Who Owns The Moon? Sobre a exposição | A terra vista do céu Space Adventures The Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0 « Astronomical Society Purchase through the ASP’s AstroShop A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy (on a DVD-ROM) Edited by Andrew FraknoiPublished by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific This DVD-ROM is the most comprehensive resource and activity guide for teaching basic concepts in space science ever published. It includes: 133 field-tested hands-on activities, from programs and projects around the US,17 topical guides to the best sources of information in print and on the web,52 background articles on astronomy and education,12 short videos with instructions for doing some of the most often used activities, and10 recommended sequences of activities to help students learn some of the topics most often found in the K-12 curriculum. Here are just a few of the interesting activities included on the disk: Themes and topics include: Click here for the full table of contents (pdf file). Click here to order the disk.
10 Terrifying Planets You Don't Want To Visit Space Space exploration is a grand adventure. Its mystery has always captivated us and the inevitable discoveries to come will add to the many cosmological insights we already have. But let this list serve as a warning for any weary inter-solar travelers. The universe can be a very frightening place. Our planet maintains a high ratio of oxygen to carbon. On Neptune, one can find constant jet stream winds that whip around the planet at terrifying speeds. Nick-named Bellerophon, in honor of the Greek hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus, this gas giant is over 150 times as massive as earth and made mostly of hydrogen and helium. The densest and most massive exoplanet to date is a world known as COROT-exo-3b. On Mars a dust storm can develop in a matter of hours and envelope the entire planet within a few days. Simply put, this planet is the hottest planet ever discovered. Jupiter’s atmosphere brews storms twice as wide as the Earth itself. [Entry redacted.
Stellarium SkyServer Challenging Projects - Teacher'ss Guides Our projects are designed to teach astronomy interactively, using the tools that professional astronomers use. All examples in these projects are taken from real stars and galaxies as seen by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the most detailed survey in the history of astronomy. These pages give information on how to use SkyServer's projects as an interactive lab in your science class. The projects were designed to be done individually, but they can be done in teams as well. Each individual or team will need a computer with Web access. The table below gives an overview of each project. SkyServer Challenges are designed to stretch the students' thinking with difficult questions and long-term projects. Many of these challenges are ideas that SDSS astronomers thought of, but haven't had the chance to work through yet. Click a name or image to choose your challenge:
If the Moon Were Only 1 Pixel - A tediously accurate map of the solar system Mercury Venus Earth You Are Here Moon Mars Jupiter Io Europa Ganymede Callisto Saturn Titan Uranus Neptune Pluto(we still love you) That was about 10 million km (6,213,710 mi) just now. Pretty empty out here. Here comes our first planet... As it turns out, things are pretty far apart. We’ll be coming up on a new planet soon. Most of space is just space. Halfway home. Destination: Mars! It would take about seven months to travel this distance in a spaceship. Sit back and relax. When are we gonna be there? Seriously. This is where we might at least see some asteroids to wake us up. I spy, with my little eye... something black. If you were on a road trip, driving at 75mi/hr, it would have taken you over 500 years to get here from earth. All these distances are just averages, mind you. If you plan it right, you can actually move relatively quickly between planets. Pretty close to Jupiter now. Sorry. Lots of time to think out here... Pop the champagne! We're always trying to come up with metaphors for big numbers.
space.htm Space Project Descriptions (& a cautionary reminder . . .) Assignments Lab writeups will be due as per the syllabus, generally on lab days after each test. Only projects from this set are available for credit for the due dates labled "space project due". Lab Behavior Project work and individual & group discussion of proceedure, results, and implications is a REQUIRED classtime activity. Bring up ?' Off - task, avoidant behavior, lack of materials to work on or with, absence of verifiable progress, or disruptive behavior result in expulsion from lab with a discipline referral for disobeyance / non-compliance. Product Expectations (Experimental Lab Report Format from SciFest Board) The 6 writing traits (Ideas, Organization, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Voice, and Conventions) determine utility of the submitted information, & thus determine the grade value as well. NO REPEATS OF PROJECT SELECTIONS ALLOWED FOR ANY CREDIT! General Resources Project Choices & Linked Resources
Distant Oasis Marsbound! Mission to the Red Planet - JPL Education by David Seidel David Seidel manages JPL's K-12 education program. Before joining JPL he taught high school astronomy and physical science and ran a planetarium. Marsbound! Is a visual, easy-to-download-and-play board game that students really enjoy. I've used this in classrooms across the country and it takes very little prep time. What's particularly nifty is that this activity simulates real situations experienced by NASA scientists and engineers. Student ability level: Students need to be able to add and subtract fractions, and multiply and divide whole numbers. Tip: Make sure you use a color printer for the game board and cards. You can find Marsbound!
La 'respiración' del planeta en un par de imágenes Fuente: NPR (Pincha para ver en grande) El diseñador John Nelson tomó las imágenes de la NASA y las ha resumido en este impresionante gif que publican en NPR. En él vemos el ciclo anual de vegetación y deshielo, una especie de latido del planeta que muestra los cambios que se producen en el casquete polar ártico cada año. Este latido no siempre ha sido igual, pero desde que tenemos capacidad para observarlo, los científicos se han dado cuenta de que durante el período de contracción veraniego, la parte blanca, es cada vez menor, hasta el punto de que se teme que desaparezca por completo. Para saber más: Diez cosas que ya han cambiado para siempre en el Ártico
REBROADCAST: Space Celebrate the 35th anniversary of the launch of Voyager 2 (it rocketed off Earth on 8/20/77 carrying a copy of the Golden Record), and tip your hat to the Mars rover Curiosity as it kicks off its third week on the red planet, with a rebroadcast of one our favorite episodes: Space. We've been space-crazy the past few weeks here at Radiolab -- from cheering on the scientifically epic landing of the Mars rover earlier this month, to staying up late to watch the Perseid meteor showers, to reliving a stomach-churning spacewalk with an astronaut in our live show In the Dark. We've been happily turning our thoughts and gazes skyward all summer long. So before the nights get too chilly, grab a blanket, cue up Space, and stare into that vast, glittering, perspective-shaking darkness with us.
Dark Side of the Earth 200 miles above Earth's surface, astronaut Dave Wolf -- rocketing through the blackness of Earth's shadow at 5 miles a second -- floated out of the Mir Space Station on his very first spacewalk. In this short, he describes the extremes of light and dark in space, relives a heart-pounding close call, and shares one of the most tranquil moments of his life. When we were putting together our live show In the Dark, Jad and Robert called up Dave Wolf to ask him if he had any stories about darkness. And boy, did he. Dave told us two stories that became the finale of our show. Back in late 1997, Dave Wolf was on his first spacewalk, to perform work on the Mir (the photo to the right was taken during that mission, courtesy of NASA.). Out in blackness of space, the contrast between light and dark is almost unimaginably extreme -- every 45 minutes, you plunge between absolute darkness on the night-side of Earth, and blazing light as the sun screams into view.