Educational Product
National Aeronautics Educators Grades 5–8
and Space Administration
EG-2001-01-122-HQ
Space-Based
Astronomy
A N E D U C AT O R G U I D E W I T H A C T I V I T I E S F O R S C I E N C E , M AT H E M AT I C S , A N D T E C H N O L O G Y E D U C AT I O N
,Space-Based Astronomy—An Educator Guide with
Activities for Science, Mathematics, and Technology
Education is available in electronic format through
NASA Spacelink—one of the Agency’s electronic
resources specifically developed for use by the educa-
tional community.
The system may be accessed at the following address:
http://spacelink.nasa.gov
,Space-Based
Astronomy
A N E D U C AT O R G U I D E W I T H A C T I V I T I E S F O R S C I E N C E , M AT H E M AT I C S , A N D T E C H N O L O G Y E D U C AT I O N
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION | OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND EDUCATION | EDUCATION DIVISION | OFFICE OF SPACE SCIENCE
This publication is in the Public Domain and is not protected by copyright. Permission is not required for duplication.
EG-2001-01-122-HQ
, About the Cover Images
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
1. EIT 304Å image captures a sweeping prominence—huge clouds of relatively cool dense plasma suspended in the Sun’s hot,
thin corona. At times, they can erupt, escaping the Sun’s atmosphere. Emission in this spectral line shows the upper chro-
mosphere at a temperature of about 60,000 degrees K. Source/Credits: Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). SOHO is a
project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
2. This mosaic shows some of the highest resolution images obtained by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA’s Galileo
spacecraft during its eleventh orbit around Jupiter. The sun illuminates the scene from the left, showing hundreds of ridges
that cut across each other, indicating multiple episodes of ridge formation either by volcanic or tectonic activity within the ice.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, manages the mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL
is a division of California Institute of Technology.
3. A Minuet of Galaxies: This troupe of four galaxies, known as Hickson Compact Group 87 (HCG 87), is performing an intricate
dance orchestrated by the mutual gravitational forces acting between them. The dance is a slow, graceful minuet, occurring
over a time span of hundreds of millions of years. Image Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/ STScI/ NASA).
4. Frames from a three dimensional visualization of Jupiter’s equatorial region. These features are holes in the bright, reflective,
equatorial cloud layer where warmer thermal emission from Jupiter’s deep atmosphere can pass through. The circulation pat-
terns observed here along with the composition measurements from the Galileo Probe suggest that dry air may be converg-
ing and sinking over these regions, maintaining their cloud-free appearance. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA,
manages the Galileo mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California
Institute of Technology.
5. This image of the planet Saturn and natural satellites Tethys and Dione was taken on January 29, 1996, by Voyager 1.
6. This striking NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture shows three rings of glowing gas encircling the site of supernova 1987A, a
star which exploded in February 1987. The supernova is 169,000 light years away, and lies in the dwarf galaxy called the Large
Magellanic Cloud, which can be seen from the southern hemisphere. Credit: Dr. Christopher Burrows, ESA/STScI and NASA.
To find out more about these images and projects, please visit http://spacescience.nasa.gov
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to the NASA Aerospace Education Services Program, NASA Teaching From Space
Program, NASA Educator Resource Center Network, and NASA Office of Space Science for their
contributions to the development of this guide.
Writer:
Gregory L. Vogt, Ed.D.
Teaching From Space Program
NASA Johnson Space Center
Houston, TX
National Aeronautics
ii and Space Administration
National Aeronautics Educators Grades 5–8
and Space Administration
EG-2001-01-122-HQ
Space-Based
Astronomy
A N E D U C AT O R G U I D E W I T H A C T I V I T I E S F O R S C I E N C E , M AT H E M AT I C S , A N D T E C H N O L O G Y E D U C AT I O N
,Space-Based Astronomy—An Educator Guide with
Activities for Science, Mathematics, and Technology
Education is available in electronic format through
NASA Spacelink—one of the Agency’s electronic
resources specifically developed for use by the educa-
tional community.
The system may be accessed at the following address:
http://spacelink.nasa.gov
,Space-Based
Astronomy
A N E D U C AT O R G U I D E W I T H A C T I V I T I E S F O R S C I E N C E , M AT H E M AT I C S , A N D T E C H N O L O G Y E D U C AT I O N
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION | OFFICE OF HUMAN RESOURCES AND EDUCATION | EDUCATION DIVISION | OFFICE OF SPACE SCIENCE
This publication is in the Public Domain and is not protected by copyright. Permission is not required for duplication.
EG-2001-01-122-HQ
, About the Cover Images
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
1. EIT 304Å image captures a sweeping prominence—huge clouds of relatively cool dense plasma suspended in the Sun’s hot,
thin corona. At times, they can erupt, escaping the Sun’s atmosphere. Emission in this spectral line shows the upper chro-
mosphere at a temperature of about 60,000 degrees K. Source/Credits: Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). SOHO is a
project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
2. This mosaic shows some of the highest resolution images obtained by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) system on NASA’s Galileo
spacecraft during its eleventh orbit around Jupiter. The sun illuminates the scene from the left, showing hundreds of ridges
that cut across each other, indicating multiple episodes of ridge formation either by volcanic or tectonic activity within the ice.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, manages the mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL
is a division of California Institute of Technology.
3. A Minuet of Galaxies: This troupe of four galaxies, known as Hickson Compact Group 87 (HCG 87), is performing an intricate
dance orchestrated by the mutual gravitational forces acting between them. The dance is a slow, graceful minuet, occurring
over a time span of hundreds of millions of years. Image Credit: Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/ STScI/ NASA).
4. Frames from a three dimensional visualization of Jupiter’s equatorial region. These features are holes in the bright, reflective,
equatorial cloud layer where warmer thermal emission from Jupiter’s deep atmosphere can pass through. The circulation pat-
terns observed here along with the composition measurements from the Galileo Probe suggest that dry air may be converg-
ing and sinking over these regions, maintaining their cloud-free appearance. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA,
manages the Galileo mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of California
Institute of Technology.
5. This image of the planet Saturn and natural satellites Tethys and Dione was taken on January 29, 1996, by Voyager 1.
6. This striking NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture shows three rings of glowing gas encircling the site of supernova 1987A, a
star which exploded in February 1987. The supernova is 169,000 light years away, and lies in the dwarf galaxy called the Large
Magellanic Cloud, which can be seen from the southern hemisphere. Credit: Dr. Christopher Burrows, ESA/STScI and NASA.
To find out more about these images and projects, please visit http://spacescience.nasa.gov
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks to the NASA Aerospace Education Services Program, NASA Teaching From Space
Program, NASA Educator Resource Center Network, and NASA Office of Space Science for their
contributions to the development of this guide.
Writer:
Gregory L. Vogt, Ed.D.
Teaching From Space Program
NASA Johnson Space Center
Houston, TX
National Aeronautics
ii and Space Administration
