a trip to the Planetarium!

On Monday the 22nd we took a trip to the BYU planetarium! It was pretty awesome and I had a lot of fun. I had never been before so this was a new experience for me. But the best part was that we got to bring someone with us to class. I brought my husband and left our son home with a sitter so it was kinda like a date. But can it be a date if it is a class where you learn something? Hahaha But we did learn and looked at different constellations in the winter sky. That was very helpful to see our sky at night and have our teacher point out where things are. So helpful in fact that I was able to point out Orion's Belt and one of his dogs Siruis, on our way home. That was the first time I could look up in the sky and go "Hey I see Orion's belt, there it is." That was pretty cool to do. Things I also knew but never really think about till I was there: The stars in the sky change during the year and we have different stars at different times of the year. And that the sky in the southern hemisphere is different then the sky we are looking at now. I knew those things, but I guess I really don't think about them that often. But it is cool to know. One of my other favorite things was that we got to the see our closet neighboring Galaxy, Andromeda! How freaking cool is it that you can see a galaxy that is 2.5 million light years away with your naked eye !?!?!? Well not so much with your naked eye more like binoculars.. Well you can kinda see it with your eyes! But the point is that you can see it without having to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on some fancy telescope! It was a very fun trip and I hope I get to go back sometime!!

Sunrise, Sunset, Sunrise, Sunset

This weeks assignment is to write our feelings and observations about a sunrise or a sunset. Oh do I have some feelings about them!! We could do one or the other and since I am NEVER up to watch a sunrise, I quickly crossed that off. For the past 5 years I have seen the sunset every day. Ok not everyday but most days. I am pretty sure our family room window is perfectly aligned with the sun's setting path, because most days that is how I see it and all its "splendor". What surprises me most about this, is that I see even when the sky is cloudy and gray and have not seen the sun most of the day. That is because when the sun sets it gets lower and lower out of the atmosphere and shines/blinds me for a good 2 hours as it sets. So I pretty much hate sunsets and refuse to look at one for fun or for school. I see the effects of it every day EVEN when I close the blinds it still comes in. IT IS COMING IN RIGHT NOW as I type..... Another thing I hate about the sunset and when it rises for that matter. Is the fact that it blinds you when you drive!! How dangerous is that!?!?!?! I am convinced the sun is out to get us... If it dies we die... It annoys us sometimes. But we need it, so how can something we need so much cause us so much annoyances ??? To sum it up... I hate the sun but we all need it and it is forced upon me even when I don't care for it... I did not even get into sunburns, yet another reason to hate the sun......

Big Moon!! Big Test

This weeks observation was awesome!! It was to go out and look at the moon and draw what we see..... Since I have pretty crappy/sensitive eye sight... I did not do that great of a job. It pretty much looks like my son drew it. And because I decided I did not need to take a light out with me to draw because heck it would have dimmed the moon.... But not so, I chose the night happened to be the biggest and brightest moon of the year! I am pretty lucky! You can read all about it here: Full Moon Nah its not just chance.. I have been keeping an eye on the moon chart/phases.

While you are reading all about the awesome moon, we can talk about me taking my 1st test in this class..... It was hard but at least the info covered was in the book and was gone over in class. I give Ms. Bush credit for that. Unlike my other class where I am not sure where most of those questions and answers came from. But the Astronomy test was VERY hard. I studied like I have never study for a test before. I have never made a 6 page study guide in my life. So I am ready to get my big fat F. So I am either the worse test taker in the world or just inept to Physics.......