Universe or Multiverse – Full
Documentary
Space Rip – The Solar System (playlist)
Podcasts
5 Minute Astronomy
FREE - iTunes, Web
‘Weekly 3-5 Minute Astronomy podcast based off the Radio
Astronomy show at 89.9FM WORT Madison, Wi.’
StarStuff with Stuart Gary
FREE - iTunes, Web
‘Hosted by Stuart Gary, StarStuff takes us on a weekly
journey across the universe to see the death of stars and the
birth of new worlds. StarStuff’s tour of the cosmos examines
those ultimate questions: where do we come from?; and
are we alone? From Einstein’s relativity theory to quantum
mechanics, StarStuff reports on the latest news and
discoveries in science, with a special focus on astronomy,
space sciences and cosmology.’
Hidden Universe HD: NASA’s Spitzer
Space Telescope (Video)
FREE – iTunes
‘Witness our universe in a whole new way! This video
series (in 720p HD) highlights some of the most exciting
discoveries from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. In-depth
‘Showcase’ features, striking ‘Gallery Explorer’ montages,
and other whimsical specials take you beyond the visible
to a universe of dust and stars hidden from Earth-bound
eyes. Spitzer is the infrared component of the NASA Great
Observatory program which also includes Hubble (visible),
Chandra (x-ray), and Compton (gamma ray).’
Hubblecast HD (Video)
Space Rip - Earth and Moon (playlist)
Articles of Interest
Phys.org – Hubble Views an Old and
Mysterious Cluster
‘The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured
the best ever image of the globular cluster Messier 15, a
gathering of very old stars that orbits the centre of the Milky
Way. This glittering cluster contains over 100 000 stars, and
could also hide a rare type of black hole at its centre...
Read More.’
Astronomy.com – Cassini Spacecraft
Provides New View of Saturn and Earth
‘Astronomers have taken an unprecedented look at the
superenergetic jets blasted out by black holes, and thus
have answered a key question about the composition of
these mysterious beams... Read More.’
Space News Sites:
Imagining Other Earths – Princeton University
Phys Org
Science Daily
Astronomy Magazine
Universe Today
NASA
Introduction to Astronomy –
Duke University
‘It’s ten billion light years across and almost as far away but
nobody had spotted it...until now.
What’s the largest structure in the Universe? That’s a
question that has intrigued scientists for centuries. Today,
they get an answer thanks to atronomers who say they’ve
discovered the largest structure ever observed and one that
dwarfs th pervious record-holder by billions of light years...
Read More.’
‘In this class, we will be studying, quite literally, everything
in the universe. We will start with “classical” astr onomy,
describing the night sky and organizing what we see as was
done in ancient times. We will then embark on a journey,
starting here on Earth and progressing outward, to study
the Solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, and the wonderful
and strange objects we observe in deep space, such as
black holes, quasars, and supernovae.
NASACast Video
‘The space stations of today are little more than tin cans, but
the space stations of the future are likely to be much more
impressive. For decades, scientists have been predicting
what shape future space stations might take. Here are some
of their most enduring designs... Read More.’
Rocketstem.org – Top 10 Must-See List for
New Astronomers
‘It is very difficult to draw up a Top 10 list in any subject.
In astronomy it is even more difficult due the the huge
number of prospective candidates for the list. I have made
it somewhat easier by restricting the list to things that
beginners may view with relatively basic equipment...
Read More’.
Space Rip - Alien Worlds (playlist)
explore cosmology - the history of the Universe as a whole.
Each lecture will use online interactives developed for the
textbook that will help students gain an understanding
of the dynamic nature of the topic. By the end of the class
students will have gained an overview of the Universe they
inhabit and an understanding of its biggest unresolved
questions.’
The Physics arXiv Blog – Astronomers
Discover Largest Structure in the Universe
Scifiideas.com – 10 Space Station
Design Concepts
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Space.com – Guts of Superfast Black Hole
Jets Revealed
There are several online courses you can take,
absolutely FREE! Check a few of them out here:
‘The latest news about astronomy, space, and the NASA/ESA
Hubble Space Telescope presented in High Definition.’
‘NASACast combines the content of all the NASACast
subject area podcasts into a single omnibus podcast. Here
you’ll find the latest news and features on NASA’s missions
as well as the popular “This Week @NASA” newsreel.’
Space Rip - Violent Universe (playlist)
‘NASA has released a natural-color image of Saturn from
space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, Earth,
Venus, and Mars all are visible.
The new panoramic mosaic of the majestic Saturn system
taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which shows the view
as it would be seen by human eyes, was unveiled at the
Newseum in Washington on November 12... Read More.’
FREE - iTunes, Web
FREE – iTunes, Web
Space Rip - Cosmic Journeys (playlist)
Online Courses &
Opportunities
We will end with some discussion of what scientists know
today about the universe as a whole. Along the way we
will introduce some of the methods, theoretical and
experimental, that have been used to understand all of this,
from Newton’s laws, through our understanding of light and
matter, to Einstein’s theory of relativity, and from Galileo’s
telescope to WMAP.’
Confronting The Big Questions:
Highlights of Modern Astronomy –
University of Rochester
‘This course provides students with a short overview of
structure and content of the Universe. Each week will cover
one question. In week one we address the issue of extrasolar planets - planets orbiting other stars and ask what do
we know about these alien worlds touching on issues of life
in the Universe as well. In the second week we explore the
life of stars. The third week looks at galaxies their history
and their distribution across space. The last two lectures
‘Over the past two decades, astronomers have discovered
over a thousand planets around nearby stars. Based on our
current knowledge, it seems likely that there are millions of
stars in the Galaxy that host Earth-sized planets in Earthlike orbits. What is the range of conditions for these planets
to host life? In this course, students will engage with a
wide range of concepts in astronomy, biology, chemistry,
geology and physics with a focus on developing the
background they will use need to think further about this
profound question. We will explore the origin and evolution
of life on Earth, particularly in extreme environments, the
properties of planets and moons in our Solar System, the
properties of stars and the newly discovered extrasolar
planets.’
AstroTech: The Science and Technology
behind Astronomical Discovery – The
University of Edinburgh
‘Modern astronomy has made some astonishing discoveries
- how stars burn and how black holes form; galaxies from
the edge of the universe and killer rocks right next door;
where the elements come from and how the expanding
universe is accelerating. But how do we know all that?
The truth is that astronomy would be impossible without
technology, and every advance in astronomy is really an
advance in technology. But the technology by itself is not
enough. We have to apply it critically with a knowledge of
physics to unlock the secrets of the Universe.
Each week we will cover a different aspect of Astronomical
technology, matching each piece of technology to a
highlight science result. We will explain how the technology
works, how it has allowed us to collect astronomical data,
and, with some basic physics, how we the interpret the data
to make scientific discoveries.’
Cosmology and Astronomy – Khan Academy
A video based information course on various topics including:
Scale of the Universe
Stars, black holes and galaxies
Earth geological and climatic history
Life on earth in the universe
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