Galilean Nights

Fortress of Oradea, October 23-th 2009

I have organized in the Fortress of the town the activity "Galilean Nights".
The work should have two parts: a multimedia presentation in the city and out with telescopes in Independence Square, near the statue of Mihai Eminescu.
Unfortunately, the clouds above the city were still stubborn and stayed in the sky, making impossible any observation.

The evening started with presentations in PowerPoint:
1. Galileo Galilei-student Georgiana Gavra
2. Jupiter and Galilean satellites - students Ioana Madalina Jipa
3. Saturn-student Anca Madalina Negru and Mantu Madalina
4. The Moon-student Ioana Matiuta.

The cloud sky not allowed us to observe the constellations, but I watched a film about the constellations October -December.
The evening ended with the presentation of beautiful pictures made Vesselny Tibi.

The students participated in the activity of High School "Aurel Lazar," CN "Emauil Gojdu" CT. "M. Viteazul " and of course, children from "Oltea Doamna" School. Were also present astroclub Meridian 0 members and a guest of Salonta Mr. Matias Csukas.

Save the Milky Way!

Fortress of Oradea, October 16-th, 2009

Wow, these are fantastic photos, isn't?
Think again!




A view of the cities's world. The citizen of these cities can't see the Milky Way! Why?
There are the places with high level of light pollution.
The sky is wonderful and the people can see the magnificent Milky Way from places with low level of light pollution.

How dark is my sky?

We watched the sky and the magnitude was 4. We have saw thousand of stars and a hint of Milky Way.
We recorded our data on Great Wide Star Count site, event no. 1516.
This international event encourages everyone to go outside, look skywards after dark, count the stars they see in certain constellations, and report what they see online.
We observed the stars in Cygnus and we have seen all six stars in the cross of this constellation. The Magnitude was 4.



My students found a solution: Lights out! The sky is magnificent!

Journey through our Solar System

Oradea, Romania, The Children's Town, October 10, 2009

2009 is the 10th year when many people of the world celebrate World Space Week October 4-10. Last year Romania was second place in the world, after USA. This year's theme is Space for Education.

In Oradea are many children who love space. Children eagerly waiting to learn new things about our Solar System.
Journey through our Solar System is the activity I organized in Children's little Town of Oradea.
Children were enthusiastic: Mars rovers built with cookies, candies and jellies, and they became a model of the Solar System which helped to better understand large distances between the planets and the Sun.
It was fun for all kids in the hall.
Students who helped me in this beautiful journey are: Adina Meza, Raoul Muthu and Anamaria Georgies.

Also, it was an mouvie with the our Solar System's planets and three PowerPoint presentation:
1. Our Solar System- student Raoul Muthu,
2. Rovers on Mars: Spirit and Opportunity- student Adina Meza,
3. Send your name to Mars- student Anamaria Georgies.

At the end of this activity, children have seen 3D image of the Sun, Moon and Mercury transit.

Rovers built by children from sweets are names now: Alien, Omega, Curiosity, Rafidus.






It was a great pleasure for me to organize this activity, the children are always very receptive, enthusiastic and creative.

Journey to the Moon

Romania, Oradea's Fortress, October 9-th 2009

The Moon inspired us always to look to the sky. Since ancient times, cultures around the world have looked to the Moon, used it to measure time and wondered how did the Moon is on sky.
What is the celestial body that changes its shape, disappears, then returns as the Queen of the night?
Moon was dwelling gods? Or people will ever get it?
This is the story of celebrating our dream to travel to the Moon. The story of an epic journey, planned and carried out successfully by people who are alive today.
I invite you to a Journey to the Moon. Along with me are members Meridian 0 astroclub from Oradea.
1. Moon formation-student Vlad Filimon,
2. Lunar relief -student Horia Onita,
3. Mercury and Gemini Programs-teacher Valentina Matei,
3. Apollo Program-student Anna-Maria Manolache,
4. Apollo Mission's Patch- Madalina and Raluca Mantu,
5. LCROSS and LRO Missions- student Georgiana Gavra.

I gave details about LCROSS impact crater Cabeus control near the South Pole of the Moon, which took place on October 9, 2009, at 11:31 GMT.
I also presented three videos:
a.Images of the Moon,
b.An walk on the Moon,
c.NASA trailer (Ares I to the Moon).
The water on the Moon has a great importance for future missions. The countdown has begun.

History of Rockets- World Space Week

NC. "E. Gojdu",October 7-th in Oradea, Romania

I organized in my school, an educational activity during World Space Week October 4-10 "History of rockets".
Space for Education is the theme for this year. In my school I talked about rockets, Newton's laws, and my students loves to see the journey to the Moon of three brave men in Saturn V. I utilised "We choose the Moon" and my students understand each stage in this historical event.
We returned safe on Earth.
In the end of this activity, we launched a rocket in the schoolyard, to better explain the physical principles behind its operation.

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

Oradea, September 16-th 2009

I organized in my school an activity and my students deepens the concepts learned in chemistry lessons: ozone, ozone layer, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases. Students become aware of the importance of protecting the ozone layer in the stratosphere, and know what are the effects if the ozone layer thins.

September 16 marks the International Day for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, declared by the United Nations to commemorate the date when the Montreal Protocol was signed to ban use of ozone depleting chemicals such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Scientists are tracking the size and depth of the ozone hole with observations from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA's Aura spacecraft, the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment on the European Space Agency's ERS-2 spacecraft, and the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NOAA-16 satellite.

The depth and area of the ozone hole are governed by the amount of chlorine and bromine in the Antarctic stratosphere. Over the southern winter, polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) form in the extreme cold of the atmosphere, and chlorine gases react on the cloud particles to release chlorine into a form that can easily destroy ozone. When the sun rises in August after months of seasonal polar darkness, the sunlight heats the clouds and catalyzes the chemical reactions that deplete the ozone layer. The ozone hole begins to grow in August and reaches its largest area in late September to early October.

The measures taken by nations in time to stop ozone layer, by teacher Valentina Matei in her PowerPoint presentation "Ozone and ozone layer". Finally, students watched a movie with NASA's AURA spacecraft, launched by NASA in July 2004, and has important mission to monitor the ozone in the stratosphere.

They also received a badge from the Oradea City Hall in the "European Mobility Week" held between 16-22 September 2009.





Andra Filimon and Diana Cacuci' s painting:

To the Moon and beyond

The Fortress of Oradea, July 17-th 2009

Attended the public present in the first part of the program, the demonstration "Earth-Moon-Mars" supported by Mitchell Franklin, science teacher at Northside Middle School in Greenwood, South Carolina, USA. Followed by physics teacher Marin Bica from "Dacia" School, who presented his work "Determination of distances in our solar system"."The Constellation" presented by Valentina Matei introduced audience in the preparations taking place for the returning to the Moon and expanding the human presence to Mars. It is about designing, building and testing a new generation of rocket, Ares I and Ares V, the Altair lunar module and the Orion spacecraft. The new rover will provide  transport crew and equipment on the Moon to the next landing planned to take place by 2020. Some of the our astroclub activities  were presented by Nicoleta Pazmany, president of Meridian 0 astroclub.
Finally, those present watched a movie with NASA missions, which presented the most important moments of the Apollo 11, and accounts of the two astronauts: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.