Do you enjoy star-gazing? Have you ever shown your children the constellations? Mum of two Jill tells us how she introduced her daughters to astronomy for kids.

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I have always had a fascination with stars and it was cemented by a visiting student from Germany who stayed with our family a number of years ago. She taught me constellation names and locations in the skies and showed me where to spot the nearest spiral galaxy to ours, the Andromeda Nebula. It literally blew my mind away that I could see another galaxy!

To find the Andromeda Nebula, you first locate Cassiopeia, which is a W-shaped constellation. Then go down in a straight line from the bottom star on the right hand of the W, until you see the Andromeda constellation which has 4 stars in a row. Then go up from the 2nd star from the left, up two stars and just to the right you will see a cloud, that is the Andromeda Nebula! There are great constellation maps at astrosurf.com.

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Go Star-Spotting

Whenever we have a clear sky in the evening, I take my own children outside to try to see some of the stars and even planets visible to the naked eye (usually Venus at twilight time).

A good starting point is the Moon. For younger children, have them point out the different shapes the Moon has and of course, you can always discuss whether or not the Moon really is made of cheese! For older children, you could try to observe the different phases of the moon over the period of a month (weather permitting) or try taking photos of the different phases.

Next, you can learn about the Solar System. You will find a good introduction at nineplanets.org.

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Keep an Eye Out for Constellations

Try taking out a star map and seeing if you can spot some of these constellations, my personal favourites are:

• Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) – the North Star lies above the Little Dipper
• Orion, with his three-star belt
• Gemini, which we always called the “Scotty Dog” as it looked vaguely dog-shaped
• Plaeides, also known as The Seven Sisters, is a cluster of seven stars. It is impossible to see all seven with the naked eye, but it’s fun to see if you can count them.
• The above mentioned Andromeda and Cassiopia.

Some Good Astronomy Websites

If you’re looking to learn more about astronomy, these are some good starting points:

• www.astronomy.ie
• www.kidsastronomy.com
• starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov
• www.nasa.gov
• nineplanets.org
• astrosurf.com

Some Space-Themed Movies for Kids

• Star Wars
• Apollo 13
• Wall-E
• Space Chimps
• Muppets from Space
• Treasure Planet

Space Age Music To Listen To

• John Williams’ theme tune to Star Wars
• Holst “The Planets”
• 2001: A Space Odyssey
• Lots of interesting clips on www.musicfromspace.com

Happy Stargazing!

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