Speed, Distance, Time and Space: Astronomy at Sheep River Library

Mortal as I am, I know that I am born for a day. But when I follow at my pleasure the serried multitude of the stars in their circular course, my feet no longer touch the earth.
- Ptolemy, astronomer c.150 AD
From a personal standpoint you may have thought that you are going nowhere fast. Think again. Even the most hectic pace of life pales in comparison to the speed of the universe. To begin with, we live on a planet that turns at approximately 1180 km/h as it rotates on its axis at our latitude. If that doesn't make your head spin then consider that we also travel 934 million kilometers a year around the sun at the dizzying speed of 107,278.87 km/h. But we don't stop there. Our entire solar system is also on a jaunt towards the constellation Hercules at 20 km per second or 72,000 km/h. This speed is in a frame of rest if the other stars were all standing still, which we can assume they are not. Our entire universe is on the move as well at a speed which is yet to be determined. And you thought you never went anywhere! As we ponder these great speeds and distances, consider also that how we think and measure time is all to do with our position in space and Earth's relationship to the objects around it. A day equals one rotation on our axis. We measure months by the moon's revolutions around us. A year goes by as we revolve around the sun.
With space being so integral to how we live our lives wouldn't you like to know more about what's up there (or out there.) On October 14th, The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Calgary Centre) will launch their Telescope Project at the Sheep River Library. A 4.5” STARBLAST telescope will be presented to the library for patron use. The evening will also include a talk: What's up in the night sky? This class will cover several different astronomical topics. If the weather permits attendees will be able view the moon and other targets using several telescopes. Please call or visit the library to register.
If you wish to explore the topic of astronomy further, the library has added some new resources to its collection. There are 24 new titles in the Non-Fiction section (520 or thereabouts) and we have also purchased 2 DVD sets from Great Courses: Understanding the Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy and Our Night Sky. These DVD courses are given by top notch university lecturers. Only the top 1 in 5000 college professors is chosen to be on The Great Courses faculty. Each course has anywhere from 12 to 36 half hour lectures, so if you skip 30 minutes of TV each night and watch a lecture instead you can become educated on a wide variety of subjects. Some other topics the library has on hand at present are Great World Religions, Lifelong Health, A History of Impressionism, The Everyday Guide to Wine, Meteorology, Nutrition Made Clear and The Old and New Testament.
If you're having trouble keeping up with all that is going on at the library, never fear! In addition to our website:
www.sheepriverlibrary.ca we are now on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SheepRiverLibrary) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/SheepRvrLibrary). These sites will have up to date information on courses, programs, new books and fundraisers.

“You see, I don't believe that libraries should be drab places where people sit in silence, and that's been the main reason for our policy of employing wild animals as librarians." ~ Monty Python