Tag: "chabot"
Seeing Relativity: No Bungees Attached!
One hundred eleven years ago, Chabot Director Charles Burckhalter photographed a solar eclipse. What he couldn't know is that, almost two decades later, his pictures would be caught up in a race, to prove or disprove, one of the great Universe-changing theories in history.
Post on Oct 21, 2011 by Ben Burress from QUEST Northern California
The Stars Are Coming Out Tonight!
Looking to get out and enjoy the night sky? There are a variety of opportunities to go stargazing around the Bay Area whether or not you have a telescope!
Post on Aug 24, 2010 by Laura Khalil
The Sun—Live In Your Own Backyard!
Chabot volunteers are running a live solar observatory for the public.
Post on May 07, 2010 by Ben Burress
Shifting Sands of Far-Off Lands
What started out to be a workaday chore—replacing a broken motor in an exhibit—panned out to be a voyage of discovery to the shifting sands of another world.
Post on Mar 12, 2010 by Ben Burress
Personal Comet
Nothing seems to capture the pure grandeur and extra-Earthly splendor of outer space like a comet…but at Chabot we like to bring things down to Earth a bit—not to diminish their wonder and awe-inspiring beauty, but rather to give us a chance to connect with pieces of the Universe in a personal way that—we hope—will only enhance their wonder.
Post on Jan 29, 2010 by Ben Burress
Web of Stars
What do Chabot's 36-inch telescope, Nellie, and a classroom full of 14-year-old girls in Cork, Ireland have in common?
Post on Oct 23, 2009 by Ben Burress
Producer's Notes: Maya Skies
Go behind the scenes of Tales of Maya Skies, the new film produced by Oakland's Chabot Space and Science Center. The half-hour film about Maya astronomy opens at the center's planetarium on November 21.
Post on Oct 13, 2009 by Gabriela Quirós
Jumpin' Jupiter! Where Did the Galileans Go?
Had Galileo spied the planet Jupiter with his telescope 400 years ago on a night such as a couple of Thursdays ago, would the history of modern astronomy have unfolded any differently?
Post on Sep 11, 2009 by Ben Burress
Shooting the Moon
Launching a spacecraft bound for the Moon with the deliberate intention of striking the Moon in a spectacular impact! Sounds like something out of a Jules Verne novel…
Post on May 08, 2009 by Ben Burress
Producer's Notes: Asteroid Hunters
On March 3rd, 2009 at 1:40PM GMT, just a mere month after we’d finished the Asteroid Hunters segment, an asteroid of up to 165 feet in diameter snuck up on us, coming within approximately 37,000 miles from a direct impact with Earth.
Post on Mar 23, 2009 by Amy Miller
Producer's Notes: Eclipse Chasers
QUEST tells the story of two Bay Area eclipse chasers – people so entranced by the sight of the moon completely covering the sun that they travel around the world to get a firsthand view of the phenomenon.
Post on Nov 10, 2008 by Gabriela Quirós
The sky is falling… or is it?
Why is it that meteorites are brought to me for identification in clusters? I don't mean that people bring clusters of meteorites-but it seems I get calls and visits from possessors of unknown rock samples, hopeful that they are of extraterrestrial origin, in bursts. This time I got two inquiries in two days!
Post on Sep 15, 2008 by Ben Burress
Come Together, Bright Planets, Over Me….
Depiction of a major alignment of the five visible planets in 1059 BCE. Photo By Ben Burress There are some pretty good "lineups" coming soon to skies above you. First of all, "lineups," or alignments, go on in the heavens all the time, though most often they are alignments of objects too faint to easily [...]
Post on Jun 20, 2008 by Ben Burress
Young Einsteins found in Oakland
School groups tour the Oakland Schools Science Fair projects at Chabot. Ben Burress, Chabot Space & Science CenterIt's the time of year again that I get a chance to peruse what our scientific-minded youth are thinking on questions of the physical world and universe around us: Oakland Unified School District Science Fair! The science projects [...]
Post on May 25, 2008 by Ben Burress
Living in the Sun's Atmosphere
Illustration of a blast of solar wind impacting Earth's protective magnetic field. Credit: NASABreathe in, exhale. Feel the air in your mouth, windpipe, and lungs. That's a sample of Earth's atmosphere: the thin layer of gases enveloping our planet. Did you know that the Sun also has an atmosphere, and that the Earth is inside [...]
Post on Mar 28, 2008 by Ben Burress
Equinox Season
It's approaching that time of year again: Spring Equinox. The blaze in my home's interior hallway has been signaling this for the last week. The shadow of Chabot's "solar clock" at noon on the equinox produces a pattern of solid green straddling the gnomonI noticed late in the afternoon a couple days ago that the [...]
Post on Mar 14, 2008 by Ben Burress
Oakland's Observatory
The original Oakland Observatory in the 1880’s, at Lafayette Square in Oakland. Credit: Chabot Space & Science Center archives.This year marks an anniversary for the astronomical heritage of Oakland and the San Francisco Bay Area: Chabot Observatory turns 125! Originally established as the Oakland Observatory in 1883, the facility was a unique creature from the [...]
Post on Feb 29, 2008 by Ben Burress
Nap time for the Sun: solar cycles
Extreme close-up of the Sun's visible surface, showing 'bubbling' cells of convecting gas–each the size of Northern California. credit: Hinode JAXA/NASA/PPARCBy all accounts, a new cycle-Cycle 24-in solar activity has begun… something you probably didn't notice since the beginning of a solar cycle is quite subtle…. First things first: what is a solar cycle, and [...]
Post on Feb 15, 2008 by Ben Burress
Astronomy on the Wing
More than meets the eye: The constellation Orion in visible light (left) and infrared (right) Visible light image: Akira Fujii; Infrared image: Infrared Astronomical SatelliteSome months ago my blog, "SOFIA: Fly By Night," talked about the up-and-coming astronomy ace of the night skies, SOFIA: the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy–a 2.5 meter infrared telescope built [...]
Post on Feb 01, 2008 by Ben Burress
An Asteroid's Close Call
This has been a month of dashed hopes for astronomers around the world. Last month it seemed possible that an asteroid the size of a Boeing 737 jet was due to collide with Mars on January 30. Today that seems far less likely, but, as Amy Standen reports, astronomers consider it a wake up call. [...]
Post on Jan 17, 2008 by Amy Standen
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