The Reasons for the Seasons
Do you live someplace where you get to experience the full glory of all four seasons? If so, you know well the heady blossoms and dramatic skies of spring; the long, sun-drenched days of summer; the trees shaking in crimson and gold in fall; and the sparkling, brittle snows of winter. But you might not know
why we have these seasons, over and over again, in a cycle as predictable as the rising and setting of the Sun. The reasons for the seasons are surprising and have to do with Earth's tilt and its big companion Moon—both of which have made life here on Earth possible. Try this astronomy science fair project to find out more!
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Measuring the Diameter of the Sun and the Moon
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You can measure the diameter of the Sun (and Moon) with a pinhole and a ruler! All you need to know is some simple geometry and the average distance between the Earth and Sun (or Moon). An easy way...
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Counting Sunspots on an Image of the Sun
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How Soon After Sunset Does the Sky Become Dark?
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Here's an astronomy project idea from Dr. James Pierce, a professor in the Astronomy Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato: "Determine the length of twilight at different times of the year...
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Finding the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy Using Globular Star Clusters
The Milky Way is the edgewise view of our home galaxy, a disk made up of billions of stars. The Sun resides on one of the spiral arms of the disk, 30,000 light-years from the thick hub of the galaxy. The actual center, with a black hole 3-4 million times the Sun's mass, is hidden by dust clouds in space. In this astronomy science fair project, you will use astronomical data to locate the center of this galaxy.
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How Much Mass Is Needed to Make a Body Round?
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Use your Internet sleuthing skills to learn about solar system objects. Create a table of measurements of moons and asteroids in order to determine if there is a size threshold for roundness. A...
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The Milky Way and Beyond: Globular Clusters
Globular clusters, compact groups of about a million stars that move around together in galaxies, are among the oldest objects found in the universe. Since they are found most galaxies and since they've been around for so long, globular clusters have a lot to tell us about what the universe looks like now and how it got that way. Is our Milky Way Galaxy just like all the other galaxies out there? What are galaxies made of? What can we learn about the universe from looking at galaxies? This project uses statistical analysis of real data to investigate these questions and explore the properties of globular clusters.
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Lunar Crater Counting
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Get good photographs of the Moon showing
lots of craters and count how many craters you find in a range of diameter classes. One useful source is the
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Why Does the Moon Appear Larger at Some Times?
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Some claim the Moon appears larger when near the horizon. Make a series of observations of the Moon, measuring the Moon's angular diameter each time. You should also note the Moon's altitude above...
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Sunspot Cycles
Sunspot activity has been monitored continuously since about 1700. The historical data shows that sunspot activity rises and falls in a roughly 11-year cycle. This project shows you how you can use both graphical and statistical analysis to look for patterns in cyclical data.
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Index of Astronomy Project Ideas |
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