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Moore Foundation Grant, New Eclipse Resources
Moore Foundation Grant, New Eclipse Resources
December 16, 2016

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Provides Public Libraries 1.26 Million Solar Viewing Glasses for the 2017 Solar Eclipse
BOULDER, Colo.– December 16, 2016 – The Space Science Institute (SSI) was awarded a grant from the Moore Foundation that will provide 1.26 million solar viewing glasses and other resources for 1,500 public libraries across the nation. They will serve as centers for eclipse education and viewing for their communities. The libraries will be selected through a registration process managed by the STAR Library Education Network (STAR_Net) and its NASA@ My Library project. 

Click here to read the full press release.

What does this mean for your library?
This new incentive provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation will allow your library access to 200, or 1,000 eclipse shades, instead of the 50 we had initially announced. Due to this new funding source, we will be requiring you to answer a few more questions about your programming. Please look for next month’s newsletter for more information on how to confirm your participation. (If you have already confirmed your participation, we will be contacting you individually with the additional questions). 
Display Your Contact Info on our Eclipse Map!
Please visit this link to confirm your contact information to be included on our interactive map. Having your information will allow scientists and NASA Subject Matter Experts to contact you to assist with programming or even provide extra resources! We may also share just your library name with NASA for their larger eclipse map (no contact information will be shared).
It is very important that we get this permission to share contact information, so your local experts can help you plan your event. If you have any questions on how this information will be used, please contact Anne Holland.
As part of the NASA@ My Library program, STAR_Net has developed an online resource center to assist your library in creating promotion and program materials for your eclipse event that include images, videos, animations, posters, artwork and a variety of outside resources such as FAQs and science activities related to Sun-Earth connections.

Below are some of the new resources that have been recently added:
- Media Package (Templates for Press Release, PSA, Community Letter & Media Alert)
- Eclipse Public Service Announcment (PSA) Video
- Eclipse Posters Artwork (variety of sizes) that you can print/display in your library
- Eclipse Resource Bibliography citing numerous eclipse books, articles & more


Questions or suggestions? Email us at 2017eclipse@SpaceScience.org. 
STAR_Net Webinar Series
Eclipse Webinar Recording
presented by Dennis Schatz & Andrew Fraknoi
View this recording of our October Eclipse Webinar and get an early start in preparing for the 2017 solar eclipse, how to explain it, how to observe it safely, and what role libraries can play in organizing and informing their communities.
Join us for a 45 minute webinar where you’ll get great information about the eclipse, and hear questions about the roles libraries can play. Hosts: Dennis Schatz (NSTA, Pacific Science Center), and Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College). They are co-authors of the new solar astronomy education resource, Solar Science, that includes learning strategies to understand eclipses.
To view recording (password: pM5Jvmpw), please click here

Announcing New STAR_Net Eclipse Webinar for January!
Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2016 at 1pm
Join us for exciting updates to our previous webinar. This webinar does not require registration, and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. This webinar will repeat some of the information provided previously, and also serve as the opportunity to announce the enhanced opportunity available due to our new Moore Foundation funding. Please sign in at least a half an hour early. If the room is full, the full recording will be posted.
Click here to join the event on January 25th!

Miss Past Webinars? Get Them Here!
Sun's Surface and Earth's Core
Hands-on STEM: How Hot?

Which is hotter? The surface of the Sun, or the Earth's core? Check out our Facebook page to learn the answer!

Provide patrons with the images of the Sun, meteors, comets, lightning, lava, and more. Have them sort the images according to temperature (or size, distance from us, or age). Adults enjoy this activity, too!

Download the activity guide and ready-to-print image cards in the NASA activity, How Big, How Far, How Hot, How Old?, and write your own review of the activity through the STAR_Net STEM Activity Clearinghouse.
Featured Eclipse FAQs
This month's featured FAQs are from NASA!
Why don't eclipses occur every new Moon?
Eclipses only occur if the Moon is located within 0.5 degrees of the plane of the ecliptic, on a line that passes through the center of the sun and the Earth. The Moon travels along an orbit that is inclined by 5.9 degrees to the ecliptic plane, so there are only two opportunities each month when it passes through the plane of the ecliptic. These points are called the ascending (N) and descending nodes (M). Eclipses of the sun only occur if new moon occurs when the Moon is within about 18° of one of these nodes. Click here to learn more.
What are "shadow bands"?
These are among the most ephemeral phenomena that observers see during the few minutes before and after a total solar eclipse. They appear as a multitude of faint rapidly moving bands that can be seen by placing a white sheet of paper several feet square on the ground. They look like ripples of sunshine at the bottom of a swimming pool, and their visibility varies from eclipse to eclipse. 19th century observers interpreted them as interference fringes caused by some kind of diffraction phenomenon. The Sun, however, is hardly a "point source" and the patterns are more random than you might expect from diffraction effects. Click here to learn more.
Register to join the STAR_Net community! Registering means you can participate in forums, comment on blogs, and help build wiki resource pages. You can also network with fellow professionals. New subscibers will receive our monthly newsletter - where we share all of our exciting developments!
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