Transit of Venus

Children's Educational Center of Oradea, Romania

May 31, 2012

The 2012 transit of Venus, when the planet Venus appeared as a small, dark disk moving across the face of the Sun, is visible in the morning of 6 June 2012, in Oradea.  Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable celestial phenomena and occur in pairs, eight years apart, which are themselves separated by more than a century. The previous transit of Venus took place on 8 June 2004, and the next pair of transits will occur on 10–11 December 2117 and in December 2125.
Unfortunately, the sky wasn't clear on 6 June in Oradea.

Journey around the Moon (4, 5, 6)

 Children's Educational Center of Oradea, Romania

April 19, May 3 and May 17, 2012

In these three educational activities, students studied pictures taken in GRAIL MoonKAM program. Students  studied  photos sent by Ebb and Flow with seas, impact craters with different diameters, volcanic features and mountains.

Finally, we studied together Haret crater on the far side of the Moon and  Carpathian Mountains.
On 17 May my special guest was Mrs. Dragos Daniela, math teacher at "A. Lazar" High-School in Oradea.

Journey around the Moon (3)

Dacia Middle School Oradea, Romania
April  5-th, 2012

In the "Another School" program, students from 7-C grade from Dacia School,  learn about the Moon. They sent requests to Ebb with places on lunar surface, in order to be taken with its cameras. Diana has prepared for us a picture with Ebb, Flow and the Moon.

Journey around the Moon (2)

Dacia Middle School, Romania

April 5-th and 6-th 2012

In the "Another School" program, students from 4-D grade from Dacia School,  learn about the Moon. They sent requests to Ebb with places on lunar surface, in order to be taken with its cameras.
1. The Moon
2. Craters and seas on the lunar surface.
3. The space shuttle.
4. Building of rotative sky map.

Journey around the Moon (1)

The Children's Educational Center of Oradea, Romania
March 29, 2012


Humans have always looked the sky and wondered about misteries beyond the Earth. For many, their curiosity stops there. Others dream a journey into space, exploring the Moon or landing on Mars.
For members of Astronomy and Space Science Club Oradea, Romania, the dream continues. Two NASA spacecrafts were launched last year are now around the Moon. Ebb and Flow accomplish the dream of children from Astronomy and Space Science Club and Dacia Middle School to explore and study the Moon.

Phases of the Moon

Children's Educational Center of Oradea, Romania
March 15-th, 2012

The Moon is larger and brighter than any other object in the night sky. It has no light of its own but shines by reflecting sunlight.

Seen from Earth, on different days, Moon hasn't the same shape.The waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous and then full Moon when the Moon is on the opposite side of Earth to the Sun. Waning gibbous, last quarter, wanning crescent, and a invisible new Moon for us and sometimes, very rarely, it is visible for a few minutes.

The Moon has inspired us for millennia and continue to fascinate us with its mysteries...

The Earth and the Sun

Children's Educational Center of Oradea, Romania
March 1-st, 2012

Earth's orbit and steady, tilted axis from the vertical produse seasons.

The equinoxes and solstices mark the beginnings of sesons in the two hemispheres.
Earth's rotation causes day and night.

The Earth and the Moon

Children's Educational Center of Oradea, Romania
February 16-th, 2012

Although the Moon is much smaller than Earth, it still has an influence on it. Just as Earth's gravity pulls on the Moon, the gravity on the Moon pulls on Earth, stretching it into a slight ovoid. This affects the land and makes the oceans and seas bulge on either side of Earth, producing tides along coastlines.

Exploring the Moon

Children's Educational Center of Oradea, Romania
January 19-th, 2012

On September 10, 2011 an Atlas rocket was launched to the Moon. This rocket carries two probes: Ebb and Flow. On 31 December 2011 and January 1, 2012 the two probes entered the Moon's orbit. With their help we will explore the Moon in next months.