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’Astronomy for Everyone’

NASA consultant gives presentation to area kids

By CHRISTIE BLECK

Journal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — A horsehead nebula, a total solar eclipse, a barred spiral galaxy — what kid wouldn’t be excited about these astronomical attractions?

Even though they didn’t actually witness these objects of the universe, they saw stunning photos and learned more about them during “Astronomy for Everyone,” a program that took place Tuesday at the Peter White Public Library.

Giving the presentation was astronomer Kevin Manning, whose many accomplishments include being a NASA consultant.

He drew in the youngsters at the event thusly: “As we dare to look up and wonder at the splendor of the starry sky, the appeal of astronomy may be beckoning,” Manning said. “Submit to it in the slightest and you may get hooked.

“Once you do, the universe and your place in it will never look the same.”

Chances are the youngsters already have submitted to the starry sky, although their knowledge could be expanded.

That was the purpose of Tuesday’s program.

“How many have seen meteors before?” Manning asked. “We call them shooting stars. They’re not stars at all. They’re little pebble-sized pieces of rock traveling through space.”

He talked about relatively simple subjects, such as the two basic telescope designs: refracting, which bends or refracts light, and reflecting, which uses mirrors to reflect light. He also showed them different sizes of binoculars, which also are used to get a better view of the nighttime sky.

However, Manning tried to make them comprehend seemingly unfathomable facts — like the speed of light being 186,000 miles per second.

How fast is that?

“It means we can go around the earth not once or twice, but 7¢ times in one second,” Manning said. “The speed of light will take us from the earth to the moon and back, round trip, in less than 3 seconds.”

They might not have been able to actually experience that quick lunar trip, but they saw renderings of various cosmic activities, such as two galaxies colliding.

One real-life event that’s coming up, and one that has many astronomers and astronomy buffs excited, is the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse.

According to eclipse2017.nasa.gov, the path of totality will stretch from Salem, Oregon, to Charleston, South Carolina. Observers outside this path can see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun’s disk.

Manning has seen several total solar eclipses during his lifetime.

“Many years ago, I was having lunch,” Manning said. “It was a beautiful, sunny day, blue sky horizon to horizon. Not a cloud to be found.”

At about 1:30 in the afternoon, he went outside.

“All of a sudden, it began to get dark out,” Manning said. “People are walking down the street, looking at their watches, scratching their heads, trying to figure out how it could be getting dark at 1:30 p.m.”

During a total solar eclipse, the temperature may drop as much as 30 degrees, and the sky looks like a sunset wherever a person looks with an “eerie, silvery hue” above, he said.

“It’s absolutely phenomenal,” Manning said. “It’s off-the-charts breathtaking. You would never forget it for the rest of your life when you see one.”

Unfortunately, Marquette isn’t in the path of totality. He strongly recommended that people travel — even if they have to take a day off from work — to where the total eclipse can be seen. However, they might have difficulty finding hotel accommodations since many rooms already are booked for the event, with prices five or six times the going rate.

For people who want to stay in the area, he suggested they could make a pinhole viewer out of a shoebox to project a solar image, or wear eclipse glasses, which block all the harmful rays from the sun.

“You can put these on and look right up at the sun and see this orange bowl in the sky, completely safe,” Manning said.

In the meantime, young amateur astronomers can view the night sky — and still learn new facts.

“The Big Dipper is not a constellation, but it’s part of one known as Ursa Major, the Big Bear,” Manning said.

Also, the North Star, or Polaris, is not the brightest star visible in the night sky.

So what is the brightest one?

“Sirius,” one girl suggested.

It was the correct answer.

Sirius, also known as “the Dog Star,” is part of constellation Canis Major, seen in the early-evening winter sky.

Although a few adults attended Tuesday’s program, the audience was composed mainly of youths.

For instance, Greg Olson, of Marquette, took his son, Fred, 9, to the program.

“It did my heart good to see kids of all generations be part of discovering astronomy,” the elder Olson said.

To help the youngsters continue their interest in astronomy, they were given handouts with instructions for completing daily observation logs, which could include data like time, date, constellations, planets and objects like satellites and comets.

Who knows what they will discover?

“The universe is truly incredible,” Manning said.

For more information on the “Astronomy for Everyone” program, visit www.lookuptothestars.com.

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