Support science for our future. Make a gift to the Science Center’s Annual Fund to help support the Science Center’s education programs. It was hard to miss the energy and excitement around engineering when guests of the Science Center celebrated Engineers Week at SciFest: Engineering Expo on Saturday, February 26. Showcasing engineers and the creativity… Continue reading
March 17, 2022 The full moon officially occurs at 7:18 am tomorrow morning (March 18th). However, at moonrise tonight – 6:40 pm, the moon is at 99.5% illumination. The nearly full moon is visible this evening to the east in the constellation of Virgo. To calculate the lunar phase for any time and date, visit:… Continue reading
Welcome to Week 1 of this grow blog. Today’s post focuses on seed germination. Seeds contain everything a young plant needs to survive, but seeds will not germinate without the right environmental conditions. For this grow we will want to give the seeds the best possible environment, which includes moisture level, humidity, and temperature. To… Continue reading
This bronze double-wicked oil lamp from Ancient Rome features a winged dragon handle and an owl decorated lid covering the body opening. In some cases, oil lamps were a status symbol in the ancient world. Wealthy families used and displayed lamps made of metal, a higher quality material than stone, clay, shell, or glass. Many… Continue reading
March 16, 2022 The moon is slowly moving away from Earth. This means that eventually (in millions of years), it will be too far away to completely cover the solar disc during an eclipse, and total solar eclipses will be a thing of the past. Instead, all that would be visible are partial and annular… Continue reading
March 15, 2022 Tonight at 8 pm, the waxing gibbous moon will be visible in the constellation of Leo the Lion. The moon is near a group of stars that look like a large, backwards question mark. This question mark shape marks the head and mane of Leo. The bright star at the end of… Continue reading
March 14, 2022 On this date in 1934, American astronaut Gene Cernan was born. Cernan flew to the moon twice in his career. The first was as part of Apollo 10, where he helped pilot which did not land, and once on Apollo 17, the final Apollo mission. Cernan is the last person to have… Continue reading
March 13, 2022 On this date in 1781, William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus, which he originally called Georgium sidus, or “George’s Star” after King George III. Astronomers outside of Britain were not fond of this name, and they preferred to call the planet Herschel, after its discoverer. In 1782, Johann Elert Bode proposed the… Continue reading
This is the Saint Louis Science Center’s NIGHT SKY UPDATE for the week of Friday, March 11, 2022. Information updated weekly or as needed. Daylight saving time starts this week on Sunday March 13, 2022, which means sighting times will be posted in central daylight time starting the 13th. For definitions of terminology used in… Continue reading
March 12, 2022 This weekend Venus and Mars appear close together in the morning sky just before sunrise. The closest they will appear is 4° apart, with Venus just north of Mars. The best time to observe this pair is around 5 am tomorrow morning (March 13th). They are in the constellation of Capricornus just… Continue reading
