Looking at the stars, planets and moving objects in the heavens

Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. Genesis 1:16

www.heavens-above.com

Our family went to a winter night sky program at a planeterium while visiting a dear friend in NC and we were hooked! They recommended the above website to get a chart of the current night sky so you can find the constellations. No telescope needed! Just your eyes and a sky chart from the website or from the book I recommend below. Use a flashlight with a red light (you can put red cellophane over yours if need be) when looking at the chart so you don't ruin your night vision. All four of our children can now find Casseopia, Big Dipper, North Star, and Orion (and identify and name the red and blue stars in Orion) any time the stars are visible, without the aid of a chart.

We also use the website to locate satellite passes on any given night. Last night, there was a fairly bright one at the zenith of the sky at 8:30pm so Scotty took the children outside a few minutes early to get their eyes adjusted and also to locate the path of the satellite ahead of time. This time it went right by Mars so was easy to find. We also use the site to find out when the International Space Station (ISS) will be visibly passing overhead. The next BRIGHT pass over is on April 10th - can't wait!

For those of you in the DC area, we also discovered that the Air and Space Museum has a free planeterium program about the current night sky on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays at 11am. We have been once and it was very helpful to reiterate much of what we learned from the planeterium in NC and what we'd learned using our sky charts and gazing at the night sky. The children anticipated much of what the speaker was going to say. This has been a fun journey for all of us.

The planeterium program gave credit at the end of its show to H.A. Rey. I thought this was odd as he is the creator and author of the original Curious George books. I did some research and discovered that he also wrote and illustrated two books about the night sky which made sky viewing much easier for all of us. He connects the stars in the constellations in ways that make a lot more sense and make them much easier to find.

His first book "The Stars: A New Way to See Them" has a lot more information for older children and adults but is not necessarily more helpful. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0395248302/ref=pd_cp_b_1?pf_rd_p=317711001&pf_rd_s=center-41&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0395244188&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0QFBXGTNB7ZA2D38ZAYM I

The second book "Find the Constellations" is the one I highly recommend to you and/or your children. http://www.amazon.com/Find-Constellations-H-Rey/dp/0395244188/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i

Here's a typical review for the book on Amazon.com:
38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
It's the Greatest!, January 14, 2002
By Brad4d "bb" (United States) - See all my reviewsI'm a doc with over 3 years of post-doc training and I can't think of a single science text which is more enjoyable to read. Even after 16 years of astronomical observation, I still think of the constellations as Rey drew them (they are easier to remember), and I still get this text out when I want to show someone how to enjoy astronomy. If all science writers were like Mr Rey, we wouldn't be too worried about scientific illiteracy in this country. Along with its twin, The Stars, it stands alone. This treasure is "for kids from one to ninety-two."

We invite you to also enjoy the stars in the heavens above. Let us know if the stars start to become your familiar friends just like they have for us.