Article Collections

On this page you will find articles on topics with extended content from the Issues of The Classroom Astronomer.

1. A Look at the Next Generation of Science Standards, in Astronomy.
   A five-part series of articles discussing what astronomy is in the NGSS, how it is arranged and can make the structure of a course, what is in it and what is missing, finding other parts of the NGSS to flesh it out more, and what needs to be done to improve the Standards. 18 page PDF.
   
2. How the Measure the Moon’s Size and Distance During a Lunar Eclipse — 2022
   A two-article primer and example on using a small ball to get dimensions to Earth’s shadow, and then how to get the size of the cross section of the umbral shadow the Moon goes through during a lunar eclipse, hence the Moon’s distance and then its size. The second article in the set uses the observations of the May 15-16, 2022 total lunar eclipse (you can do this with a partial as well) to get the Moon’s size and distance to within 11%. PDF