As we approach the December solstice on the 21st at 8:28 AM (http://earthsky.org/earth/everything-you-need-to-know-december-solstice) it might be good to know that the coming season is the shortest of the four! (http://earthsky.org/tonight/years-shortest-season-starts-with-december-solstice) due to the the earth being closer and moving faster than in summer. Our spring and summer are a few days longer than our fall and winter!
Another strange seasonal fact is that sunsets are slightly longer at the solstices than at the equinoxes (http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/longest-sunsets-around-solstices) due to the angle of the sun's path to the horizon. At our latitude the sun will take more than 4 minutes to set at the winter solstice. Where I have been for the past few weeks the sun has been setting in just over 2 minutes!
We had the earliest sunset a week or so ago and we will have the latest sunrise in early January about when we all return to school.
The shortest day in Victoria is still the 21st at 8 hours 18 minutes and 36 seconds! (almost 8 hours less than in June!) (https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/Victoria)
Today's new moon is the beginning of the longest month (time from new moon to the next new moon) of the 21st century! (http://earthsky.org/tonight/longest-lunar-month-of-21st-century) due to the distances of the moon and sun from the earth.
Have a wonderful holiday season! Make the best of those brief daylight hours!
:)
Let me know if you have any questions, or would like more information.
These tips are now being archived at the following location in a blog format: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca<http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca/>
You can see a list of all the tips here: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca/p/toc11.html
Also, please let me know if you have any tips you would like to share!
-------------------------
Mike Jackson, Science Teacher
Senior School Technology Coordinator
St Michaels University School, Victoria, BC
Showing posts with label astronomy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label astronomy. Show all posts
Monday, 18 December 2017
Tuesday, 20 June 2017
Tech tip #50 - cloud storage (and some astronomy stuff!)
This should be the last tech tip of the school year. I plan on starting them up again in September! Let me know if you have any tips to share.
Astronomy:
Firstly, tonight at 9:24 PM is the June, or northern, solstice when the northern hemisphere of earth is most tilted towards the sun. The sun itself will cross from the constellation Taurus into Gemini (though astrologers would have us think it is entering Cancer…) tomorrow morning. In a couple of weeks on July 3rd, (1:11 PM) the Earth will be at aphelion, its furthest from the sun), almost five million kilometres further away than in January (152,092,504 km as opposed to 147,100,998 km on January 4th this year). For more information on the June solstice and aphelion, check out: https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/june-solstice.html and https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/perihelion-aphelion-solstice.html
Cloud Storage:
Many of you are using various types of cloud storage for storing files and I thought it would be worth a few words to explain what this is. If you use Google Drive or Onedrive, then you are using cloud storage. (Other well-known cloud storage services include Dropbox, Box, and iCloud). Basically cloud storage is where your data is organized logically into pools, but physically may be stored on several servers in several locations. The data is then accessible from any Internet-connected device (phone, tablet, computer etc). Interestingly, Iceland is a popular location for cloud storage since they have very low costs for “green” electricity.
You can access files stored in “the cloud” via a web browser (such as going to http://docs.smus.ca) or using a client program which downloads copies of your files to your local device. If you are running the google drive or onedrive program on your computer, or the apps on your phone, these can store copies of some or all of your cloud files locally. Files stored in the cloud are also easy to share (see http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca/search/label/sharing) .
Personal Microsoft or Google accounts come with 5GB and 15GB of free storage with options for you to pay for more. Our school accounts come with a lot more: we get half a terabyte in onedrive and unlimited storage with Google drive!
If you want some information on other free cloud storage services, check this page out: https://www.thebalance.com/free-cloud-storage-1356638 . There are even services which allow you to combine the free storage from different providers (for example https://www.odrive.com/) and others that make all your cloud storage appear like a local drive (https://www.odrive.com/ not free!)
Cloud storage is great for making files accessible anywhere and easy to share and can provide a backup of files stored locally.
If you need to move a bunch of files from one system to another, this article (https://www.howtogeek.com/202484/how-to-move-files-from-one-cloud-storage-service-to-another/) has several suggestions.
Let me know if you have any questions, or would like more information.
These tips are now being archived at the following location in a blog format: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca
You can see a list of all the tips here: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca/p/toc11.html
Also, please let me know if you have any tips you would like to share!
Cheers and have a great summer. I am off to be a naturalist in Haida Gwaii and south-east Alaska (as well as a trip to view the August 21st eclipse!)
Mike
Monday, 8 May 2017
(Not) Tech tip #48 - The great American eclipse August 21, 2017
So this is not a tech tip! … J
I remember talking to my classes about this eclipse back in 1998 after I saw my first total eclipse. I was hooked! Experiencing a total eclipse of the sun is a truly amazing experience. A total eclipse is one of nature’s great spectacles.
Monica and I booked a year ago, to go to Idaho to camp in the path of totality, and this will hopefully be our third total eclipse.
The “Great American eclipse of 2017” basically runs from the west coast to the east coast on August 21st 2017. If you have a chance to see this one, I highly recommend it as it is the most accessible eclipse in some time. The next one to come anywhere close is in 2045!
You can find lots of information about this eclipse and where to view it on some of the following sites:
If you decide to stay in Victoria, you will see a big bite taken out of the sun (if you look through eclipse glasses!) as up to 89% of the sun will be covered by the moon.
Let me know if you have any questions, or would like more information.
These tips are now being archived at the following location in a blog format: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca
Also, please let me know if you have any tips you would like to share!
-------------------------
Mike Jackson, Science Teacher
Senior School Technology Coordinator
St Michaels University School, Victoria, BC
Monday, 4 January 2016
Weekly tech tip # 10 - tab, tab, tabbing away
Happy New Year, here is another tech tip (as well as some earth science stuff below…)
When you are on a web page filling out a form, one of the most efficient ways to move from one box to the next is to use the tab key. I often see people typing in their username and then using the mouse to click in the password box when a “tab” would do the same thing more easily – see below. The tab key basically moves from one box to the next and should work on any web page.
On the earth science front, I am happy to report that, as of around today, sunrise will finally start getting earlier again (http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/canada/victoria). Also, this past Saturday, we were at the closest point in the Earth’s orbit to the sun (perihelion). At that point we were about 5000 km closer to the Sun that we will be on July 4th! (http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/perihelion-aphelion-solstice.html) .
Many of you must have felt the M4.7 earthquake last Tuesday night that was located just south of Sidney Island. http://earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/recent_eq/2015/20151230.0739/index-eng.php. It was the strongest shaking that I have felt in Victoria since the 2001 Seattle/Tacoma earthquake. The shaking lasted for around 10 seconds and a few things fell off shelves!
These tips are now being archived at the following location in a blog format: http://smustechtips.blogspot.ca
Also, please let me know if you have any tips you would like to share!
-------------------------
Mike Jackson, Science Teacher
Academic Technology Coordinator
St Michaels University School, Victoria, BC
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)