Big Dipper is it a constellation?

Of course it's a constellation! It's one of the first one's I learned and the most easiest to find!  However that line of thinking is FALSE! The Big Dipper is NOT a constellation. It is an Asterism!  We learned that today at our local children's museum. We went today for the Splish, Splash, Splat! Activities.

The kids got to play with cornstarch and water suspension; dunk some museum employees, and watch the watermelons we brought to the museum become squash thanks to the giant catapult. Not only was it a catapult, but a great magician seeing it turned watermelons into squash; water jugs into squash, tomatoes, garlic, pineapple all became squash! As a matter of fact nearly everything became squash, everything but eggplant that is. For whatever reason the eggplant did not go through a metamorphosis like everything else! It came out as still an eggplant! Go figure!

I decided to pay the little bit extra money to participate in the planetarium show as well. It was at the planetarium show that we learned that the big dipper is NOT a constellation, but an asterism. Not only that but different parts of the world call it different things! We, in USA, say it's a big dipper, but in other parts of the world they call it a butcher's clever, a plough, or even a saucepan.

Our local ABC affiliate was there! They took images and videos of OUR watermelon going through the catapult. We have no idea if those image will make the cut for tonights "news", but we are going to watch just in case!

Non-Related Note: All of our caterpillars are now in their chrysalis and have been moved to the butterfly habitat! In about 7-10 days form now we should have some butterflies.

Signs In the Sky!

The Star of Bethlehem! I know it's pass Christmas, but this is a great thing to watch! I've watched it a few times and have been amazed by it every time. It starts with Christ's conception and ends with his death. Everything has to do with the sky at that time.

We like to look at the stars at night. We have a few telescopes and have gone out to the local observatory time to time. It's for those reasons that I've decided to share this here. :)

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you click on a link and purchase something. See our full disclosure policy for more details.