Educational Product National Aeronautics Educators l Grades 5-8 EG-2001-01-122-HQ and Space Administration ! pace-Based Astromo 00000 O00000 O0 • 00000000 O00 ••• i ,iii- 0"• • • • • • • • • • Space-BasedAstronomy_An Educator Guide with • • Acth,ities 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 • 00 • O O • O • • • • • • • • 00 • • • • • 00 • ASsPaCe- trono AN EDUCATOR GUIDE WITH ACTIVITIES ENCE MATHEMATICS AND LOGY EDU ',ATION NATIONALAERONAUTICSANDSPACEADMINISTRATIONI OFFICEOFHUMANRESOURCESANDEDUCATIONI EDUCATIONDIVISIONI OFFICEOFSPACESCIENCE Thispublicationis inthePublicDomainandis notprotectedbycopyright.Permissionis notrequiredforduplication. ",,,.._./ EG-2001-0!-122-HQ About the Cover Images 1. EIT304Aimage capturesa sweepingprominence--huge cloudsof relativelycooldenseplasma suspendedinthe Sun's hot, thin corona.At times, they can erupt,escapingthe Sun's atmosphere.Emissionin this spectral line shows the upper chro- mosphereat a temperatureof about 60,000 degreesK. SourceCredits:Solar & HeliosphericObservatory(SOHO).SOHOis a projectof internationalcooperationbetweenESAandNASA. 2. Thismosaicshowssome of the highest resolutionimages obtainedbythe Solid StateImaging(SSI)systemon NASA'sGalileo spacecraftduring its eleventhorbit around Jupiter.The sun illuminates the scenefrom the left, showinghundredsof ridges that cut acrosseachother,indicating multiple episodesof ridgeformation eitherby volcanicor tectonicactivity within the ice. TheJet PropulsionLaborato_ Pasadena,CA,managesthe missionfor NASA'sOffice of SpaceScience,Washington,DC.JPL is a divisionof CaliforniaInstituteof Technology. 3. A Minuetof Galaxies:Thistroupe of four galaxies,known as HicksonCompactGroup87 (HCG87), is performingan intricate dance orchestratedby the mutualgravitationalforces acting betweenthem.The dance is a slow, graceful minuet,occurring over a time span of hundredsof millionsof years. ImageCredit:HubbleHeritageTeam(ALIRA/STScl/NASA). 4. Framesfrom a three dimensionalvisualizationof Jupiter'sequatorialregion.Thesefeatures are holesin the bright,reflective, equatorialcloudlayerwhere warmer thermalemissionfrom Jupiter'sdeepatmospherecan pass through.Thecirculationpat- terns observed herealongwith the compositionmeasurementsfromthe GalileoProbesuggestthat dry air may be converg- ingand sinking over these regions,maintainingtheir cloud-free appearance.TheJet PropulsionLaboratory,Pasadena,CA, managesthe Galileomission for NASA'sOffice of SpaceScience,Washington,DC.JPL is an operatingdivision of California Instituteof Technology. 5. This image of the planet Saturnand naturalsatellitesTethysand Dionewas taken on January29, 1996,byVoyager1. 6. Thisstriking NASAHubbleSpaceTelescopepictureshowsthree ringsof glowinggas encirclingthesite of supernova1987A,a star which explodedin Februaryt987. Thesupernovais t69,000 light yearsaway,and liesinthe dwarf galaxycalledthe Large MagellanicCloud,which can be seenfrom thesouthernhemisphere.Credit:Dr.ChristopherBurrows,ESNSTScland NASA. Tofind out moreaboutthese imagesandprojects,pleasevisithttp://spacesclence.nasa.gov ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Mater thanks to the NASA Aerospace Ed, cation Services Program, NASA 7bacMng From Space Program, NASA Ed, cator Resource Center Netu,ork, and NASA Office of Space SciencejCor their contributions to the development of th# guide. Writer: Gregory L. Vogt, Ed,D. Teaching From Space Program NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX ii I NationalAeronauticsand Space Administration M._j TABLEOFCONTENTS Acknowledgments ........................................................... ii Introduction ............................................................... 1 How to Use This Guide ....................................................... 3 The Space Age Begins ........................................................ 5 Astrophysics ................................................................ 7 A Brief History of United States Astronomy Spacecraft and Crewed Space Flights .................................... 9 Activity Units Unit 1: The Atmospheric Filter ............................................... 17 Unit 2: The Electromagnetic Spectrum ......................................... 23 Unit 3: Collecting Electromagnetic Radiation .................................... 53 Unit 4: Down to Earth ..................................................... 71 Unit 5: Space-Based Astronomy on the Internet ................................... 91 Glossary ................................................................. 94 Suggested Reading .......................................................... 97 NASA Educational Resources .................................................. 99 Reply Card .............................................................. 101 M..J Space-BasedAstronomy[ iii Activity Guidefor Science, Mathematics,and TechnologyEducation I v_j,j If you go to the country,far from city lights, you can see about3,000 stars on a clear night. If your eyeswere bigger,you could see many more stars. With a pair of binoc- ulars, an optical device that effectively enlarges the pupil of your eye by about 30 times, the number of stars you can see increasesto the tens of thousands.With a medium-sized telescope with a light-collecting mirror 30 centimeters in diameter, you can see hundreds of thousands of stars. With a large observatory telescope, millions of stars becomevisible. It would seem that when it comes to observing wavelength) end. Gases and other components the universe, the larger the instrument, the bet- of our atmosphere distort, filter, and block most ter. This is true up to a point, but there are lim- of this radiation permitting only a partial pic- its-limits not imposed by technology but by ture, primarily visible radiation and some radio nature itself. waves, to reach Earth's surface. Although many things can be learned about our universe by Surrounding Earth is a life-sustaining atmos- studying it from the surface of Earth, the story is phere that stands between our eyes and the radi- incomplete. To view celestial objects over the ation that falls upon Earth from outer space. whole range of the electromagnetic spectrum, it This radiation is comprised of a very broad spec- is essential to climb above the atmosphere into trum of energies and wavelengths. Collectively, outer space. they are referred to as the electromagnetic spec- trum. They range from radio and microwave From its earliest days, the National Aeronautics radiation on the low energy (long wavelength) and Space Administration (NASA) has used the end through infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and x- emerging technology of rockets to explore the rays to gamma rays on the high energy (short universe. By lofting telescopes and other scientif- Space-BasedAstronomyI 1 ActivityGuidefor Science, Mathematics,and Technology Education I ic instruments above the veil of Earth's atmos- rethink their most fundamental ideas about what phere, NASA has delivered a treasure house of the universe is, how it came to be, how it func- information to astronomers, leading them to tions, and what it is likely to become. 2 1NationalAeronautics I andSpaceAdministration HOWTO USETHIS GUIDE Thiscurriculumguideuseshands-onactivitiesto helpstudentsandteachersunderstand the significanceof space-basedastronomymastronomicalobservationsmade from outer space.It is not intendedto serveas a curriculum.Instead,teachersshouldselect activitiesfrom this guidethat supportand extendexistingstudy.Theguide containsfew of the traditionalactivitiesfound in manyastronomyguidessuch as constellationstud- ies,lunarphases,and planetaryorbits.It tells,rather,the story of why it is importantto observecelestialobjectsfrom outerspaceand howto studythe entireelectromagnetic spectrum.Teachersare encouragedto adaptthese activitiesfor the particularneedsof their students.Whenselectedactivitiesfrom this guideare usedin conjunctionwith tra- ditionalastronomycurricula,studentsbenefitfrom a morecompleteexperience. The guide begins with a survey of astronomy- results from NASA spacecraft such as the related spacecraft NASA has sent into outer Hubble Space Telescope (HST), Compton space. This is followed by a collection of activities Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO), and the organized into four units: The Atmospheric Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE). The Filter, The Electromagnetic Spectrum, Collecting guide concludes with a glossary, a reference list, Electromagnetic Radiation, and Down to Earth. a NASA Resources list, and an evaluation card. A curriculum matrix identifies the curriculum Feedback from users of this guide is essential for areas each activity addresses. Following the the development of future editions and other activities is information for obtaining a 35 mm classroom supplementary materials. slide set with descriptions showing current Activity Guidefor Science,Mathematics, andSpace-BasedTechnologyAstronomyEducation I 3 THESPACEAGEBEGINS Within months of each other, the United States and the Soviet Union launched their first artificial satellites into orbit around Earth. Bothsatellites were small and simple. Sputnik 1, a Soviet spacecraft, was the first to reach orbit. It was a 58-centimeter-diameter aluminum sphere that carried two radio transmitters, powered by chemical batteries. The satellite reached orbit on October