Shortly after posting my last blog, I was abducted by aliens who flew me to Thermoman's home planet of Ultron where I was taught secrets of the universe.
It used to be you had to take classes, or be in the right place to hear a lecture on astronomy. Now there are many resources for hearing astronomy podcasts online.
The brightest star in the sky, Sirius, is about as bright as a 100-Watt incandescent light bulb viewed from a distance of more than 5 miles. Stars are really dim.
You can measure the sun with a ruler, tape measure and a small mirror. Yes, the actual size of the sun! You'll need a little math, but it's a great school project.
Christmas story about Clay Sherrod. Clay has been a strong force for the promotion of astronomy as the "People's Science" and the education of the public about the Universe.
Larry Sessions has written many favorite posts in EarthSky's Tonight area. He's a former planetarium director in Little Rock, Fort Worth and Denver and an adjunct faculty member at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He's a longtime member of NASA's Solar System Ambassadors program. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including Space.com, Sky & Telescope, Astronomy and Rolling Stone. His small book on world star lore, Constellations, was published by Running Press.