Seymour Simon's Blog, page 70

In Honor of Edwin Hubble

Edwin Hubble, a great American astronomer, died 57 years ago today, September 28th in 1953. Hubble? Does his name ring a bell? Well for one thing, the Hubble Space Telescope was named after him, though he had nothing to do with its planning or construction. This photograph of the gigantic Pinwheel galaxy was shot by the Hubble Telescope. Space Age scientists wanted to honor Hubble because he made some of the most important discoveries in modern day astronomy.In the early decades of the Twentieth Century, Hubble was an astronomer at the Mt. Wilson observatory which had the largest telescope in the world at that time. Hubble discovered and proved that some of the dim, fuzzy patches of light photographed through the Mt. Wilson telescope were actually entire galaxies, similar to our own Milky Way Galaxy. The recognition that the Milky Way was only one of billions upon billions of galaxies in the universe forever changed the way astronomers think of space. The other great discovery he made was based on the “redshift.”No, it has nothing to do with football or politics. An astronomer’s “redshift” has to do with the color spectrum of distant galaxies. A spectrum of light is made up of the colors, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. It seems that the more distant a galaxy is, the faster it seems to move and the more its color spectrum shifts toward the red. This is the basis of the Big Bang theory, which proposes that the universe began with an intense explosion of energy at a single moment in time (about 13 billion years ago) and has been expanding ever since. Hubble would have been proud that the Space Telescope was named after him.

A Writing Day

As teachers and students settle into the new school year here in North America, I’m busy doing my homework — editing and revising my Science Dictionary. It is now available and searchable for kids on my website, and we’ve added lots of new photos to entice casual browsers. It is also being re-published next year by Dover. So, it’s time for an update. My process has certainly changed since I first wrote the Dictionary just over 15 years ago. The first time around it took me several years to wr...

Special Jupiter Event Tonight

I can just imagine how excited I would have been for this event when I was a young kid and a member of the Junior Astronomy Club at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Wait a second there young Seymour—I'm STILL excited about it! Here's what's going on this evening: Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system, will be overhead in the night sky at midnight, shining brighter than everything except the Moon. Jupiter and Earth each revolve around the sun in their respec...

Giveaway! Cat in the Hat

Thanks to the producers of The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, who gave us this Limited Edition Canvas Tote packed with 4 Dr. Seuss books and Cat in the Hat stickers, so that we can give it to one of YOU! TO ENTER: Write us a rhyme about why you like The Cat in the Hat. You can either post it as a comment on this blog entry, or email it to simon@seymoursimon.com. EXTRA ENTRIES: o Join Seymour's Facebook Author Group o FollowSeymour on Twitter o Tweet or RT this post and includ...

DR. SEUSS & PBS Kids Focus on Science

If you haven't yet seen THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! from PBS Kids, you're in for a real treat. The animated series, which premieres this month on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings), stars Martin Short as the beloved Cat, and is designed to spark a love of learning and an interest in science in preschool-aged children. We first heard about the program from PBS Kids' programmer Linda Simensky earlier this year, when she was on a panel that Liz chaired here in New Yo...

GOLD HONORS from the Mom's Choice Awards!

We're feeling pretty happy here at SeymourSimon.com because The Mom's Choice Awards® has named Seymour Simon's Collins Smithsonian series. among the Best In Family-Friendly Entertainment, awarding its coveted Gold Seal! The Mom's Choice Awards® (MCA) program recognizes authors, inventors, companies, parents and others for their efforts in creating quality family-friendly media, products and services. Parents, educators, librarians and retailers rely on MCA evaluations when selecting quality ...

An Adorable "Gorilla" Girl!

We have received an adorable entry in Seymour’s Go Gorilla! Contest. This is Olivia doing her best imitation of Gorilla behavior. What a cutie! <object id="BLOG_video-a14cb270945187da" class="BLOG_video_class" width="320" height="266" contentid="a14cb270945187da"></object> If you or your class haven’t yet entered, it’s easy. No fancy video equipment needed — you can even use a cell phone that records video. Then click on the “Send Us Photos/Video” link at the top of Seymour’s home page. The...

Enter the GO GORILLA Contest!

Just in time for Back to School we are running a funny contest on SeymourSimon.com. We want to see entrants "Go Gorilla!" by uploading videos of themselves imitating real gorilla behavior. (Photo: Reuters) The Grand Prize Winner earns a free Seymour Simon Skype session with their class — now there’s a way to get in good with your new teacher! And, there are lots of other great prizes. o o THIRD PRIZE: Twenty randomly chosen videos will receive personally autographed photographs of Seymour ...

Alana G Visits the Farmers' Market

Many of you have been following the blogs written by our 10-year-old environmental blogger, Alana G. We first met her back in June, when she wrote to me about how distressed she was about the oil spill in the Gulf, asking what she could do. I replied that although she might not be able to directly influence what happens in the Gulf, she could decide to act environmentally and be a voice for Earth in her community. I also offered her a chance to write for this blog, suggesting that perhaps sh...

Getting in touch with the Astronomer who demoted Pluto!

Dear Neil DeGrasse Tyson, I've been wanting to write to you for sometime now after I read your autobiography a number of years ago, and finally decided to do so. (My autobiography, From Paper Airplanes to Outer Space, is published by Richard C. Owen.)First of all, I'd like to tell you some of the common background we share. I'm also a graduate of Bronx HS of Science and was an amateur astronomer all through my HS years and beyond. During HS years, the AMNH hosted an office (in the bas...