Astronomy & Our Lives What could learning about the planets and stars possibly have in common with my life now??

Astronomy & Our Lives There are more connections between our lives & astronomy than you might realize…

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

 SundayDomingoDimancheSun  MondayLunesLundiMoon  TuesdayMartesMardiMars  WedMiercolesMercrediMercury  ThursJuevesJeudiJupiter  FridayViernesVendrediVenus  SaturdaySabadoSamediSaturn 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” is around the same time as it takes the moon to repeat its phases from full to full.

Moonths of the year…  A “month” 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  Chinese New Year (second new moon after winter solstice)  Tết  Ramadan (starting and ending with the spotting of the crescent moon)  Easter (first Sunday after full moon after vernal equinox)

Time itself…  Where does “Clockwise” come from??

Time itself…  “Clockwise” = from the motion of the sun’s shadow over a sundial in the northern hemisphere! Early morning sun casts a shadow towards the “9” side of a clock face… E

Time itself… By noon, the overhead sun casts a (smaller) shadow towards the “12” side of a clock face… S

Time itself… By afternoon, the setting sun casts a (longer) shadow towards the “3” side of a clock face… W

Words, words, words…

 “aster” = star (from Latin)  Astronomy, Astrology  Disaster! “dis-aster” – going against the stars can be bad!  Catastrophe!  Asterisk ***  “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…  Culture

A sense of who we are…  Astronomy allowed us to develop agriculture, create calendars, maintain our history, navigate, explore…

A sense of who we are…  Literature "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings." Julius Caesar (I, ii, ) “Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love.” ― William Shakespeare, HamletWilliam ShakespeareHamlet “But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.” ― Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet

A sense of who we are…  Technology

A sense of who we are… Trying to understand nature led us to develop technologies absorbed into our culture…  Lasers, GPS, Cell Phones, Computers  Weather Satellites, Velcro, Tang…

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

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?