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Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
Have you been wishing for something and it hasn’t come true? Well you are in luck. The Geminid meteor shower will be giving us plenty of shooting stars (meteors) to wish upon from Dec. 4-17, and according to Ptolemy (1st century A.D.), when there are shooting stars the gods will be looking down on us …
Posted in: Astronomy/Mathematics, Heritage Months, Holidays, and Today in History
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
There is something about a full moon that affects us (sometimes literally!) and our admiration of it can be found in art, literature, music, and poetry. The full moon is revered in many cultures across the globe. In North America, tribes of Native Americans gave varying names to the full moons according to the season, …
Posted in: Astronomy/Mathematics, Heritage Months, Holidays, and Today in History
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
The following is a guest post by Dr. Sten Odenwald, NASA/ National Institute of Aerospace, who presented a lecture on the Transit of Venus at the Library of Congress on May 8, 2012. You can view his lecture on our webcast page and Youtube channel. On June 5th, 2012 most people will have the opportunity …
Posted in: Astronomy/Mathematics, Guest Blog Posts, Heritage Months, Holidays, and Today in History, Lunchtime Lectures and Videos
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
I answer a fair share of questions from authors, historians, and filmmakers who are trying to find weather or astronomical observations for a particular time and place so they can accurately describe a moment in time. You can imagine my delight when I read that film director James Cameron will be including a historically accurate …
Posted in: Astronomy/Mathematics, Heritage Months, Holidays, and Today in History
Posted by: Jennifer Harbster
Today’s post is from science reference librarian Margaret Clifton. She is also the author of Saving Energy: The Fall Back Position, Stars in his Eyes and Sun Spots this Summer. I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night – Sarah Willams (1837-1868)* In February of 2010 I wrote a post for Inside …
Posted in: Aeronautics/Astronautics, Astronomy/Mathematics, Guest Blog Posts, Inventions, Lunchtime Lectures and Videos