Constellation Trinket Tray

Inspired by We're Going to Make It's Astrological Sign Trinket Dish, I created one of my own with the constellation Cassiopeia, my favorite constellation. I really love the way it turned out. The instant I saw this project on their blog, I knew I had to make it.

Materials:

• clay (oven-bake)
• cup or bowl
• plastic knife
• pencil (or other object with a point)
• acrylic paints
• paint brushes

I started with just the green clay, then realized that I'd need more, so I added orange. I'd suggest using a lighter colored clay so you don't need to use as many coats of paint for full coverage.

I rolled out the clay and cut it into a circle by tracing around a mug. Once I had my clay into  the shape I wanted for my dish (I crimped the edges with my fingers), I took a pencil to poke holes where the stars of the constellation would be and then dragged the pencil to draw faint lines connecting the stars.

I kept fiddling around with the shape, trying to perfect it, but I eventually said enough is enough and put it into the oven according to the directions. My dish probably could have baked a few minutes longer because it is still a little bendable.

After letting the dish cool, I started painting it. I used a light blue for the top and for the bottom, I mixed a few colors to get somewhere between a forest green and turquoise color.

For the last step, I went in with gold acrylic paint to fill in the constellation and also made a gold edge around the tray.

I'm really happy with the way my trinket tray turned out! It would be a great holiday gift for someone who loves the stars; you could do either one of the Dippers or their astrological sign, as was done by We're Going to Make It ~ thank you for the inspiration.

to see how I made the Galaxy Bracelet in the image above, click here

Draconid Meteor Shower

This past weekend marked the annual Draconid Meteor Shower seen in the higher latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. The best time to look is right at nightfall near Draco the Dragon (constellation between the two Dippers); and no telescope is needed, as it could be seen with the naked eye. The 'shooting stars' you may have seen across the sky are dust and rocks from the comet 21P ("Giacobini-Zinner") that burn up in the atmosphere as the Earth passes through the debris.

"During the 2011 Draconid shower, more than 600 meteors per hour were visible in the sky" (Science Alert), but "although the Draconids have been responsible for some of the most spectacular meteor showers in recorded history, most recently [...] star gazers consider these to be one of the least interesting meteor showers" (Time and Date).

While I was in a location without much light pollution over the weekend, there was still a presence of ambient light around me and also coming from the bright moon. Additionally, it has been a fairly rainy week, so the sky wasn't clear enough for me to be able to observe the Draconids. But luckily, there will be a second opportunity to see a meteor shower - the Orionids - on October 21st. I was disappointed that the cloudy weather ruined my chance to see (as Time and Date called it) these "majestic celestial fireworks" ... but I look forward to the upcoming Orionid shower.

Works Cited

"Draconid Meteor Shower." Timeanddate.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2017.

MacDonald, Fiona. "Don't Miss The Draconid Meteor Shower Peaking This Weekend."ScienceAlert. N.p., 7 Oct. 2017. Web. 7 Oct. 2017.

Dream Big Galaxy Bracelet

Inspired by Oh The Lovely Things' galaxy necklace, I sought to make my own similar creation, which was super easy and quick to make. So off I went to Hobby Lobby for the supplies.

Here are the materials I used to make my galaxy bracelet:

• bracelet cord • "dream big" charm • mini star charms • jump rings • a sponge • jewelry pliers • different colored nail polish •

note: you only really need a few colors, but I had so many  appropriate colors at home that I added a good majority of the ones pictured here

I started with a dark base coat, which I applied with the brush and let sit to dry. Then I just went a little crazy sponging on the colors (I literally have no control!!), continuously adding a dab of pink here and a dab of green there, oh wait! a tad bit more of pink and so on and so forth. Once it had dried and I was happy with how the colors looked blended together, I put some clear polish with glitter as my top coat, giving it that starry feel I was going for.

here's what the charm ended up looking like - I used different light settings so you could see the depth of all the colors (and the glitter!)

The assembly was also very simple: First, I opened up two jump rings with the pliers, fitting the ends of the charm into the rings. Next, I added one star charm to the jump ring so that it would slightly overlap the main charm. Lastly, I closed the jump rings around the clasps in the cord to put the whole piece together.

This was so simple to make, but it looks great and provides a nice message - DREAM BIG - to those like me who like to gaze at the sky, always dreaming, always wondering.

Once again, a special thanks to Oh the Lovely Things for the inspiration - originally on a beautiful triangle necklace. 

🌠 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕓𝕚𝕘,

 𝕟𝕠𝕣𝕥𝕙 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝕘𝕒𝕫𝕖𝕣

It's Eclipse Day!!

Hi everyone! Today was an exciting day...when the moon crossed in front of the sun, in perfect alignment with the Earth. Watching the news, I was amazed at the size of the crowds, a truly national (and international - one reporter said 20 countries were represented) gathering for everyone to experience, what could be a once in a lifetime event. I saw a smiling bride and groom standing among a crowd, looking up toward the darkened afternoon sky; and it appears many couples said 'I do' today during the total solar eclipse. I watched as people waited anxiously, followed by cheers, in Saluki Stadium, Carbondale, Illinois - where tickets cost up to ten thousand dollars. And after they saw its totality -the longest duration: 2 minutes and 41 seconds- they were able to see Venus in the sky (might I remind you this was in early afternoon!). What an amazing sight it must have been!

As for how I experienced the eclipse, well...the glasses were all sold out, so I consulted the internet for how to experience it without looking at the sun! The Washington Post came through, providing me with easy directions for a pinhole projector. I used a Thin Mints box because I of course wanted to make the box be a special one and what better way to celebrate an eclipse than with cookies! Making it was so simple - white paper goes on the inside for the screen, cut two squares, cover one with foil, poke a hole through the foil, that's pretty much it. So here's my box and here's the best picture I could get of what I could see. Looking at the image of the sun is so incredibly misleading because its the middle of the afternoon and you see what looks like a crescent moon and it's just amazing and so fun to look at! Unfortunately my picture below does not do it justice for what I could really see (and of course what the people in the path of totality could see!). In my area, the peak time for the solar eclipse was 2:41 pm EDT, I watched from 2 to 3, and when I looked through my projector again at 4, the sun's image was a complete circle again!

and these three...well...they're just really cool to look at  :)

in these, you can see the sun and moon overlapping

Mercury is on the left, Mars is on the right, and Venus is at the bottom of the last picture

these were taken, respectively at: 12:30, 2:05, 2:15 and 3:15

Don't worry, if you weren't in the path of the total solar eclipse this year in 2017, the next one will be April 8, 2024. Check the map below from NationalEclipse.com to find out if you'll get the chance to see it! I'll be able to see it - will you? (Or will you be lucky enough to be right in that spot where the two paths collide and you get to see it twice?)

Also, check out this map from GreatAmericanEclipse.com to see all the future solar eclipses in the next hundred years

Now I want to hear about what you did and what you saw today! Let me know in the comments down below! I hope everyone had the chance to enjoy such a great phenomena on this exciting day!

💖,
The North Star Gazer 🌟

August 12, 2017

So on this night, I went out and wow! I could see so much, the sky was so clear, the stars were so pretty! My pictures were such poor quality, though, and I just wish you could see it exactly how I could!

The brightest stars I could see were: Altair, Sinistra, Arcturus, Vega, and Omega Capricorni

I did, this time, make an effort to see where the planets were in the sky. Saturn and Jupiter were the only planets above the horizon, but I could not see it and I didn't have my telescope with me. But SkyView showed me where the other planets were, and even where the Hubble Telescope was!

Something I found really neat was that I was able to see a constellation - Sagittarius. So on my phone, I drew out the shape of the stars I could see, and... it matched the constellation on my app! I started with the 5 stars and drew a "house" and then added on whatever else I could see afterwards. See how well I did below...

Since I have really poor images, I'll just insert some SkyView screenshots below.

  

   

Saturn and Jupiter, above the horizon

(horizon = red line)

  

Venus, Mercury, and Hubble Telescope, below horizon

   

Mars and the Sun!

This day was a big looking-at-the-sky day because I also got up way to early ☺ to see the sunrise and also watched the sunset. The water from the lake made it especially gorgeous this night, but unfortunately it was so cloudy in the morning I could barely see anything. Here are a few shots!

sunrise

sunset

July 27, 2017

Wow, I’m just getting back from looking outside and it was a much better success than last time! I saw so many stars - I tried to count them to report on, but it was impossible!

I was out from 10:40 to 10:55 pm, facing west, and once again used the guide of my SkyView App.

The three brightest stars I could see from my backyard were:

• Arcturus, part of the constellation Bootes (directly in front of me)
• Vega, part of the constellation Lyra (above my head)
• Kaus Australis, part of the constellation Sagittarius (to my left)

Arcturus                                                                                 Vega

Kaus Australi

I also saw the three stars that make up the handle of the Big Dipper, as well as the top two of the bowl - the bottom two were covered by the trees. The picture below shows the three stars in the handle: Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth. The Big Dipper is part of Ursa Major.

Unfortunately, I didn’t look for the planets - whoops, that was a mistake on my part for it not even crossing my mind (I guess I was so absorbed in the beauty and magic of the stars!).

Tonight was a really great experience for me, looking up and seeing what stars I could find. The ight was beautiful: bright specks splattered across the dark sky 

* * * * *

Around 8:30 pm, I looked out and could see the moon - a waxing crescent - right in the crevice between some trees. The pictures aren’t great, but I’ll feature some below.