti-Christian
Liberal Atheists have done to academia, and especially to
their students: who they kidnap, rape, torture and murder
with their filthy, incessant and abominable lies and deceit.

However, the good news is that America leads the free world.
Soon, our United States Supreme Court will decide, and our
law-enforcement personnel will force at gunpoint,

Really? I didn't know that "Intelligent" Design was up in front of the
Supreme Court.

If you lie to someone, no matter how many people believe the lie, it's
still a lie. You've been lied to and you believe it and continue to
spread the lie, which makes you an idiot.

This is an exercise in keeping things local.

Hemispherical weather patterns (seasons) are not due to variable axial
tilt to the Sun,the seasons are a subset of a global change in orbital
orientation against fixed axial orientation.Trying to account for
seasons by saying that the Northern hemisphere tilts towards the Sun in
summer and away in winter is tantamount to a variable tilting Earth
whatever way you try to put it.

Here is what you do.

1 Drop the Earth's axial/Equatorial reference to the Sun or celestial
background and acknowledged that it remains fixed and a consequence of
axial rotation.

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpe...114_modest.jpg

2 Acknowledge a change in the relationship between the orbital
orientation (determined by the seperation between solar radiation and
the orbital shadow) and fixed axial orientation due to the motion and
path of the Earth's orbit around the Sun -

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...easonearth.png

3 Use the oscillation of temperature bands to determine that
hemispherical weather patterns (seasons) are influenced by the length
of time a location spends in the Earth's orbital shadow or in direct
solar radiation more than inclination to solar radiation. -

http://www.climateprediction.net/ima...ges/annual.gif

Stick to those few basic tenets which drop referencing the Earth to the
distant Sun and create a more productive view based on the behavior of
axial and orbital motions/orientation in received solar radiation and
in the Earth orbital shadow.

Of course you have developed the variable tilting Earth and its
attendent celestial sphere geometry to the point where you simply
cannot see the new approach to climate and to seasons -

http://www.dur.ac.uk/john.lucey/users/solar_year.html

By referencing everything off axial co-ordinates to celestial sphere
geometry and refusing to consider orbital motion in isolation, you fail
to see that the orbital path of the Earth which causes the orbital
shadow to change against fixed axial orientation generates global
climate which in turn can be reduced to hemispherical weather
patterns.

I do not know why meteorologists or climatologists do not pick up on
the required astronomical modification required to bring excellent
imaging and data in line with 21st century climate studies.It is an
enormous task yet the benefits are incredibly powerful and different
than the poor way of varying the tilt of the Earth to the Sun to
explain the seasons.Perhaps it is laziness,perhaps indoctrination or
something worse but allowing the orbital path and consequently orbital
orientation to drift longitudinally and latitudinally against fixed
axial orientation is the only way to go.

Spare me your deep breaths or whatever silly emoticon I have to put up
with,climatology will become far more interesting and dynamic once it
starts to mesh accurately with astronomy and what is known about the
motions of the Earth in direct solar radiation.













TeaTime wrote:
"oriel36" laboured on in message
ups.com...
SNIP
Even with imaging of the Earth from space and with priority given to
climatology and global warming,these guys still can;'t provide the
correct explanation for hemisopherical weather patterns (seasons).They
still attribute a variable axial tilt to the Sun rather than adopt the
changing orbital orientation against fixed axial orientation -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seasonearth.png

DEEP BREATH

Let's try to get rid of some of your confusion about the seasons. The
Earth's orbit is in the shape of an ellipse, so that sometimes the Earth is
a tiny bit closer to the Sun than at other times. But this does not account
for the seasonal weather change. You can imagine that if the seasons were
caused by the Earth's orbit, people in the northern hemisphere and people in
the southern hemisphere would have the same seasons. For example, if winter
occurred because the Earth was further away from the Sun, everywhere on
Earth would be cold at the same time. Summer in the northern hemisphere
occurs at the same time as winter in the south, and vice-versa. It turns out
that the Earth's orbit is nearly perfectly circular, and the difference
between its closest point and its furthest point is very small. In actual
fact, the Earth is furthest away from the Sun in June when it is summer in
the northern hemisphere.
The Earth is a very special planet in many ways. Just as Earth's unique
atmosphere and its distance from the Sun work together to make Earth the
right temperature to support life, Earth's orbit and its tilt work together
to create the seasons. The tilt of Earth's rotational axis and the Earth's
orbit work together to create the seasons. As the Earth travels around the
Sun, it remains tipped in the same direction, its axis pointing towards the
star Polaris. This means that sometimes the northern half of the Earth is
pointing towards the Sun (summer), and sometimes it is pointing away
(winter). These points in the Earth's orbit are called solstices. The
Earth's tilt remains an almost constant 23.5 degrees to the plane of the
ecliptic, apart from a very very slow and tiny precession which takes place
over thousands of years.

Notice that when the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, the
southern hemisphere is tilted away. This explains why the hemispheres have
opposite seasons. The link
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seasonearth.png demonstrates this
perfectly.

Halfway between the solstices, the Earth is neither tilted directly towards
nor directly away from the Sun. At these times, called the equinoxes, both
hemispheres receive roughly equal amounts of sunlight. Equinoxes mark the
seasons of autumn and spring and are a transition between the two more
extreme seasons, summer and winter.

There is no black magic or mumbo-jumbo to all this, Gerald. If you point
your backside towards the fire it will get hot - if you point it away at an
angle it won't get so warm. Even first year primary school children can
understand this simple 3-dimensional trick of the light, so it is is
difficult to understand why you drag ancient figures and heliocentricity
into your endless drivel. We all KNOW the earth orbits around the sun. We
all KNOW its axis is tilted and that combined with its 12 month orbit this
yields the seasons. You can dress the mechanism up any way you want; it
doesn't change what is fundamentally a very simple concept. But if you feel
the need to challenge any part of the above explanation (an explanation that
is shared by the same scientists who successfully send probes with pinpoint
accuracy to the furthermost planets of our Solar System) then please state
clearly where you think the errors lie. I wait with baited breath.

TeaTime wrote:
"oriel36" wrote in message
ups.com...
SNIP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seasonearth.png

What is a little (unintentionally) off-putting with those correct
images is that it gives no real idea of the Earth's change in orbital
orientation and it can be easily fixed by not showing the difference
between the orbital shadow and solar radiation facing in the same
direction,at least in the June and Dec images.

The only thing 'wrong' with the presentation of those images, in an
astronomical sense, is that they show the Earth with its polar axis vertical
rather than at 23.5 degrees to the vertical. The shadow and illuminated
portions are precisely what happens in reality.

Funny,funny,funny !.

Keeping the Earth's orientation fixed to Polaris and allowing the Sun
to drift up and down against the horizon denoting a variable axial tilt
to the Sun is remarkable in an era which requires a clear conception of
the relationship between axial and orbital motions and the consequences
for climate and meteorology.

The images from Wikipedia are fine apart from a minor adjustment
which could be made to demonstrate the global asymmetry between June
and December in terms of the Earth's orbital position and the
direction from which it receives solar radiation -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Seasonearth.png

Celestial sphere geometers are inclined to construct a variable axial
tilt to the imaginary orbital plane whereas a more accurate view allows
the orbital path to generate the drift in the orbital shadow against
fixed axial orientation.

I well understand just how established the variable inclination is and
do not unduly criticise anyone for taking a fresh look at what causes
global climate and then what causes hemispherical weather patterns.It
is well worth the effort.