Solar Eclipses

Here are some pictures of solar eclipses. The first is a picture at totality - when the moon covers the sun and astronomers can study the corona or wispy outer layer of the sun.







The second picture is of the "diamond ring effect" which occurs just before and just after totality. Can you see why they call it that?





Since we were talking about solar eclipses today and several of you were asking when the next one would be happening I took the liberty of checking into it. Mark your calendars for August 1st, 2008, but you'll have to travel pretty far north if you want to see it. The path of totality will to through parts of Greenland, Mongolia, central Russia and China -- so make reservations now!

Check out more info on upcoming solar eclipses at http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/solar.html

Planet Quiz

Ladies,
Sorry to miss you again today while I'm home with a bad neck! But no matter what, I will see you tomorrow - Wednesday - to wish you a happy Thanksgiving break and take care of a little business.

We're going to have a short planet quiz tomorrow to wrap up all the comparative planetology work we've been doing. This quiz will consist of a page of fill in the blank questions (for example: This planet is the largest and most massive in the solar system - and you write in Jupiter) as well as 4 short answer questions. For the short answer, I'll give you a set of questions to chose from and you get to pick 4 out of 6 to complete.

We'll review together for our first period tomorrow and take the quiz after break. The wise woman would also review online using the powerpoint questions and/or review the online notes.

See you Wednesday. Be good to Bert and Sally in my absence!
MM

Planets on the horizon!

We've officially begun our study of comparative planetology. Remember, your planet powerpoints will be due Friday, Nov 2 and you'll be presenting them with your partner in front of the class. Don't forget to read the rubric about public speaking requirements.

You may have noticed there are several helpful links along with a planetary "primer" on my website. These will prove useful in your next assignment - the planet comparison chart. This will be due Friday, Nov 9 (the same day as miniculmination). I'll be passing out the assignment tomorrow, but in this sneak preview I'll reveal you'll be making some sort of chart that compares characteristics of the planets. This can be done on the computer - iMovie, Inspiration, Word - or, if you like art, you may choose to do something more like a poster.