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Stardust books

Hi guys, Interested in stars, star constellations, planets and galaxies? Well, you have come to the right place! This is the perfect website to learn about Astronomy, and more! Welcome to Shiri and Tanna's amazing blog! Here you can play games, learn about your star sign and our planet, explore black holes, and generally enjoy yourselves! After you've answered some poles, scroll down to the bottom of the page for you to understand the answers! Click on the games page above to play games! If you would like to have some more fun at our blog, click on the Activity sheets above, copy and paste the activity sheet you want onto a Microsoft document, print it out, and do it! More fantastic activities and games will be coming soon. Feel free to comment, or let us know if something isn't working by sending us an email, or posting a comment. If the snow effect on our blog is distracting you, feel free to just tell us, email us, or post a comment. And don't forget to play and feed our fish! Good luck and have fun surfing our website! Shiri and Tanna ;-)

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Wednesday 31 August 2011

Star constellation movie

Hi guys!

Since we wanted you to learn more about your star sign, we created a slide show all about star signs for you! Just find where your sign is, and then you can read and learn about it.

Thank you for commenting and watching!

Shiri and Tanna











Saturday 27 August 2011

Constellation vote winner!

Hi Guys!

Today, we find out the winning animal for the star constellation animal vote!
Drumroll please!......................And the winning animal constellation is.....The Lion!

We would just like to say thank you to everybody who voted, it was really fun for us! Congratulations on all the guests who voted for the Lion. BUT! You don't just walk away with empty hands do you? Everybody gets a free tip on how to view stars.

All you have to do is to download google earth. Click on google earth, then above the world, there is a planet called 'Saturn'. Click on it, and you can view: Earth, Sky, Mars or the Moon. Click on the sky and there will be all the star constellations there. Amazing!

Well, we promised we will give information on Leo.

The constellation of Leo
Leo is a star sign, which is part of the Zodiac. The Leo is known as a Lion, and the brightest star/part of this constellation is Regulus, or as known as Alpha Leonis.
Regulus is the winter star. It's colour is blue, with some yellow, pink and orange mixed together. It represents the Lion's breast/mane and can be seen more clearly above the coastline.
This constellation is readily recognisable.
Alpha Leonis is named Regulus because it was seen as the Heaven's Guardian, who regulated all things in the heavens.
Regulus is one of the four brightest stars in the sky.

While the name Regulus was given us by Copernicus, the star was better known as Cor Leonis, meaning the Lion's heart.

There are also less brighter stars in this constellation. These are:

Beta Leonis is called Denebola, which is the Lion's tail.
Gamma Leonis is Algeiba, the arabic word for forehead.
Zeta Leonis is Aldhafera, and the meaning is uncertain.
Epsilon Leonis and Mu Leonis go under the name of Al Ashfar which are the eyebrows.
Delta Leonis is Zosma, a Greek word meaning girdle.
Lambda Leonis is Alterf, apparently meaning extremity. It is located right at the tip of the Lion's mouth.

Some bears believed that this star was their pathway star to a great heaven where they could live peacefully. Nobody knows if it is actually true. Do you think it is?

The constellation of Leo has five Messier objects; M65, M66, M94 and M105.
Leo can only be seen clearly in early mornings.

Once again, thank you all for voting!

Shiri and Tanna ;-)













Saturday 20 August 2011

August Star constellation viewer

Hi everybody!

Since we are almost finished August, we wanted to share a map of star constellations for August with you! 
There are lots of fun constellations this month. As you can see, there are lots of constellations on this map. Do you see Hercules in the middle of the map? 
Down the bottom near the bottom right corner you can see there is a constellation called Scorpius. And the blue star in the constellation is the head of that constellation; which is the Scorpion's heart, Antares. Just to the right of that constellation is Sagittarius. Sagittarius is a half-human half-beast.
When you are viewing it in true life, it is actually located just below the scorpion. Tilt your head to the right and you'll see that it's under the Scorpion.

Isn't it so cool that Shiri's constellation is Sagittarius and Tanna's is the Scorpion? They are just next to each other in the sky! 

If you are wondering why we have our own constellation, it's because of our star sign. E.g If you were a Gemini, your constellation would be in the sky. Thats why it's called 'Star sign'. If you would like to see more months, you can look at this picture:

Need help? Just ask us!

Shiri and Tanna

Tuesday 16 August 2011

Leadership games at school

Hi guys!

Today we learnt about Leadership skills at school and we played lots of fun games to do with the topics: Co-operation, Communication and Listening. So the first game we started off with was to figure out the birthdays of our classmates without talking or mouthing and then line up in order from January to December

The second game was a very fun game and everyone liked it. We have to choose a partner and sit back to back with them. Then one of them have to draw a simple picture and the other person is not allowed to look. Then the person who drew the picture has to tell the other person the instructions of drawing that picture without looking or asking any questions. Tanna drew the picture and Shiri had to try draw it. Well, it didn't turn out really well; we suppose. Take a look at what we produced:

Tanna's picture                                  Shiri's picture
                                                      
LOL! Isn't it funny how it turned out?!?! If you would like to play this game, try it!

Tanna and Shiri

Friday 12 August 2011

George's Secret Key to the Universe by Stephen Hawking



Hi guys.

We hope you like reading, because here is a fantastic book that is 'out of this world'. It is called 'George's Secret Key To The Universe' by Stephen Hawking, Lucy Hawking and Christophe Galphard. It's a children's book but is great for adults to read as well and we hope you enjoy it.

This book has many facts, figures and information on planets, comets, stars, etc. There are colour pictures taken from satellites of many different planets and moons. Here is a link to the page if you are willing to try this amazing book.

http://www.georgessecretkey.com/

Shiri and Tanna

Thursday 11 August 2011

Star constellation vote


Hi guys!

This is a special festival competition on star constellations especially for you! If you would like to enter, a quiz will be set up on our blog, and you have to pick the animal out of what we choose for us to tell you about! It is located just on the right to this post. And, you can learn more about it. The vote will be open for about 10 - 20 days. We will check the most votes, and choose which one had the most votes. 
If there is an animal that you like and it isn't in here, it is because there is no such constellation. Just choose out of the possible ones!

Good luck and have some fun!!!!

Tanna and Shiri



Wednesday 10 August 2011

The Southern Cross

Hi guys!

Since Australia is such an important country, and has beautiful views, we wanted to talk to you about the Australian constellation.

The southern cross
The southern cross star constellation is part of our Australian flag, the stars. There are currently six stars on our flag, and the biggest one of all is called the commonwealth star.

The commonwealth star is a star with  points. This large star represents the federation of all our lands and the people in our nation. The six points on the commonwealth star  represent all the states in Australia, and the seventh represents the territories. 

The top star on our flag is called the Gamma crux and it has 86 light years!

The star on the right of the top star is called the Delta crux and it has 256 light years!
The star on the left of the top star is called the Beta crux and it has 424 light years!
The star at the bottom is called the Alpha 1 crux and it has 368 light years!
And the little star, Epsilon crux has 57 light years.
The commonwealth star is the commonwealth star.

If you would like to see more information, go to wikipedia, google images labels etc.

Shiri and Tanna

Saturday 6 August 2011

Scientific Information on how stars were created (Special Adult Post)

Hi guys!

This pack of information you may not understand because it has scientific language and vocabulary. But mainly, parents and adults, this is especially for you to look at.

The first stars were created by the coalescing of hydrogen and a few other elements into large clouds. As these clouds became more massive the gravity they exerted began to squeeze these clouds into spheres. As this occured temperatures began to rise inside them. The denser they got the more matter was drawn into them, the larger they became, the more gravity they exerted, the hotter they got, etc. until the density became so great that the cores ignited and became self sustaining nuclear furnaces. These early stars had a relatively short life span compared to modern stars. As they burned up all their fuel they created heavier elements. When these stars finally used up all their fuel they exploded (nova) and seeded the cosmos with newer, heavier elements, such as helium, argon, oxygen, iron, etc. These elemnts , in turn, coalesced into new stars and repeated the process. Each new generation of stars was responsible for creating new elements. Every time a star goes nova it releases all these newer, heavier elements that make up everything in the known universe. Every thing that you are, every atom of everything on this planet and else where was born in the furnace of a star! We are all, literally, star children.

We got this information from Yahoo answers. They really do have good information there!

Shiri and Tanna

Catching the stars



Today we have a special programme for you called 'Catching the stars'. These are just a few games and tips you might find on how to spot a star constellation you would like to see or spot. We love to spot star constellations and we just love sharing things with everyone!

Tips on how to find the star you want
*If you don't know how your constellation looks like, just type in the name of it. If you don't know the name of it, type in what it is. E.g Scorpio - Scorpion
*Search your constellation on google images and then when night comes, go outside and find it! Be careful to not get mixed up!

Fun Facts!
*Be careful. Some star groups may look like the constellation you are looking for, but make sure about the brightness of the stars, and the position of the stars.
*Its always good to lie down in blankets outside and watch the stars glitter and move about at different hours at night.

Fun star game
Stare at a stare for a minute, then close your eyes and wait for a minute or two. Still stare at the star when you do it. Then, open your eyes, and the star vanishes!
Warnings: Be careful at which star you choose. Because some of them are too bright and some may not work. Our advice is to stick with the very faint or just faint stars. 



Video of a Black hole

Astronomy for kids!


Zoom Into the Milky Way

The Solar System song

The Planets

Life, Birth and Death of a star (pictures)