I had to run out to the grocery tonight, and I looked up in the western sky...as usual. I love looking for Venus. But tonight, I saw the moon (it's a waxing crescent), and Venus just to the right (or North) of it. It was so cool, I rushed through the grocery...hopefully, I got everything...and ran home to take a picture. I didn't even unload the car first. Hopefully, that milk will still be good. Anyway, this is a really poor picture of the spectacular sight I saw...(never could get it to focus right)...
What is even cooler is that we just looked at Venus through our telescope a couple of nights ago, and IT is in the crescent phase too. I took a picture of that, but I have no idea where it ended up. If you have a telescope, or know someone who does, it's really cool to see it. To the naked eye, it just appears to be a bright star. I asked my 6yos if he could see Venus. He said, "No all I can see is the moon." (The moon was in the New moon phase and wasn't visible)...I told him that was Venus. He started giggling and said, "That's so cool." Followed by a little more giggling. I love his innocence. He's such a trip sometimes.
We also got up really early on Tuesday morning to see the comet...which was either less than spectacular, or I was looking at the wrong glowing thing... but we did get to see Saturn..with it's rings. I've never seen it before through a telescope. It was so cool..but now I'm wishing I had a little more powerful one so I could see it better. It was so exciting. My kids liked seeing it too...although not nearly as much as me. They were back in bed within 5 minutes. I'm not sure I have any future astronomers in the house. Oh well...I love stargazing anyway.
Wanna know what happened at our house today? Here's a peek into life in Florida. (Don't forget to pause the player to the right.)
Clip # 1...
Clip #2...taken a few hours later...
...And that was the excitement at our house. I think it pretty much summed it up when I said, "It's a great day...to stay inside." (Clip #2) I was dripping when I came back inside....even though I never stepped out from under our porch roof. Soaked in less than 5 minutes.
To give you a little perspective, we get 50+ mph wind gusts during a strong afternoon thunderstorm here in FL. The name makes it sound "scary" even though the winds could be as little as 39 mph or as much as 73 mph...a HUGE variation. 73 mph winds WOULD be a little scarier, but 39 mph is definitely not...although I highly suggest NOT flying a kite during it no matter what the wind speed is. Don't ask, just trust the guy in S. Florida. :-/ If I had to guess, the wind speed in the video clips was probably around 40-45 mph. 39 mph winds are really very similar to what we could possibly get any given summer day. The big difference is that it lasts longer, the amount of rainfall is greater and the widespread potential for tornadoes goes way up...oh, and the fact that the school shut down for "tropical storm" days...rather than "snow days." I always thought that was so weird. When I lived up north, with this kind of rain and wind, we'd be in school....on the boys' bathroom floor with our heads between our knees ...tornado drill position. I'm so glad my kids don't go to school.
The title above could be deceiving if you've actually picked up one of the "Complete Idiot" books. It is not written FOR "complete idiots"...Rather a "Complete Idiot" in geology has compiled these links. (referring to myself)
I admit to being a complete "idiot" when it comes to rocks and minerals. I've learned more in the past few weeks teaching my own kids...who don't seem to be very interested...and I can't blame them. Their teacher really doesn't feel like she knows what she's doing either. I like to have pictures and labeled samples to touch and compare to what I've found. (It's the perfectionist in me) I really don't have either...so I went on a hunt for pictures online so my children wouldn't be "handicapped" by my lack of competence in this area. Here are a few sites that I've found that have been helpful...
I may find more..but that should keep this "idiot" busy for a bit. (referring to myself again)
[Disclaimer: These sites may come from a evolutionary worldview as most of those in the field of geology do. Please keep this in mind when exploring them. However, this does not detract from their help in identifying rock samples.
Also, this is not endorsed or associated in any way with The "Complete Idiot's Guides." I just liked the fun name. ]
Well, my son did it again...He set up and did another experiment (which he is cleaning up at this moment because he wanted to show his little brothers how he did it...but all they wanted to do was throw flour all over the kitchen. I'm so glad that the book specifically says, "Clean up your experiment and put all items used away."
He was learning about Mercury today and how the surface has many craters on it and how they are caused. He was to drop various sized and shaped pebbles into a dish of flour, and note the craters each made. One of the pebbles was so tiny that it sunk right into the surface of the flour and we "lost" it. Here is a picture of the results...
He's really enjoying science. Sometimes I think he'd rather not have to do any other subjects.
I am so proud of my son!! He has been having a blast with the Apologia Astronomy book. Today...without my prompting...he picked up his Astronomy book...read the whole second chapter...then proceeded outside to find whatever objects he could to reproduce a solar eclipse. (The "outside" environment didn't work so well, so he ended up in the bathroom. :-) ) Then he ran to find me so he could show me what he did, explaining the whole process... He even used a couple of different "light sources." And just to think... a friend of mine said that she wasn't sure about the Elementary Apologia textbooks because she thought there should be more review work (I think she meant "paperwork" since she is pulling her kids from PS to homeschool them next year) ...I can't wait to tell her about this. :-)
Here are some pictures from the "eclipse". The globe is in 2 different positions...My son thought it would be fun to have the eclipse over us. :-) It may be the only way we'll see one here in my lifetime. :-) ha ha
Setting the stage...
Ready to go...
During the Eclipse...
Close-up of the "Eclipse"... (sorry it's fuzzy...That was me playing with my camera settings)...
All in all, it was a fun science lesson today. :-)
We witnessed a beautiful lunar eclipse last Wednesday night (2/20/08). We were visiting family up north because of my father's funeral, but we still had to do "fun school" while we were there. I couldn't resist sharing some of the pictures I took. It was absolutely beautiful...and it occurred on one of the only clear nights we had. I am always amazed and awed by the universe God created...The Heavens surely declare the glory of God.
Starting around 8:30 PM, we checked on it every 10-20 minutes (less often after it started to "reappear").
~~All times are Eastern Standard US times. ~~
At 9:07 PM...
9:30 PM...
9:42 PM...
9:45 PM... (roughly same time as the picture above, but with different exposure settings on my camera. It shows that the moon is almost dark)...
10:14 PM...
10:26 PM...at MAXIMUM Coverage. You can barely see the edge of the moon...
10:47 PM...
10:55 PM...
11:17 PM...
11:42 PM...
And 11:55 PM...
(This one was also taken at 11:55 PM, but with different settings...it was so beautiful, even though you can't see the darkened portion of the moon, I couldn't resist including it too.)...
I fell asleep right after this (the kids fell asleep right after it started coming back), so I didn't get a picture of the complete full moon coming back, but you get the idea. I hope you enjoyed the "express" version of the eclipse. It really was something to see.
Welcome to my blog...Why "gidget"? Well...my husband tried to teach me how to surf before we were married. I was lousy at it, but he called me his "gidget" and the name stuck.
Why "Treasure Trove"? I love sharing about my sweet little "treasures"...and God has blessed me beyond measure....and no, I didn't mean that to rhyme.
Anyway, this is a really poor picture of the spectacular sight I saw...(never could get it to focus right)...
I'm not sure I have any future astronomers in the house. Oh well...I love stargazing anyway. 
...tornado drill position. I'm so glad my kids don't go to school. 
(referring to myself)
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