120 likes | 216 Views
Astronomy & Our Lives. or… What could learning about the planets and stars possibly have in common with my life now??. Astronomy & Our Lives. There are more connections between astronomy than you realize… Days of the Week? Months of the Year? Time itself! Words, words, words,
E N D
Astronomy & Our Lives or… What could learning about the planets and stars possibly have in common with my life now??
Astronomy & Our Lives • There are more connections between astronomy than you realize… • Days of the Week? • Months of the Year? • Time itself! • Words, words, words, • Products, products, and more products • A sense of who we are.
Seven Days of the Week • Sunday - the Sun’s day, of course • Monday - the Moon’s day • Tuesday - ? • Wednesday - ?? • Thursday - ??? • Friday - ??#$ • Saturday - ???%^?
Seven Days of the Week • Sunday Domingo Dimanche Sun • Monday Lunes Lundi Moon • Tuesday Martes Mardi Mars • Wed Miercoles Mercredi Mercury • Thurs Jueves Jeudi Jupiter • Friday Viernes Vendredi Venus • Saturday Sabado Samedi Saturn Seven objects are easily seen to move in regular patters in front of the stars across the skies during the year
Moonths of the year… • A “month” of time is around the same time as it takes the moon to repeat its phases from full to full. • Many cultures still use lunar calendars for religious festivals • Easter • Ramadan & Islamic New Year • Chinese New Year • Tết
Time itself… • “Clockwise” from the motion of the sun’s shadow over a sundial! 12 3 9 Early morning sun casts a shadow towards the “9” side of a clock face…
Time itself… By noon, the overhead sun casts a (smaller) shadow towards the “12” side of a clock face… 12 3 9
Time itself… By afternoon, the setting sun casts a (longer) shadow towards the “3” side of a clock face… 12 3 9
Words, words, words… • “aster” = star (from Latin) • Astronomy, Astrology • Disaster! “dis-aster” – going against the stars can be bad! • “cosmos” = order • Cosmology – the study of the order of the universe • Cosmetics – putting your face “in order” • “Meteorology” – the study of weather?
Products, products, products! • Cars • Ford: Taurus, Galaxy, Mercury Comet… • Chevy: Astrovan, Nova, Vega… • Plymouth Satellite, Pontiac Sunfire, Oldsmobile Starfire… • Subaru, Saturn… • Food • Sunchips, Sunny Delite, Mars bars, Moon cakes, Starkist • Products & Companies • Comet cleanser, SUN mirosystems, Visa STAR network… • TV & Movies galore…
A sense of who we are… • Astronomy allowed us to develop agriculture, create calendars, maintain our history, navigate, explore… • Trying to understand nature led us to develop technologies absorbed into our culture… • Lasers, GPS, Cell Phones, Computers • Weather Satellites, Velcro, Tang…
Key Questions for YOU… • How does science work? • What do we gain, as humans, by asking questions of Nature? • Is the quest for knowledge worth the costs?