Stargazing is always something I've wanted to share with our little Starr and something I've missed doing in the past few years. There's so many online resources to make stargazing fun for kids and adults.
First, I remembered the RASC (Royal Astronomical Society of Canada) and their wonderful guides and certificate programs and quickly printed off the Explore the Universe paperwork.
"A challenging program for the new astronomer covering all major astronomical objects including constellations, bright stars, the Moon, Deep Sky Objects, and Double Stars. Suitable for both binoculars and telescopes".
Here is a summary of the Explore the Universe program requirements:
| Observing Objective | Required | Available |
|---|---|---|
| Constellations and Bright Stars | 12 | 24 |
| The Moon | 16 | 32 |
| Solar System | 5 | 10 |
| Deep Sky Objects | 12 | 24 |
| Double Stars | 10 | 20 |
| Total | 55 | 110 |
Astronomy can be overwhelming to start and this program gives a great into and a bit of a structure to start exploring and learning! Mark and I had started this a few years back, but I lost our copy with our records, no big whoop to start over I figure.
I went looking online for fun kid things to do and found Nasa's The Space Place. I printed off the instructions and template to make a Star Finder and found a constellation pattern template, which I printed out, traced the Ursa Major disc onto heavy cardstock (I used old cereal boxes), and punched holes in. Tonight we can shine a flash light and put the pattern in the light to project Ursa Major onto the wall. I was so happy when I realized the Explore the Universe Guide and the constellation pattern template seemed to match up well. For the adults I printed off information sheets from a constellation guide and from starryskies.com about the Ursa Major Constellation. I figured it was a good place to start. Now my creative juices are flowing and I'm thinking a short fun book containing the Ursa Major disc would be even more fun, nothing online, it may mean I make one myself! (add it to the "books I'd love to write" category beside pictorial cookbooks for kids).
Oh, my mind is working overtime and the clock is ticking. I'm going to go see if I can quickly write a short story based on the big ole bear's story.....
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