The Active Galaxies pop-up book is a very large rectangular pop-up book with foldouts that was developed for use in classrooms for grades 5 and up and for special needs audiences. Active galaxies, a major scientific target for the GLAST mission, contain super-massive black holes at their cores, and sometimes emit jets of particles and light. When opened, a model of an active galaxy with jets pops up out of the center. One foldout contains explanatory information for the parts of the galaxy depicted in the central pop-up as well as a glossary, while the other contains a well-tested classroom activity: Tasty Active Galaxy. The back of the book features a cartoon story -How the Galaxy Got Its Jets.

This OLogy activity challenges kids to match up cosmic photos with their descriptions in an interactive quiz. The activity begins by introducing kids to the Hubble Space Telescope through an astronomer at the museum who works with photos from the telescope. They are then asked to match eight telescope photos with their text descriptions. A Help screen is included with tips for completing the activity. Once kids have made their guesses, they can click a button to check their answers. They are prompted to try again if not all their answers are correct. Success is rewarded with a congratulatory message from the Hubble.

This Web site, created to complement the Einstein exhibit, looks at the life and contributions of this extraordinary scientist and humanitarian.

What sorts of things get physicists (or wannabe physicists, like the teacher of this class) excited? Is it the dream of building grand intellectual edifices capable of describing the Universe with amazing accuracy and elegance? Or, perhaps, discovering something so unexpected that it totally blows your mind? Maybe it's simply the act of doing physics! Whatever the case, there are certainly many things in physics to get excited about, and we'll explore some of them in this class.

This course focuses on three particularly interesting areas of astronomy that are advancing very rapidly: Extra-Solar Planets, Black Holes, and Dark Energy. Particular attention is paid to current projects that promise to improve our understanding significantly over the next few years. The course explores not just what is known, but what is currently not known, and how astronomers are going about trying to find out.

This course covers the basic principles of Einstein's general theory of relativity. Also discussed are differential geometry, experimental tests of general relativity, black holes, and cosmology.

The basic principles of Einstein's general theory of relativity. Differential geometry. Experimental tests of general relativity. Black holes. Cosmology.

This compilation video contains visualizations of Earth and Space Sciences resulting from supercomputer models. The excerpted visualizations include: Ocean Planet, El Nino, Ozone 1991, Clouds, Changes in Glacier Bay, Alaska, Biosphere, Lunar Topography from the Clementine Mission, Musculoskeletal Modeling Dynamic Simulations, Simulations of the Breakup and Dynamical Evolution of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, Convective Penetration in Stellar Interiors, Topological Features of a Compressible Plasma Vortex Sheet: A Model for the Outer Heliospheric Solar Wind, R-Aquarii Jet, The Evolution of Distorted Black Holes, Rayleigh-Taylor Instability in a Supernova, Galaxy Harassment, N-Body Simulation of the Cold Dark Matter Cosmology.

Quantitative introduction to physics of the solar system, stars, interstellar medium, the Galaxy, and Universe, as determined from a variety of astronomical observations and models. Topics: planets, planet formation; stars, the Sun, "normal" stars, star formation; stellar evolution, supernovae, compact objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), plusars, binary X-ray sources; star clusters, globular and open clusters; interstellar medium, gas, dust, magnetic fields, cosmic rays; distance ladder; galaxies, normal and active galaxies, jets; gravitational lensing; large scaling structure; Newtonian cosmology, dynamical expansion and thermal history of the Universe; cosmic microwave background radiation; big-bang nucleosynthesis. No prior knowledge of astronomy necessary. Not usable as a restricted elective by physics majors.

This course includes Quantitative introduction to physics of the solar system, stars, interstellar medium, the Galaxy, and Universe, as determined from a variety of astronomical observations and models. Topics: planets, planet formation; stars, the Sun, "normal" stars, star formation; stellar evolution, supernovae, compact objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes), plusars, binary X-ray sources; star clusters, globular and open clusters; interstellar medium, gas, dust, magnetic fields, cosmic rays; distance ladder; galaxies, normal and active galaxies, jets; gravitational lensing; large scaling structure; Newtonian cosmology, dynamical expansion and thermal history of the Universe; cosmic microwave background radiation; big-bang nucleosynthesis. No prior knowledge of astronomy necessary. Not usable as a restricted elective by physics majors.

Build a physical model of a black hole to help understand them.

This animation by Thomas Goertel of the Space Telescope Science Institute is an artist's conception of a spiral galaxy harboring a super-massive black hole. Observe how the material rotates faster the closer it is to the nucleus.

Mechanical vibrations and waves; simple harmonic motion, superposition, forced vibrations and resonance, coupled oscillations and normal modes; vibrations of continuous systems; reflection and refraction; phase and group velocity. Optics; wave solutions to Maxwell's equations; polarization; Snell's Law, interference, Huygens's principle, Fraunhofer diffraction, and gratings.

This fun Web site is part of OLogy, where kids can collect virtual trading cards and create projects with them. Here, they are introduced to space and time with six engaging and kid-friendly areas. Welcome to the Fourth Dimension, which looks at how time is needed to describe where you are in the fourth dimension. It's All Relative, an explanation of how time and space are different depending on your frame of reference. Mass Appeal, which uses the example of an elephant on a page of paper to explain how the Sun's mass causes space and time to bend. You Light Up My Life, how Arthur Eddington proved that Einstein's light-bending prediction was right. Everyday Einstein: Black Holes, an overview of these "bottomless dimples in space."Time Travel Kit, a look at how the faster you move in space, the slower you move in time.

The information and activities found in StarChild can be used to engage, excite, and educate students in your classrooms. Helps elementary school students learn about the sun and moon, planets, the asteroid belt, meteoroids and comets, astronauts and space suits, space travel and space probes, the Hubble space telescope, the Columbia accident, galaxies, the Milky Way, stars, quasars, black holes, cosmology, and dark matter.