October 26, 2021 Tonight at 10 pm, you can find the star Aldebaran rising in the east. If you grab binoculars, this bright orangish red star appears near a V-shape of stars. This V-shape is the open star cluster known as the Hyades. It is found in the winter constellation Taurus the Bull. The orange… Continue reading
Greenhouse Update: Ideal Growing Media
Over the summer, we had an optimistic “aha moment” after visiting the VAST Produce hydroponics operation. Our intern, Christopher, and educator Andy returned from their field trip reporting that the folks at VAST seemed to use simple and affordable peat pellets for growing media in their deep water culture bed. If peat pellets could work… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 25, 2021
October 25, 2021 Today in 1975, the Soviet unmanned probe Venera 10 soft-landed on Venus. Although it was designed to last only 30 minutes in the extremely high-temperature and high-pressure environment of Venus, Venera 10 transmitted for a record 65 minutes. More information about Venera 10 may be found in NASA’s ‘Mission’ pages here. The… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 24, 2021
October 24, 2021 Mercury reaches greatest western elongation tomorrow. You can look for the elusive planet about 9.5° above the eastern horizon tomorrow morning at 6:40 am. Those with telescopes will see Mercury’s disk 56.9% illuminated. Much like the Moon, both Mercury and Venus exhibit phases. Mercury rising in the east at 6:40 am on… Continue reading
Night Sky Update: October 22 – October 30, 2021
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, October 22, 2021. Information updated weekly or as needed. Times given as local St. Louis time, which is Central Daylight Time (CDT). For definitions of terminology used in the night sky update, click the highlighted text. If relying on times… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 23, 2021
October 23, 2021 Today in 2007, Space Shuttle Discovery launched on the twenty-third Shuttle mission to the International Space Station and delivered the Harmony module. Harmony, also known as Node 2, is the utility of the ISS. It connects the laboratory modules of the United States, Europe, and Japan as well as providing sleeping cabins… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 22, 2021
October 22, 2021 Tonight at 8 pm, you can find the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the south. You can confirm you have these planets with the twinkle test. Stars twinkle planets usually do not. Jupiter and Saturn can be found in the south at 8 pm. rising in the east is a waning gibbous… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 21, 2021
October 21, 2021 Today, the annual Orionid Meteor Shower reaches it’s peak. A meteor shower is a celestial event where meteors, or shooting stars, can be observed caused by streams of cosmic debris entering the Earth’s atmosphere. While usually a respectable meteor shower, the nearly full moon will make observing many meteors from the Orionids… Continue reading
Artifact of the Week: Pink Calcite
Calcite is a universal and extensive mineral found in many forms and colors. This pink calcite specimen has dark brown hematite crystals called phantom inclusions, which grow inside the calcite. It was collected from the Tsumeb Mine in Namibia, a mine world famous for its wealth of rare and unusual minerals, and well known to… Continue reading
Astronomy Fact of the Day: October 20, 2021
October 20, 2021 October’s full moon occurs today marking the 10th of 12 full moons in 2021. The Moon will be in Pisces tonight. Like the Sun and planets, the Moon will always appear in a zodiac constellation. Full moon occurs today at 14:56 UT. October’s full moon is often called the Full Hunter’s Moon.… Continue reading