EVENTS CALENDARJanuary 3 - Earth CLOSEST to the Sun January 11-13 Moon near Mars in the evening sky January 20 Low Tide Exploration 2:30 - 4:30 PM at Campus Point and SUPERMOON LUNAR ECLIPSE 7:34-10:51 PM (Last TOTAL lunar eclipse until 2021) January 20-21 KING TIDES January 22 Venus - Jupiter Conjunction at Dawn January 31 Moon and Three Planets Before Dawn SCIENCE AT CHARTERLOW TIDE EXPLORATION Charter families are invited to join me for a low tide exploration on SUNDAY JANUARY 20 at 2:30 PM at Campus Point. I will have buckets and field guides for identifying tide pool creatures. I recommend wearing rain boots and a jacket. I will be there rain or shine. If you text or email me your plans to attend, I can be on the lookout for you. ([email protected] or 619-993-4339) This is not an official school sponsored event. You are responsible for keeping an eye on any children you bring - No part of their bodies should touch water unless you are watching them. Also please prepare them before you come for being gentle with all sea creatures. They may gently lift - not pry - creatures and place them in a bucket of sea water. After observing return the creatures to where they were found. DIRECTIONS: Exit Highway 101 northbound at Highway 217. Follow it to the end where it enters the UCSB gate. Go around the big circle and turn on Lagoon Rd. At the end of Lagoon Rd (before the signs that don't allow you to drive further) there is a large parking lot on your left. Read the sign by the pay machine - a few of the stalls are for beach access from 7:30am-5pm on weekdays. If you can't join us here are some other times that your family might want to enjoy the Low Tide. Sat 19 Low Tide: 2:49 PM PST −1.35 ft Sun 20 KING TIDE: 8:13 AM PST 6.90 ft Low Tide: 3:31 PM PST −1.62 ft FULL SUPERMOON LUNAR ECLIPSE 7:30-10:50 Mon 21 KING TIDE: 8:59 AM PST 6.96 ft Low Tide: 4:14 PM PST −1.66 ft Tue 22 Low Tide: 4:57 PM PST −1.47 ft Wed 23 Low Tide: 5:41 PM PST −1.07 ft KING TIDES In addition to exploring the beach during low tide it can also be interesting to view the beach during high tide (or both for low and high tide) to really see a difference. King Tides - the highest high tides - will be on January 20 and 21. They will be in the mornings between 8 AM and 9 AM and are around plus 6.9 feet. If you plan to be at the beach on those mornings you can participate in a citizen science project by snapping a picture. The pictures will be used to show the potential changes due to sea level rise in the future. The California King Tide Project can be viewed here: www.coastal.ca.gov/kingtides/ Tide calendar can be viewed here: tides.mobilegeographics.com/calendar/month/5608.html?y=2019&m=1&d=1 THE NIGHT SKY THIS MONTHHappy New Year! January 2019 has some exciting astronomical events. The year begins with the Earth being closest to the sun for the year (called perihelion) on January 3rd. Many people think that the seasons are caused by the sun being closer to the earth in the summer and farther away in the winter. Though in the southern hemisphere this might seem true, our winter here in the northern hemisphere occurs when the sun is CLOSEST to the earth. The seasons are caused by the EARTH'S TILT not its distance from the sun. The planets Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter will be visible in the MORNING sky this month. On January 22nd Venus and Jupiter will appear close together in the sky. Then on January 31 the moon will be in the section of the sky containing Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus. The only bright planet visible in the evening sky this month will be Mars and on January 11th -12th the moon will be near Mars in the night sky. DON'T MISS THE SUPERMOON LUNAR ECLPISE ON JANUARY 20th. This will be the last TOTAL eclipse (there will be some partials) for the next three years and this eclipse will be early enough that you won't have to get up in the middle of the night to view it. It begins at 7:34 p.m. and reaches totality at 9:12 p.m. I find the beginning and the end of the eclipse most exciting because it looks so different - like someone took a bite out of the moon. During totality sometimes the moon appears red and is called a blood moon. Pacific Time Partial umbral eclipse begins: 7:34 p.m. (January 20, 2019) Total lunar eclipse begins: 8:41 p.m. (January 20, 2019) Greatest eclipse: 9:12 p.m. (January 20, 2019) Total lunar eclipse ends: 9:43 p.m. (January 20, 2019) Partial umbral eclipse ends: 10:51 p.m. (January 20, 2019) TRY THIS AT HOMEmodel an eclipse: www.planetarium-activities.org/activities/categories/moons/eclipse-model www.sciencefriday.com/educational-resources/model-eclipses/ SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
0 Comments
|
Leise Thomason-BA Biology Brown University Categories |