Informal Science Education Resources
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Webcasts &
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Hubble Science Briefings
Hubble Science Briefings are offered on the first Thursday of every month through NASA's Museum Alliance. Telecon information and presentation materials will be made available in advance on the Alliance website and through Alliance mailings. If you haven't joined the Museum Alliance yet, now is the time to become a member of this important avenue for resources and networking. We welcome suggestions for topics, speakers, and features that you would like to see in Hubble Science Briefings. DECEMBER 2011 BRIEFING:Top Five Lessons Learned from the Colliding Antennae Galaxies Brad Whitmore, Space Telescope Science Institute The Antennae galaxies are the prototypical colliding galaxies. They play a central role in a number of fundamentally important astronomical themes, from the importance of merging galaxies, to the buildup of all galaxies, to how star formation progresses in the universe. Dr. Brad Whitmore will present a list of "Top Five Lessons" that we've learned from the Antennae. He will also provide a short demonstration of the Hubble Legacy Archive, showing how to quickly find color images of dozens of colliding galaxies you've never seen. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (2 MB) PPT Format (3.6 MB) Additional Resource Links
AUGUST 2011 BRIEFING:Hubble Does Double-Duty Science: Finding Planets and Characterizing Stellar Flares in an Old Stellar Population Rachel Osten, Space Telescope Science Institute As astronomers discover planets around more stars, the influence a star has on its planet becomes a more interesting question to examine. Flares, the sudden release of energy and matter from a stellar atmosphere, are a fact of life for solar-like stars. Flares are known to occur more frequently in certain kinds of stars, notably young stars. Astronomers generally assume that there is a decreasing number of flares in older stars, but this has never been studied in a systematic way. Dr. Osten will describe the results of an archival investigation of Hubble data, originally designed to find transiting planets in the Galactic bulge, and repurposed to investigate flaring stars at old ages. She will discuss the nature of the flares, and compare them to solar flares and flares on stars in the solar neighborhood. She will then discuss the nature of the flaring stars and what impact this finding may have on planetary habitability. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (1.5 MB) PPT Format (3.1 MB) Additional Resource Links APRIL 2011 BRIEFING:Studying the First Galaxies with the Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescopes Massimo Stiavelli, Space Telescope Science Institute The Hubble Space Telescope acquired enhanced near-infrared capabilities with the installation of the Wide Field Camera 3 during Servicing Mission 4. This instrument has allowed us to identify many galaxies at redshift 7 and 8. Recently, we have tentatively identified a galaxy at redshift 10 which represents the new redshift record: the most distant object known. These discoveries are important to explore the Cosmic Dark Ages, the epoch in the Universe when the first galaxies formed and Hydrogen was reionized. Massimo will describe the Hubble discoveries and discuss their impact, then discuss what we expect the James Webb Space Telescope to be able to do in this field of research. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (4 MB) PPT Format (5.7 MB) Additional Resource Links
FEBRUARY 2011 BRIEFING:The Hubble Heritage Project: Bridging Science and Aesthetics Lisa Frattare and Keith Noll, Space Telescope Science Institute The Hubble Heritage Project has been a significant source of Hubble imagery for over a decade, and aims to build a bridge between the endeavors of scientists and the public. Begun in 1998, the project's main objective is to deliver Hubble images selected and processed with aesthetics playing as important a role as scientific utility. Our primary product is a compelling monthly photo released along with supplemental material on the Hubble Heritage website (http://heritage.stsci.edu/ ). Learn how the team selects and observes targets, and even augments science data in the vast Hubble archive, to create some of the most appealing astronomical images ever seen. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (4.6 MB) PPT Format (3.3 MB) Additional Resource Links
DECEMBER 2010 BRIEFING:How Do Galaxies Get Their Gas? Jason Tumlinson, Space Telescope Science Institute How do galaxies of all types acquire the gas with which they form stars? This is one of the major unanswered questions in modern astrophysics. The flows of gas from the intergalactic medium (IGM) into galaxies, and back out again in "galactic superwinds", probably help determine galaxy properties such as mass in stars, colors, and morphology. Yet these processes are essentially invisible in optical light, so we must study them using the ultraviolet eyes that the Hubble Space Telescope provides. This talk will present late-breaking results from HST's new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, and survey the intellectual development of this field over 60 years. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (4.8 MB) PPT Format (20 MB) Additional Resource Links
NOVEMBER 2010 BRIEFING:Hubble Observations of the Ghosts of Dead Stars Bill Blair, Johns Hopkins University Many people consider a supernova explosion the end of a star's life; in reality, this event is nothing more than a "phase transition" as the energy and remains of the star expand outward, forming what is known as a supernova remnant. These intriguing, often ghostly-appearing nebulae continue the ongoing process of enriching and energizing the interstellar medium, and can even trigger new stars to form in the surrounding regions of space. Hubble and other telescope observations have provided new insights into the physical processes occurring in these interstellar laboratories, allowing detailed studies of nearby objects in our Galaxy and even permitting us to see and study supernova remnants in distant galaxies. The talk provides some examples of both of these results and highlights some things we have learned. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (3.3 MB) PPT Format (5.6 MB) OCTOBER 2010 BRIEFING:Debris Disks and the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems Christine Chen, Space Telescope Science Institute Our solar system today contains terrestrial planets, an asteroid belt, giant planets, and a Kuiper Belt; however, observations of its architecture and of old terrestrial planet surfaces suggest that it was dynamically rearranged at the end stages of formation. The past two decades have seen the discovery of hundreds of extra-solar giant planets in planetary systems with architectures vastly different from our own. Currently, it is believed that these planetary systems generally experience the same formation and evolutionary processes, although the average history of planetary systems and the range of possible outcomes remain largely unconstrained by observations. Dr. Chen discusses how debris disks can be used as a tool to explore the diversity of planetary architectures and to provide insight into how planetary systems form and evolve. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (2.3 MB) PPT Format (1.2 MB) JULY 2010 BRIEFING:Star Formation in the Milky Way Tracy Beck, Space Telescope Science Institute The process of star formation is commonplace throughout our Milky Way Galaxy, and star-forming regions are diverse and complex places. In the Milky Way, stars form in dense cluster environments of OB Associations, such as the Orion Nebula Cluster, and in low stellar density regions where high mass star formation is entirely absent, as seen in the Taurus association. Although these environments differ in their overall properties, the general process of sun-like star formation from dense clusters to loose associations appears to be similar. In this presentation, Tracy will discuss some of the diverse regions of star formation in the Milky Way galaxy. She will also present how our knowledge of star formation has evolved in time, how the Hubble Space Telescope has made a profound impact in this field, and how JWST will continue to expand our knowledge in new directions. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (1.3 MB) PPT Format (1.3 MB) JUNE 2010 BRIEFING:
Globular Clusters: HST Breathes New Life into Old Fossils Jay Anderson, Space Telescope Science Institute Globular clusters were once at the forefront of astronomy research. The fact that all the stars in a cluster are the same age and at the same distance made them ideal stellar "laboratories" where we could learn about stellar evolution, the ages of stars, and the distances between objects in our galaxy and its neighbors. The understanding we gleaned from these laboratories made it possible to study many of the current "hot" topics in astronomy, such as star formation, stellar populations in galaxies, and galaxy evolution. In recent years the Hubble Space Telescope has shown that globular clusters are not as simple as we once thought; we still have a lot to learn about how stars form, how galaxies form, and maybe even what circumstances might give rise to massive black holes. Jay Anderson will give an overview of some of the exciting new discoveries HST is helping us make in the field of globular clusters. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (4.2 MB) PPT Format (3.6 MB) MAY 2010 BRIEFING:
20 Years of the Hubble Space Telescope Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute Launched in April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was the first of NASA's Great Observatories. That fact, however, does not make it an old telescope. Servicing missions by space shuttle astronauts have renewed Hubble's instrumentation and helped keep it at the forefront of astronomical research. Over two decades of orbiting observations, it has achieved a remarkable record of both scientific discovery and visual splendor. Hubble images have moved beyond the academic community to become synonymous with the beauty of the universe in the public's mind. Join us, on Hubble's twentieth anniversary, for a look at the history, imagery, and significance of this scientific and cultural icon. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (2.8 MB) PPT Format (3.4 MB) Movie - Hubble 3D Trailer - Slide 49: Full Resolution Quicktime (109 MB) Half Resolution Quicktime (63 MB) MARCH 2010 BRIEFING:
The Grand Tour of Exoplanets and Our Search for Earth-like Planets Daniel Apai, Space Telescope Science Institute The past decade brought about exciting discoveries of hundreds of extrasolar planets, many with exotic and surprising properties. Follow-up measurements with a variety of telescopes allow the exploration of the physical and chemical properties of these planets, including temperature, orbits, atmospheric properties, bulk composition as well as their formation history and their subsequent evolution. In this talk Daniel Apai will provide an overview of the diversity of extrasolar planets by visiting some of the most interesting and most exotic exoplanetary systems, from pulsar planets through hot jupiters to super-earths ocean worlds. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (8.2 MB) PPT Format (4.8 MB) FEBRUARY 2010 BRIEFING:
Magnifying the Past: Galaxy Clusters and Gravitational Lensing Ray Lucas, Space Telescope Science Institute Gravitational lensing is a consequence of Einstein's general relativity in which mass warps space, and light traversing this space curves as if passing through a lens. The lensing acts as Nature's telescope, magnifying more distant objects, though also distorting their shapes. Such observations provide valuable clues not only to the nature and structure of these objects, but also to the structure and amount of the dark matter in the gravitational lens. This talk will discuss the role of massive galaxy clusters in gravitational lensing, and especially some of those that have benefited from the wide-area, high-resolution imaging provided by HST and its cameras. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (1.4 MB) PPT Format (1.6 MB) JANUARY 2010 BRIEFING:
Science, Data, and Art: Making "IMAX - Hubble 3D" Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute Opening in spring 2010, the IMAX film "Hubble 3D" features astonishing on-orbit coverage of the telescope's final repair mission. The challenges and successes of building, launching, and maintaining Hubble are chronicled, featuring space footage shot by shuttle astronauts during servicing missions. The film also includes several segments on Hubble observations that were transformed into high resolution stereo. Dr. Summers will explain how images of Omega Centauri, the Orion Nebula, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, and more were scientifically and artistically processed to make the awe-inspiring sequences in the film. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (7.6 MB) PPT Format (7.2 MB) Movie - Hubble 3D Trailer - Slide 49: Full Resolution Quicktime (109 MB) Half Resolution Quicktime (63 MB) OCTOBER 2009 BRIEFING:
A Behind-the-Scenes Perspective on Hubble Servicing, Calibrations, and "First Light" Max Mutchler, Space Telescope Science Institute The riskiest part of the recent Hubble servicing mission was the repair of the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Since 1998, Max Mutchler has been a member of the ACS team at STScI, where he has been engaged in calibrations, designing observing strategies, and analyzing images. He was involved with the first test images taken minutes after the astronauts completed the ACS repairs, and is often the first person to glimpse the raw images beamed down from Hubble. Max will share his perspective on the exciting events surrounding Servicing Mission 4, and will help explain why it takes months to release the first new images! Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (3.2 MB) PPT Format (3.4 MB) SEPTEMBER 2009 BRIEFING:
Hubble - Back in Business and Better Than Ever Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute In May 2009, the astronauts of STS-125 visited the Hubble Space Telescope for Servicing Mission 4. This was the most ambitious servicing ever attempted, and they completed every task on the "to do" list. Yet the real questions could only be answered afterward. How would the new instruments perform? Would the repairs recover the older instruments’ full capabilities? How would Hubble perform with its upgraded batteries, gyros, insulation, and more? The answers are now at hand. After months of Servicing Mission Observatory Verification, we can now tell and show the capabilities of the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope. Following the NASA press conference at 11am EDT on Sept 9th, this briefing will go into detail about the status of the instruments, the telescope, and its magnificent views of the universe. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (6.4 MB) PPT Format (3.9 MB) AUGUST 2009 BRIEFING:
The Search for Other Earths Ray Villard, Space Telescope Science Institute Over the past fourteen years astronomers have discovered over 350 planets orbiting other stars. Nearly all of these worlds are gas giants like Jupiter. A few are ³Super-Earths² that could be rocky or even have oceans. How close are we to identifying whether earthlike planets are common in our galaxy? And, how long after that will we be able to determine if these earthlike planets harbor life? This presentation will review where we stand in our knowledge of exoplanets, and take a look at the space telescopes that will be needed to search for life around other stars. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (3.5 MB) PPT Format (3.1 MB) JULY 2009 BRIEFING:
Studying the First Galaxies with the Hubble and Webb Space Telescopes Massimo Stiavelli, Space Telescope Science Institute Dr. Massimo Stiavelli will explore what is known about the first galaxies in the context of the Epoch of Reionization -- the era in the early Universe when all Hydrogen was reionized by a yet partly unidentified population of galaxies. He will describe what has been learned about this population of galaxies thanks to the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, and what we expect to learn with future observations to be carried out with the newly installed Hubble Wide Field Camera 3. Finally, he will consider what the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to contribute to the study of the first galaxies, and will provide a short status update on JWST. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (2.4 MB) PPT Format (7.3 MB) JUNE 2009 BRIEFING:
Diamonds in the Rough: Searching for the Oldest Stars in the Galaxy Jason Kalirai, Space Telescope Science Institute The stars that light up our night skies are balls of gas with nuclear furnaces in their cores. These brilliant objects have been gazed upon by humankind for centuries, and much of astronomy has historically represented a quest to understand the nature of these shining beacons. It is now well understood that, over time, most stars slowly deplete their fuel by converting the hydrogen in their cores into helium, and therefore cease nuclear burning. The first generation stars that formed in the Universe completed this process billions of years ago, and are now invisible to our eyes as burnt out stellar cinders. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (1.3 MB) PPT Format (1.9 MB) MAY 2009 BRIEFING:
The Impact of the Hubble Space Telescope: Outreach, Education, and Culture Mario Livio, Space Telescope Science Institute The final servicing mission to Hubble has been, in the words of astronaut John Grunsfeld, “a tour de force of tools and human ingenuity”. Scientists will spend the next several months calibrating and checking out the new and refurbished instruments. In anticipation of a telescope with new and expanded capabilities, Dr. Livio will review the impact that the Hubble Space Telescope has already had in areas other than pure science. He will discuss Hubble news results, the impact of education products (both formal and informal), and the impact of online education products. He will also show how Hubble results have penetrated into human culture in general. Finally, he will discuss a unique outreach event that related the Hubble to art. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (4.2 MB) PPT Format (3.9 MB) APRIL 2009 BRIEFING:
Return to Hubble: Servicing Mission 4 Frank Summers, Space Telescope Science Institute The final servicing mission to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled for May 12, 2009. There are three main goals for this complex mission. The first is to enhance the observatory by the addition of two new instruments. The second is to restore the existing scientific capability through in-situ repairs of STIS and ACS, and the third is to ensure life expectancy for at least five more years. This will be the most challenging mission to Hubble that NASA has ever attempted. Frank Summers will present what museum and planetarium personnel need to know in order to inform the public and answer their questions about Hubble, its history, and Servicing Mission 4. Telecon and Presentation Materials at the NASA Museum Alliance (password required) Local Copy for Non-members: Slide Presentation: PDF Format (2.7 MB) PPT Format (3.2 MB) JUNE 2008 BRIEFING:
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In monthly telecons crafted especially for museum and planetarium professionals, you will learn about the latest science discoveries from the telescope, and get direct access to the scientists and technicians who run the observatory and make the discoveries. Bring your love of astronomy and your best questions for an engaging monthly dose of professional development.