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Calendar of Events

August 2006
The Night Sky

"No life can be barren 
which hears the whisper 
of the wind in the branches, 
or the voice of the sea 
as it breaks upon the shore;
and no soul can lack happiness 
looking up to the midnight stars."
William Forrest Winter

What to Do This Month:
Do some star gazing at the Washburn Observatory on Wednesdays. 

Attend a Saturday Family Workshop at UW Space Place.

Drop in at the Madison Children's Museum the week of August 20 to celebrate space.

Check out family events at area Nature Net sites!

Tricks of the Trail for Parents:
Night Vision
August is a great time to view the summer night sky!  Find a spot away from city lights.  Bring a blanket, insect repellent, and a flashlight with the light end covered in red cellophane (or the end of a red balloon) to preserve your night vision.  Allow a half hour for your eyes to adjust to the dark and you will be amazed by what you can see. For more tips on getting familiar with the night sky, visit Astronomy for Kids or Earth & Sky which shares great weekly charts of things to look for in the night sky. 

Instant Outdoor Expert:
Perseids Pleasure
Most people refer to meteors as shooting stars.  But meteors are much, much smaller than a star - in fact, most are no larger than a pebble!  Considering their size, and that meteors are made simply of metallic or stony matter, you can imagine there are many more meteors than we actually see.  Only when a meteor enters the Earth's atmosphere and the resulting friction heats the meteor - now called a meteoroid - do we see the resulting glow and shining trail of gases and melted meteoroid particles.  Meteoroids become visible between 40 and 75 miles above Earth.  And most disintegrate from the extreme heat and pressure (they're flying up to 44 miles per second) at about 30 to 60 miles above earth.  The occasional meteor that does reach the planet, is called a meteorite. 
Every August is a stage set for the amazing Perseids (pronounced: purse-ee-ids) meteor shower.  This annual event occurs thanks to the Comet Swift-Tuttle which visits our solar system every 130 years.  This comet, made of rock, dust and ice, leaves a trail of particles behind as it passes by.  Each year on our routine orbit around the sun, the planet Earth sails through this trail of matter.  The comet particles (meteors) are on an orbit of their own - following that of Swift-Tuttle.   Therefore, they are all traveling in the same direction (parallel to each other), at the same velocity, and hence, appear to an observer below to radiate from a single point in the sky, called a radiant point.  
We encounter the "pebbly" trail of Swift-Tuttle between July 23 and August 22, but the height of the action occurs on August 12 - on which date you should lay with your feet facing somewhere between the southern and eastern horizon, and look straight up.  If you want to find the radiant point for the Perseids shower just look for the constellation of Perseus.
For more information on this fabulous light show (which has been known to flash 100 meteors per hour), check out Space.com.

Eco-Exercise:
Flashlight Tag
Summer nights are a great time to play flashlight tag!  In a dark but safe field, gather a group of friends and give a flashlight to one who will be “it”.  As the light-bearer counts to 20 (or higher), all players run and hide.  Then, armed with a flashlight, search for the others (who may be switching hiding spots). The flashlight must remain on at all times and may not be covered. When "it " spots someone, she must use the flashlight to get a close enough look at the person to identify him and call out their name.

Featured Nature Net Site

Nature Craft

Cherokee Marsh
Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park is part of Dane County’s largest wetland.  Several thousand feet of boardwalks allow visitors to walk easily through a cattail marsh.  The Yahara River boardwalk leads through a distinctly different wetland, including sedge meadow, peat deposits and a fen. The park contains two observation platforms for wildlife viewing and several belly boards that encourage pond ecosystems exploration. Other trails lead through prairie restorations, old field and edge habitats, oak savannah, typical southern Wisconsin woods, as well as over a glacial drumlin and to a glacial kettle pond.  Families can ponder and discover a myriad of interrelationships between wetland and upland communities, fascinating wetland functions and values and some of Wisconsin’s glacial geology.

And don't forget, Cherokee Marsh is a great place to get away from city lights to view the night sky.

Park hours: 4am - dusk

Wired Star 
With some simple household items you can craft a shining star to hang as a reminder of the curious and beautiful celestial lights.

Start with a 3-foot length of 18-gauge wire.  Wrap it first around a pencil (to form a loop to hang your star from later) and then wrap (or press) it around the outer edge of a star-shaped cookie cutter. Snip off any excess wire and remove the cookie cutter.
Now, using a lighter gauge wire, wrap the star-shaped frame.  Secure the ends of the lightweight wire on the frame, being careful of sharp ends.
Tie a ribbon through the loop and you've got a glimmering star.

*** For another cool craft that will help you learn the monthly constellations, visit NASA's Space Place.

(Wired Star craft adapted from FamilyFun.com)

Learn about other Nature Net sites

Nature Craft Archives

The Sky Is Full of Stars (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 2)" by Franklyn M. Branley (ages 4-8)

"There Once Was a Sky Full of Stars" by Bob Crelin (ages 8+)

"Three Hundred and Sixty Five Starry Nights: An Introduction to Astronomy for Every Night of the Year" by Chet Raymo (ages 8+)

"Find the Constellations" by H. A. Rey (ages 9-12)

"Glow-in-the-Dark Constellations" by C. E. Thompson (ages 9-12)

"Children's Night Sky Atlas" by DK Publishing (ages 9-12)

Find Family events on the Nature Net Calendar of Events

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