Sub-Topics Gama-Ray Bursts Stargazing Lesson Plans Spectral Wavelengths (University of California) Provides a lesson to study spectral wavelengths, using data from four different satellite observatories. 3-01 Star Properties (University of California - Keys and Hawkins) Provides a lesson to study the properties of stars using analysis of light. 3-01 Temperatures of Stars (University of California) Provides a lesson to study stellar temperatures. 3-01 Materials Dazzling Views of Galaxies and Stars (ABC News) Provides views from telescopes. 10-09 Earth from Far, Far Away and Very, Very Close (Florida State University - Davidson) "View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons." 9-02 Globular Cluster (Wikipedia.org) "A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars that orbits a galactic core as a satellite. Globular clusters are very tightly bound by gravity, which gives them their spherical shapes and relatively high stellar densities toward their centers. The name of this category of star cluster is derived from the Latin globulus—a small sphere. A globular cluster is sometimes known more simply as a globular." 10-09 Planetarium - Create a Planetarium From a Position on Earth (Walker) Provides "Your Sky," a view of the stars from a position on Earth. 8-01 Stars and Galaxies - Newest Pictures (Galex) Provides pictures of stars and galaxies using a new ultraviolet light telescope, as well as from other sources. "The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX), launched by a Pegasus rocket on April 28 2003, has been observing the sky using detectors sensitive to ultraviolet light. Click on the images below to see full size images, their interpretation and to download images in various formats." 12-03 Stars and Nebulae - Printable Pictures (NASA - Spaceplace) Provides printable color pictures of stars, galaxies, and nebulae. Includes the Butterfly, Carina, Eagle, Hourglass, Eskimo, Orion, Stingray, Trifid, and the NGC3132 nebula. (The files are rather large and will take a while to load on a 28.8k modem) 9-01 Westerlund I (Wikipedia.org) "Westerlund 1 (sometimes abbreviated Wd1) is the most massive compact young star cluster known in the local group of galaxies and is about 3.5-5kpc away from Earth." 10-09 Multimedia View the Stars (NASA) Provides resources for students to study astronomy. 10-08 News -01-12-06 Best Images of 2006 (Space.com) Provides Space.com's 20 nominees for best space images for 2006. 01-06 -04-28-09 Astronomers Find Most Distant Object (CBS News) "Astronomers have spotted a burst of energy from a dying star, setting a record for the oldest and most distant object seen by Earth yet." 04-09 -09-04-05 Fastest Space Traveler Located (Scientific American) "Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet, but there is a neutron star in our galaxy that can compete for the title of fastest space traveler. Astronomers have tracked the movement of a pulsar, making the first direct measurement of its impressive speed." 9-05 How to Make a Star (National Ignition Facility) "In this process the capsule and its deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel will be compressed to a density 100 times that of solid lead, and heated to more than 100 million degrees Celsius – hotter than the center of the sun. These conditions are just those required to initiate thermonuclear fusion, the energy source of stars." 05-09 Pleiades (Wikipedia.org) "The Pleiades (also known as M45 or the Seven Sisters) is an open cluster in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest to the Earth of all open clusters, probably the best known and certainly the most striking to the naked eye." "The distance of the cluster is very important as it is a crucial step in determining the distance scale of the whole universe." 01-06 Papers 3-D Model Created of Exploding Star (Space.com) "Scientists have for the first time created a three-dimensional computer model of the complex dynamics of an exploding star, showing that they behave something like a lava lamp when casting bubbles of superhot material into space." 10-04 Antimatter Space Ships (HowStuffWorks.com) Describes how an antimatter space ship might produce a great deal more energy than any other source now known and even allow interstellar travel, travel to other planets from distant stars. 06-07 Astronomical Distances (Wikipedia.org) "The parsec (symbol pc) is a unit of length used in astronomy. It stands for 'parallax of one arc second'." "One parsec is defined to be the distance from the Earth to a star that has a parallax of 1 arcsecond. It is, therefore, approximately:...3.261630751 light years." "One kiloparsec, abbreviated 'kpc', is one thousand parsecs, or 3,262 light years. Kiloparsecs are typically used to measure distances between parts of a galaxy." "One megaparsec, abbreviated 'Mpc', is one million parsecs, or 3,261,564 light years. Megaparsecs are typically used to measure distances between neighboring galaxies and galaxy clusters." "One gigaparsec, abbreviation 'Gpc', is one billion parsecs — one of the largest distance measures used. One gigaparsec equals 3.261564 billion light years, or roughly ¼ the distance to the horizon of the observable universe (dictated by the cosmic background radiation). Gigaparsecs are typically used to measure distances to supergalactic structures, such as clusters of quasars or the Great Wall." 01-07 Astronomy Search Engine (Fourmilab) Provides an astronomy search engine (in partnership with Google). 8-01 Brightest Stars (Dolan) Provides a list of the 26 brightest stars, in order of brightness from the Earth. 1-02 Dying Star Image (Yahoo) Provides a dramatic photo of a dying star, Menzel 3 or Mz3, that looks like a rainbow-colored ant and challenges theories about how stars die. 2-01 Gamma Ray Observatory (NASA - Compton Gamma Ray Observatory) Describes the work of the Observatory. 1-02 Hypernovae or Death Stars (NASA - Dooling) Describes a new type of explosion, one of the most powerful in the universe, that releases enormous amounts of gamma rays. Provides drawings. 1-02 Hypernovae or Death Stars (NASA - Imagine the Universe) Describes a new type of explosion, one of the most powerful in the universe, that releases enormous amounts of gamma rays. 1-02 Hypernovae or Death Stars (PBS - Bonnell) Describes a new type of explosion, one of the most powerful in the universe, that releases enormous amounts of gamma rays. 1-02 Light-Years (Discovery.com) Describes light-years, a unit of measurement to stars and other distant bodies in space. Visitors sometimes call it light years. 3-02 Messier - List of 100 Objects Visible in the Night Sky (NCats.net) "Charles Messier was a French astronomer who lived from 1730 to 1817. Charles compiled a list of over 100 deep-sky objects with the original purpose of providing a resource to identify objects that were often mistaken as comets. Today, the Messier catalog stands for a collection of almost all of the magnificent deep-sky nebula, galaxies, and star clusters that can be seen through a small amateur telescope." 7-02 Messier Catalog of Objects in the Night Sky (NCats.net) Provides a list and description (including small picture) of objects visible in the night sky with a small amateur telescope. 7-02 Nearest Stars (Harrington) Provides information on stars nearest to our solar system, such as Alpha Centauri, Barnard's Star, Sirius, Wolf 359, Luyten 756-8, and Ross 154. 8-01 Precession of the Earth (NCats.net) Describes and diagrams precession. "Due to precession, the earth wobbles and in the process causes the vernal equinox to slowly move through the celestial sphere." 7-02 Residue Seen from Supernova of 1604 (MSNBC News) "Four hundred years ago this week, a previously unseen star suddenly appeared in the night sky. Discovered on Oct. 9, 1604, it was brighter than all other stars." "No supernova in our galaxy has been discovered since the 1604 event." 10-04 Right Ascension and Declination of Stars (NCats.net) "Right ascension and declination are what astronomers use to precisely locate objects on a celestial map, and are equivalent to the imaginary lines of longitude and latitiude used in maps of the earth." 7-02 Solar Sail Powered Space Ships 1 (NASA) Describes how solar sail powered spacecrafts might be best for long space missions. 11-00. Solar Sail Powered Space Ships 2 (NASA) Describes how solar sail powered spacecrafts might be best for long space missions. 11-00. Star Clusters (Wikipedia.org) "Star clusters are groups of stars which are gravitationally bound. Two distinct types of star cluster can be distinguished: globular clusters are tight groups of hundreds of thousands of very old stars, while open clusters generally contain less than a few hundred members, and are often very young." 01-06 Star Magnitudes or Brightness (NCats.net) Lists the magnitudes of the brightest stars, including Sirius -1.54, Canopus -0.73, Rigel Kent -0.10, Arcturus -0.06, Vega 0.04, Capella 0.08, Rigel 0.11, Procyon 0.35, Achernar 0.48, Hadar 0.60, Altair 0.77, Betelgeuse 0.80, Aldebaran 0.85, Acrux 0.90, Spica 0.96, Anteres 1.00, Pollux 1.15, Fomalhaut 1.16, Deneb 1.25, and Mimosa 1.26. "Magnitudes were first placed on stars by the Greek astronomer Hipparchus, more than two thousand years ago. He listed stars from first magnitude (the brightest) to sixth magnitude (the faintest) with a one magnitude increase corresponding to a star one-half as bright. In the mid-1800's astronomers made a more precise definition of magnitude, determining that the intensity difference between magnitudes was 2.512." "The most important thing to remember is that as magnitude decreases a star's brightness increases." (The four stars with a negative value are brighter than the first magnitude, for example.) 7-02 Star Map (KidsAstronomy.com) Provides a map of the major stars as they currently appear. Allows rotation of the map and identifies specific stars by clicking on them. 11-00. Star Map - 3D (KidsAstronomy.com) Provides maps around major stars and allows zooming in and out. 11-00. Star Mythology and Constellations Across Cultures (SPARC) Provides mythologies of different cultures. 3-02 The Celestial Hand (MSNBC News) "An X-ray probe's picture of a celestial 'Hand,' 17,000 light-years from Earth, has stirred up spiritual responses on a par with the Hubble Space Telescope's famous Pillars of Creation and the Eye of God - plus a couple of lighthearted laughs." 04-09 Trigonometry and Astronomy (Javed) Provides formulas for calculating distances to stars. 6-01 Types of Stars (NCats.net) Describes stars in terms of temperature, brightness, and type. 7-02 Worksheets Astronomy - Stars Worksheet (KidsAstronomy.com) Provides a worksheet on the stars. 11-00.

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