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Friday 30th September 2005 Issue: 32

Yoo hoo! Only us! Just popping in to give you the latest Wired Up. Look what we’ve got in store for you this week – an eclipse, posters for grabs and the Giant Squid who isn’t. So we’ll just leave it on your computer then? Okay. See you later!

  1. The Wire – the annular eclipse. Watch out on October 3rd!
  2. Try This! – make an eclipse viewer
  3. Make a Date – look what’s on at the Science Museum
  4. Gear for Grabs – posters of Aliens of the Deep
  5. Winners – Five lucky winners of Flipside magazine
1. The Wire – Science news straight to your Inbox…

Fancy seeing an amazing natural phenomenon? Hands up all those who will be in Spain on October 3rd! No? Nor us unfortunately, but apparently that is the best place to view the annular eclipse. So what is it exactly?

An eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun – effectively getting in the way. By an amazing coincidence, the apparent size of the Moon is the same as the apparent size of the Sun (most of the time), as seen from Earth. This is entirely down to their sizes and distances from us. In total eclipses the sizes are a perfect match. But since the Moon isn’t in a perfectly circular orbit the distance changes and sometimes the apparent Moon size is not big enough to cover the entire disk of the Sun. A ring of light remains around the edge - this is an annular eclipse.

In the UK we won’t see the entire annular eclipse but the Moon is certainly going to take a reasonable bite out of the Sun this time.   

OK, so now you want to see it… and not for the last time we’ll point out that LOOKING STRAIGHT AT THE SUN CAN BLIND YOU – AT NO POINT DURING AN ANNULAR ECLIPSE SHOULD YOU LOOK AT THE SUN.

The Moon starts to bite at around 8.50am BST and will finish around 11.20am BST, with the maximum bite at 10am BST. They’ll be around 65% of the Sun’s disk covered, slightly more in the south and less in the north.

So if you aren’t allowed to look at the Sun during the annular eclipse how are you going to see it? You’ll have to keep reading, as we have the perfect activity for you!

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2. Try This! – Science experiments for you to try at home…

If you can’t wait to have a look at the October 3rd eclipse you’ll need to be prepared. LOOKING DIRECTLY AT THE SUN IS VERY DANGEROUS! Don’t look with your naked eyes, don’t look through sunglasses and definitely do not look at it through a telescope or binoculars…

pinhole cameraYou will need:

  • A piece of cardboard – A4 size is more than big enough
  • A large sheet of white paper
  • A pin

Additional:

  • A mirror

What to do:

  1. Make a small hole in the centre of the cardboard – start small and if you think it is too small make it bigger, obviously the reverse does not work.
  2. Put the piece of paper on the ground.
  3. Stand with your back to the Sun and hold the card with the hole out in front of you. Move it around until you see an image of the Sun on piece of paper. During the eclipse you’ll slowly see the round sun turn into a crescent as the moon crosses it.

And an alternative, snazzier pin hole camera…

  1. Use your cardboard with a hole to cover a mirror.
  2. Point the cardboard-covered mirror at the Sun and let the Sun’s reflection through the hole beam onto a wall.
  3. Balance it on books so that you can sit back and enjoy the spectacle.

What’s going on?

Every point on the Sun emits some light. If we draw rays of light coming from the Sun in all directions we can see how the whole Earth is illuminated. Imagine holding up the card with the small hole in it. Only some of the Sun’s rays can pass through the pinhole and land on the paper screen. Rays from the top of the Sun pass through and down and end up at the bottom of the screen while those from the bottom go upwards through the hole and end up at the top of the paper screen. On the screen is a small upside down and back-to-front image of the Sun.

If you have a big hole lots of rays can pass through, so the image is bright but it will be a bit fuzzy. Imagine drawing rays from a single point on the Sun through the hole. Because the hole is big a number of rays can fit through, landing at different points on the screen – so there is more than one point on the screen which corresponds to a single point on the Sun.

A small hole will sharpen the image but it will be dimmer and trickier to see – so it is important to reach a happy medium.

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3. Make a date – Science things to see and Do…

Psst! Tell your teachers about this one, it’s a school trip opportunity.

On Monday 10 October the Science Museum in London is offering a unique opportunity for KS3 and KS4 pupils to meet science experts in an amazing event looking at the exploration of our solar system and the search for evidence of life elsewhere in our universe.

Life, but Not as We Know It - 10.30-12.30
 Science Museum expert Rob Warren talks about the amazing life forms that have evolved and adapted to survive in the most extreme environments on Earth. Then the stunning IMAX film, Aliens of the Deep 3D, takes pupils on a 3D journey into the deepest oceans with NASA scientists and marine biologists to explore what the creatures living there can tell us about potential life forms elsewhere in the universe. £4 per pupil, 1 teacher free with every 10 pupils (1:10 ratio required), additional adults £6 each

If your teacher makes a booking for this event they can also request places on the following free events that day.

Searching for Life on Mars, Europa and Titan - 13.00-14.00

And

Bloomin' Aliens! - 14.00-14.30

To book places please contact the Science Museum Education Booking Office on 020 7942 4777 or edbookings@nmsi.ac.uk

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4. Gear for Grabs – You’ve got to be in it to win it...

Even if you can’t get to the Science Museum to see the IMAX film, Aliens of the Deep 3D, never fear! Wired Up has five posters of the film to give away. So if you fancy a closer look at some of the stranger creatures on Earth then send us an email with your name, age and address to: randomised.news@nesta.org.uk with ‘IT’S ALIEN TO ME’ as the subject. The winner will be picked at random on Thursday 6th October at 5pm.

Talking of Aliens of the Deep, it seems that the Giant Squid has an older and even bigger brother known as the Colossal Squid. It could exceed 20m in length!  Good grief! Read more about the not-so-Giant Squid-as-it-happens, on the BBC news site http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4288772.stm it brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘just pulling your leg’.  Mind yer backs, here comes the Colossal Squid! Great timing on the giant squid’s part to make an appearance this week as it just so happens that the latest Planet Science Quiz is up and all about Squid’s best mate, Octopus. Get your tentacles round the quiz at http://www.planet-science.com/quiz .

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5. Winners – Has your name been picked out of the bag?

Remember issue no. 30? We offered 5 lucky readers the chance to win a copy of the latest edition of Flipside magazine – aimed at 11-15 year olds with an interest in science and technology, music and films, and sport and adventure. You can’t buy Flipside in the shops so this was a top giveaway and the subscribers who will be receiving their copy in the post soon are:

Matthew Husselby (age 13) from Portsmouth,
Ann Charlish (age 15) from Coventry,
Jamie Tarren (age 12) from Sleaford,
Lia McKellar (age 12) from Inverness,
Peter George (age 9) from Henlow.

Congratulations and happy reading!

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THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

Got Wired-Up? Got clued up!

Don’t forget that Wired-Up will be hitting your inboxes every fortnight from now on, but in the meantime, send any questions, comments, jokes or experiment ideas to: randomised.news@nesta.org.uk

Until then, why not pay the Planet Science website a visit, by clicking here:
http://www.planet-science.com

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