For the past 20 years the author has taught an Honors College course combining astronomy and the humanities. The purpose of this note is to give examples of methods that can be adapted to classroom use for topics including night sky paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Edvard Munch, and Claude Monet, historical events influenced by astronomical factors, and literary references to the sky by authors including Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Walt Whitman.
References
1.
D. W.
Olson
and R. L.
Doescher
, “Van Gogh, two planets, and the Moon
,” Sky & Telescope
76
(4
), 406
–408
(Oct.
1998
). 2.
D. W.
Olson
and R. L.
Doescher
, “The Boston tea party
,” Sky & Telescope
86
(6
), 83
–86
(Dec.
1993
).3.
D. W.
Olson
and R. L.
Doescher
, “Paul Revere's Midnight Ride
,” Sky & Telescope
83
(4
), 437
–440
(April
1992
).4.
D. W.
Olson
and R. L.
Doescher
, “Lincoln and the almanac trial
,” Sky & Telescope
80
(2
), 184
–188
(Aug.
1990
).5.
D.
di Cicco
, “Dating Ansel Adams' Moonrise
,” Sky & Telescope
82
(5
), 529
–533
(Nov.
1991
).6.
Libration in latitude occurs because the Moon's axis is tilted with respect to the Moon-Earth orbit plane. Libration in longitude, less simple to explain, is related to the elliptical nature of the lunar orbit, with the Moon rotating on its own axis at a nearly constant rate but orbiting around the Earth at a variable rate, with faster orbital motion near perigee and slower orbital motion near apogee.
7.
D. W.
Olson
, R. L.
Doescher
, A. K.
Burke
, M. E.
Delgado
, M. A.
Douglas
, K. L.
Fields
, R. B.
Fischer
, P. D.
Gardiner
, T. W.
Huntley
, K. E.
McCarthy
, and A. G.
Messenger
, “Dating Ansel Adams' Moon and Half Dome
,” Sky & Telescope
88
(6
), 82
–86
(Dec.
1994
).8.
D. W.
Olson
, R. L.
Doescher
, J. A.
Burleson
, H. E.
Davidson
, L. D.
Denkeler
, E. D.
FitzSimon
, R. P.
McGillicuddy
, D. N.
Montondon
, T.
Sanchez
, V. A.
Voss
, J. L.
Walker
, and A. E.
Wells
, “Identifying the ‘star’ in a long-lost van Gogh
,” Sky & Telescope
101
(4
) 34
–39
(April
2001
).9.
D. W.
Olson
, W. D.
Liddle
, R. L.
Doescher
, L. M.
Behrends
, T. D.
Silakowski
, and F.-J.
Saucier
, “Perfect tide, ideal Moon: Wolfe's generalship at the Battle of Québec, 1759
,” William and Mary Quarterly
, 3rd series, 59
(4
), 957
–974
(Oct.
2002
). 10.
D. W.
Olson
, M. S.
Olson
, R. L.
Doescher
, A. G.
Pope
, and K. D.
Schnarr
, “The Moon and the origin of Frankenstein
,” Sky & Telescope
122
(5
), 68
–74
(Nov.
2011
).11.
D. W.
Olson
, R. L.
Doescher
, K. D.
Holsinger
, A. B.
Ralph
, and L. D.
Valencia
, “Ansel Adams and an ‘Autumn Moon,’
” Sky & Telescope
110
(4
), 40
–45
(Oct.
2005
).12.
13.
D. W.
Olson
, R. L.
Doescher
, K. N.
Beicker
, and A. F.
Gregory
, “Moon and tides at Caesar's invasion of Britain in 55 B.C.
,” Sky & Telescope
116
(2
), 18
–23
(Aug.
2008
).14.
D. W.
Olson
, R. L.
Doescher
, J. C.
Herbert
, R. H.
Newton
, and A. G.
Pope
, “Edvard Munch's starry skies, stormy nights, and summer sunrises
,” Griffith Observer
73
(8
), 2
–19
(Aug.
2009
).15.
D. W.
Olson
, R. L.
Doescher
, L. E.
Bright
, H. N.
Reynolds
, and A. G.
Pope
, “Dating an Impressionist's sunset
,” Sky & Telescope
127
(2
), 34
–41
(Feb.
2014
).16.
D. W.
Olson
, Celestial Sleuth: Using Astronomy to Solve Mysteries in Art, History, and Literature
(Springer/Praxis
, New York
, 2014
).© 2015 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2015
American Association of Physics Teachers
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