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A panorama of instruments designed work in different regions of the electromagnetic spectrumFor Grades 5-9
To arrange a visit for your school group, please call (585) 697-1942.
Go beyond the planets of our solar system in this program for students whose excitement is maturing into challenging curiosity!
We begin with light, the source of most of our information about deep space. See how to manipulate a diffraction grating to produce a spectrum. Next, generalize from visible to invisible forms of light. Compare and contrast telescopes needed to detect different forms of light. Classify stars by color, brightness, mass and ultimate fate. Use ratio, proportion, and appropriate units to communicate astronomical distance scales. See computer models
used by professional astronomers to explore galaxy collisions and the
expansion of the universe. Encounter evidence pointing to the greatest
mysteries in astronomy today, including dark matter and dark energy (gathering and organizing data). Observe stars, constellations and planets visible in the current sky.
NYS Learning Standards: ELA1; MST1MA(1,2); 1SI(1,2,3); 2(1); 3(4,5); 4PS(1,3,4,5); 5(3,4,5); 6(2,3,4); CDOS 3a(5),3b
Download the script for a typical presentation here (52k PDF)------------------------------------------------------------------------ Outline of the ProgramNote: the exact topics and order of presentation may vary so as to provide the best experience for each audience.
The electromagnetic spectrum
Within
the range of wavelengths visible to our eye, longer wavelengths appear
redder, shorter wavelengths bluer. Beyond the red end of the visible
spectrum, we notice infrared, microwave, and radio waves. Beyond the
violet end of the visible spectrum, we notice ultraviolet, X-rays, and
gamma rays.
Our sun
The
sun is the only star we can see in detail. Videos taken by the Hinode,
SOHO and TRACE satellites show the extremely complex prominences,
flares and coronal mass ejections on the sun's surface, shaped by
powerful magnetic fields.
How does the sun shine? In the early
20th century, there were several competing explanations, such as heat
generated by gravitational pressure, or meteoroid impacts. Finally,
enough evidence was gathered to indicate that solar energy is actually
nuclear energy. At the sun's core, hydrogen is changed into helium in a
process called nuclear fusion. The mass of the helium produced by the
fusion reaction is slightly less than the mass of the hydrogen that
goes into the reaction. The excess mass is converted to energy.
Next,
the Planetarium dome is transformed into a clear evening sky. The sun
sets, the sky darkens, and nighttime stars appear. We tour some of the
currently visible constellations, looking for examples of stars of
different colors, types, and ages that are visible to the unaided eye.
We
use photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space
Telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory and other observatories to explore
the life cycles of stars.
Star birth
Stars
form in giant clouds of gas and dust that can be studied with infrared
telescopes such as Spitzer. Within these clouds, extra-dense clumps of
gas and dust are compressed and heated by gravity. If nuclear fusion
begins, a star is born.
Low-mass stars
Low-mass
stars (such as our sun) take a relatively long time to use up their
supply of hydrogen fuel. When that happens, new nuclear reactions
begin, and the star expands to become a red giant. The outer layers of
the star may gently puff into space, forming a beautiful "planetary
nebula." Meanwhile, the core of the star remains as a white dwarf, no
longer able to generate new nuclear energy, slowly cooling over
billions of years.
High-mass stars
High-mass
stars take a relatively short time to use up their supply of hydrogen
fuel. When that happens, new nuclear reactions begin, and the star
expands to become a red supergiant. Eventually, all available nuclear
energy at the star's core is exhausted. The core suddenly collapses,
triggering a supernova explosion. The star's core may become a neutron
star or a black hole. Radio telescopes and X-ray telescopes are
particularly useful for studying the remains of exploded stars.
The universe of galaxies
Next
we move out to galactic scale. The Milky Way in our sky is really our
inside-looking-out view of our own galaxy, which includes a disk of
about 300 billion stars roughly 100,000 light years across.
We
take an imaginary trip out of the plane of our Milky Way galaxy to
survey our Local Group of galaxies. Then we look at examples of galaxy
types: spiral, elliptical, irregular, colliding. Before the 20th
century there was debate about whether these "nebulae" were star
systems outside our Milky Way (as we now understand them to be) or much
smaller structures much closer to us.
Supermassive black holes
occupy the centers of many, if not most, galaxies. Matter falling
toward such a black hole may be heated enough to release energy; at a
distance, the galaxy may appear to us as a quasar.
At the
largest scale, galaxies in the observable universe are arranged in
filaments and sheets with great voids in between. Astrophysicists use
supercomputer simulations to try to understand how such a structure
could have arisen from the small dense early universe.
The most
important evidence we have about the very early universe is the cosmic
microwave background (CMB), a gentle glow of microwave energy coming
from all parts of the sky. The Planetarium's all-sky projection system
illustrates the pattern of very small variations in the the CMB that
astronomers are now studying in an effort to understand the age,
contents, history and possible future of our universe.
Conclusion
We conclude with brief looks at local research in astronomy:
Imaging at the Rochester Institute of Technology
http://www.cis.rit.edu/research/ai.shtml
The role of ITT Industries (formerly Kodak) in building the Chandra X-ray Observatory and other spacecraft
http://www.ssd.itt.com/heritage/chandra.shtml
Physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester
http://www.pas.rochester.edu ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Links to further information outside the RMSC website:Hubble Space Telescope: http://www.stsci.edu/outreach/
Chandra X-ray Observatory: http://chandra.harvard.edu or http://chandra.nasa.gov
European Southern Observatory: http://www.eso.org/outreach
National Optical Astronomy Observatory: http://www.noao.edu
W.M. Keck Observatory, Hawaii: http://www.keckobservatory.org
NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP)
mission is gathering information about the early universe. Go to their
web site at http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov and click on "outreach/media" to
find "Cosmology 101," a tutorial on the "Big Bang" idea and the
evidence for it:
NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day
is a wonderful resource. Links and searching capabilities make it
possible to learn a little or a lot about almost any topic in astronomy
or space exploration: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod
Students
and teachers who are very interested in cosmology, the Big Bang, and
the early universe will find detailed information and amazing graphics
at these sites:
The Kavli Center for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, http://cfcp.uchicago.edu. Click on "Education and Outreach," then "About cosmology."
The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe mission (WMAP) at http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov. Click on "Universe" to find "Cosmology 101."
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