By: Blonde Two
If you have looked at the sky recently, you will have noticed that the sun is bigger than the stars.
Because I possess the power of common sense (most of the time), I have worked out that the sun is actually nearer than the stars, which presumably means that it is not bigger. You have a bit of time to ponder these things when you are standing in a frosty field, under a clear sky, at one in the morning, waiting for a parent to come and pick up their poorly child. I was doing just that (whilst B1 dealt with said child) on Wednesday night when I noticed that the stars (who had all come out to play) appeared to be just that bit fatter than usual. They were also just that bit phatter than usual. For those of you who are not ‘Down with the yout like what I am!’, this means the same thing as ‘awesome’ (2000’s), ‘cool’ (1970’s) and ‘excellent’ (mid 14th century).
It truly was a superb night sky and beautiful enough to stop me from being grumpy at being out of the sleeping bag that I had only just managed to warm up.
Just in case you were worried that the stars had either changed size (slightly worrying) or moved nearer (intriguing), I looked the whole thing up. As it turns out, our sun is just an average-sized star. The red dwarves are the smallest and the red hypergiant stars are the largest (I do like a clue in a name). We apparently should all be keeping an eye on the size of the stars. Betelgeuse (just above Orion’s belt) is set to explode within the next 1000 years, which is kind of okay; but if we notice our sun getting much bigger (we probably won’t through the Dartmoor mists) it is going to be the end of the universe and not even our walking boots will save us!
Your grasp of astronomy, although a bit rudimentary, is far better than mine. Some years ago I was encouraged to get up at 3:00 am by a “friend” to observe a lunar eclipse. Looking out of my kitchen window I saw the moon but nothing happened. Disgruntled I went back to bed. In the morning, taking stock, I realised I had been looking at a street lamp up the road.
Poor old Beetle Juice. The night sky won’t be the same without it. Coming home very late one night, My Dad, an amateur astronomer, switched his torch on to get a better look at the stars.
Conveniently for avid star-gazers, the night of August 12th 2016 will present the peak of activity from the annual Perseids meteor shower (it’ll also be visible for several days beforehand).
I say “conveniently” because; 1) the 12th August is a Friday so technically the weekend, 2) because the early night moon will be fairly bright the best visibility will occur after moon-set until just before dawn so it’s possible to have a kip before waking up ridiculously early for the best view, 3) it’s warm at night in August (unless it’s not), 4) the army wont be lobbing live ammunition about in August. One hundred meteors per hour aren’t unknown, so it can be quite a show – definitely worth staying up to see once in a lifetime at least.
Of course, being teachers you’ll know all of this already. 32222222