Astronomy Classroom Aids

Teaching Astronomy can be difficult. These classroom aids can help.

How Old is the Solar System

Planetary Formation Theory Intro    Circumstellar Disk Contents  Circumstellar Disk Dust     Planetesimals   Sweeping Out Orbits   Frost Line    Meteorite Uranium and Lead     Meteorite Lead-Lead Dating      How Old is the Solar System

How Old are Stars

Introduction   Giant Molecular Cloud Collapse   Protostar Formation   T Tauri Stars    Main Sequence Star Lifetimes   Solar Fusion Rates   The Sun’s Coulomb Barrier    Tunneling through the Coulomb Barrier   When Stars Run Out of Hydrogen

How Old is the Earth-Moon System

The Giant Impact Hypothesis     Oxygen Fractionation      Radiometric Dating Intro    Nuclear Radiation     Half-Life     Isotope Dilution     Mass Spectrometer    Dating Zircon    Oldest Earth and Moon Rocks

The Earth

Triangulating the Earth      Distance to Lightning          How High is the Sky     How big is the Earth    Distance to cities   Distance Ladder – Introduction       ‘How far away is it’ Preview

The Solar System

Heliocentrism           Newton’s Universal Gravitation             Parallax             Mars Orbit      Planets and Moons           Dwarf Planets             Asteroid Belt            Lagrange Points      Distance to the Sun         Io and the Speed of Light           Distance Ladder – Parallax     Jupiter 2017       Water Vents on Europa         Interstellar Asteroid 1I/2017 U1 

Comets and the Heliosphere

The Heliosphere           Sentinels of the Heliosphere       Solar Storm    Aurora Borealis    Comets               Comet Orbits             Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud        Shoemaker-Levy 9    67P Rosetta Mission                  Solar System Distances

Nearby Stars

Nearby Stars Introduction      Celestial Sphere Parallax      Stellar Parallax      Alpha Centauri System    Stellar Mass       Star Motion – Barnards Star      Stellar Neighborhood   Star Luminosity     Pollux-Arcturus-Capella-Castor    Hipparcos      Aldebaran, Mizar, HD 189773      Stellar Mass vs Luminosity       Spica, Mira, Polaris, Antares    Gaia        Betelgeuse, Ch Cyg, Rigel      Nearby Stars Summary

Distant Stars

Distant Stars Introduction          Starlight      Star Color and Blackbody Radiation    Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram       Main Sequence Star Evolution      Fraunhofer Spectral Analysis   Luminosity Classes    V1331 Cyg – UY Scuti – WR 124 – AG Carinae       Standard Candles    Cepheid and RR Lyrae variable stars      Zeta Geminorum – T Lyrae – Deneb – Mu Cephei    Eta Carinae        Monocerotis   Hypervelocity Stars    Distance Ladder with HR Diagram and Cepheid Standard Candles

Planetary Nebula

Astrophotography    CCDs    Helix Nebula       Cat’s Eye Nebula       Expansion Parallax     Doppler Effect    Dumbbell Nebula – Gomez’s Hamburger – IRAS 18059-3211    NGC 5189    Ring Nebula – Retina Nebula      Red Rectangle – Ant Nebula and Butterfly Nebula    Little Ghost Nebula and NGC 2440      Twin Jet Calabash NGC 6153 NGC 6572      Kohoutek 4-55 – Eskimo Nebula – NGC 6751    Boomerang Nebula – Red Spider Nebula         SuWt 2 Starfish Nebula and NGC 5315    Necklace Nebula PK 329 NGC 6326       Distance Ladder – Expansion Parallax

Supernovae and Star Clusters

Supernovae and Star Clusters Introduction   Supernovae to Neutron Stars    Supernova Remnant Crab Nebula Pulsar    Veil Nebula     Type Ia Supernova    Supernova 1006 with Ribbon    Supernova RCW 86

Tycho Supernova SN 1572      Supernova Cassiopeia A and Light Echoes

Magnetars and Supernova RCW 103      Kepler’s Supernova SN 1604      Supernova Remnant N 63A

Supernova 1987A         Finding Supernovae

Open Star Clusters           Globular Star Clusters     Distance Ladder – Type Ia SN and Globular Star Clusters

Star Birth Nebula

Reflection, Emission and Dark Nebula        Rho Ophiuchi    R Coronae Australis    XZ and HL Tauri

Iris Nebula NGC 7023       The Great Orion Molecular Cloud       V376 Cas and V633 Cas

Sharpless 2-106        Cone Nebula NGC 2264      Lagoon Nebula M8      Trifid Nebula      Cat’s Paw Nebula NGC 6334

GGD 27     Monkey Head Nebula       Omega Nebula       Eagle Nebula     Carina Nebula

Heart & Soul Nebula      Statue of Liberty Nebula and NGC 3603    RCW 34   NGC 2467

NGC 3603       Distance Ladder – H II Regions

Appendix

Zwicky Transient Facility     Zwicky Sees First Light 

The Milky Way

Introduction          Galactic Center          Stellar Interferometry

Black Holes           Black Hole Sagittarius A*      Stellar Mass Black Hole J1820     Milky Way Disc Structure

Our Place in the Milky Way      Milky Way Dust    Milky Way Rotation Curve    The Galactic Halo

 Galaxy Imaging from Inside the Milky Way      The Milky Way Photo Point     Milky Way Distance Ladder Coverage

Appendix

Terzan 5                Core Star Cluster               Magnetars                     Rotation Curve

Gaia’s LMC 2017    Runaway Star in the Orion Nebula

Brown Dwarfs

Andromeda and the Local Group

Andromeda    The Local Galaxy Group    The Triangulum Galaxy    NGC 6822

IC 10       NGC 3109     Sextans A     Milky Way Orbiting Galaxies   Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy

Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy     Fornax Dwarf Galaxy     Magellanic Clouds

30 Doradus-Tarantula-R136-Hodge 301     SNR 0509    New Era for Supernova 1987A

Double Bubble     LH 95     Star Cluster NGC 2074     NGC 1466 in LMC    Star Cluster NGC 602

Star forming Region NGC 346    NGC 248      Local Group Conclusion

The Local Galaxy Volume

Meet the Neighbors    NGC 4214      Centaurus A    NGC 1569      M81

Holmberg IX    M82    NGC 2976    Circinus    Southern Pinwheel M83

NGC 6503         NGC 3344     Fireworks Galaxy       M106

NGC 2787     NGC 4485 and 4490    M101 Pinwheel Galaxy    Sombrero Galaxy M104

NGC 1512     Whirlpool Galaxy-M51      Density Wave Theory     M74

M66     M96     Hubble Galaxy Classification     Local Volume Distance Ladder

The Virgo Supercluster

Earth in the Virgo Supercluster      NGC 4314     M77 NGC 1068     NGC 5866

M100    NGC 3949     M60 UCD1 Black Hole     NGC 1427A     NGC 3310     NGC 4013

I Zwicky 18     NGC 4522     NGC 4710     NGC 1316     NGC 4414     NGC 1300

NGC 2841        NGC 3079      NGC 1052     Hanny’s Voorwerp     NGC 3982

NGC 5584      NGC 4639     NGC 4319     NGC 3021     NGC 3370     NGC 1309

NGC 7049     Hubble’s Law     Virgo Supercluster Distance Ladder

Earth in the Virgo Supercluster

Local Superclusters

Galaxy Walls and Voids       Hydra Supercluster     NGC 3314     Centaurus Supercluster

NGC 4603       NGC 4622 Spins Backwards        Polar Ring Galaxy NGC 4650A

NGC 4696 Black Hole       Perseus-Pisces Supercluster       Perseus Galaxy Cluster and NGC 1277

NGC 1275     Coma Supercluster       Coma Galaxy Cluster     NGC 4921     NGC 4911

Some Local Supercluster Distances       Laniakea     ESO 510-G13     NGC 6984

NGC 6782     ESO 137-001     NGC 5548 Black Hole      ESO 243-49 HLX-1

Stephan’s Quintet       NGC 1410 & 1409      D100 Loosing Gas     ARP 127 & NGC 5679

Einstein Ring       Hoag’s Object      The Great Attractor       Local Superclusters Big Picture

 

Colliding Galaxies

Introduction      ARP 269      NGC 1510 & 1512      NGC 4302 & 4298     ARP 147

Cartwheel Galaxy     Zw II 28     Arp-Madore 2026-424      Antennae Galaxies

NGC 2207 & IC 2163        NGC 3256       NGC 922       ESO 576-69       ARP 142

ARP 256        Markarian 266           Tadpole Galaxy        ARP 273

The Mice NGC 4676       NGC 454       Arp 81        South America Galaxy

Peculiar galaxy NGC 7603        Galaxy Collision Stages

Andromeda Milky Way Collision        Colliding Galaxies Conclusion

The Cosmos

The Cosmos Introduction     Abell 2029 with IC1101      Markarian 205

Quasar 3C 273     El Gordo     SN 2002dd     SN UDS10Wil     Gravitational Lensing

Dark Matter Discovery      Bullet Cluster Dark Matter      Dark Matter Gravitational Lensing

Expanding Space      Cosmic Distance and Visible Horizon     Accelerating Expansion

Cosmic Scale Factor      Cosmological Redshift      Dark Energy     Surface of Last Scattering

CMB Radiation    Fabric of the Cosmos     Cosmic Distance Ladder

Edwin Hubble on Space Explorations

Milky Way

2016 Gaia Update         Trumpler 14            Bubble Nebula          Crab Nebula Pulsar

Terzan 5                Core Star Cluster               Magnetars                     Rotation Curve

Gaia’s LMC 2017    Runaway Star in the Orion Nebula

Galaxies

NGC 248            Star Cluster R136 in Ultraviolet           Eta Carinae’s twin in M51

Kiso 5639            NGC 4696              GOODS Survey      Star Collapses into a Black Hole

Some Interacting Galaxies      Merging Neutron Stars Gravitational Wave

A Trip through the Deep Field

Brown Dwarfs

Brown Dwarf Teide 1

Brown Dwarf Rho-Oph 102      Brown Dwarf Formation       Brown Dwarf Classifications

Gravity from Rocks to Gas Giants      Hydrostatic Equalibrium     Electron Pressure

Deuterium Fusion      The Smallest Star       A Nearby Brown Dwarf

Brown Dwarfs in the Orion Nebula     NGC 1333

Blackbody Radiation

Starlight             Star Color            Planck’s Constant

Dark Matter

Discovery            Galactic Dark Matter         Intergalactic Dark Matter      Dark Matter in the Sculptor Dwarf Galaxy        Dark Matter Candidates

Redshift

Spectroscopy           Doppler Effect         Cosmological Redshift

Supernova

Supernovae Introduction      Supernova Remnant Crab Nebula Pulsar

Type Ia Supernova         Finding Supernovae

Supernova Survivor N103B

Type 1a Gravitational Lensing

Annual Reviews:

2023 Review

Introduction    Dart Update    Parker Solar Probe   Chamaeleon I    LAWD 37    Fomalhaut Update    NGC 1333    Brown Dwarfs in IC 348    Webb view of 2 Herbig-Haro Objects    Webb view of the Crab Nebula    Webb view of Cassiopeia A    Webb view of Wolf-Rayet 124    Finding an IMBH in M4 (maybe)    Webb view of NGC 346    Dwarf Galaxy UGC 8091    Arp 220    Finding a Black Hole’s Mass by the Distortions it Creates    Runaway Black Hole     Astrochemistry in the Iris Nebula    Intergalactic Stars    Fishhook and Quyllur through El Gordo    Early Galaxy Proto-Cluster    Early and Oldest Galaxies    ESA Euclid Space Telescope 1st Release    2023 Review Credits    

2022 Review – Hubble and James Webb

Earth from GOES-18    James Webb – Mars-Jupiter-Neptune

Didymos            Protostar L1527    Wolf-Rayet 140

Pillars of Creation      James Webb – 1st Release Collage

Tarantula Nebula      Supernova 2013ge    Henize 2-10 Black Hole

Phantom Galaxy    Galaxy Group Arp 143     Hickson Compact Group 40

Galactic Dust in VV191b      2022 Review Credits

2022 JWST First release

JWST – 30 Doradus and the Tarantula Nebula

JWST – 1st Release Introduction 

JWST – LMC    JWST – Carina Nebula    JWST – Southern Ring

JWST – NGC 7496      M74 NGC 628    JWST – Cartwheel Galaxy

JWST – Stephan’s Quintet    JWST – Deep Field – SMACS 0723-73

JWST – 2022 1st Release Review Credits 

JWST – CEERS Deep Field

JWST-Hubble- Earendel – 1st Population III Star (maybe)

2021

2021 Review – Music free Version   2021 Review Introduction

James Webb Space Telescope Update    Trojan Asteroid 2019 LD 2

Jupiter Red Spot Winds    Bennu Sample Returns  New Stars in Orion

Canis Majoris    Hydrogen-Burning White Dwarfs     AG Carinae

SNR 1E 0102    SN 2020fqv in NGC 4568

No Dark Matter in NGC1052-DF2    NGC 2276    IC 5063

GRB 200522A    Molten Ring Galaxy    Requiem Supernova

Double Quasars    Hamilton’s Object    2021 Mars Missions

2021 Review Credits

2020

2020 Review – Music Free Version   2020 Introduction

Summer Saturn  Jupiter Storms  Comet NEOWISE

Fomalhaut b    Betelgeuse    HBC 672 Bat Shadow Movement

NGC 7027    Orion Flythrough    Westerlund 2

Wolf–Rayet star WR 124    The Fading Stingray Nebula

Milky Way Central Bulge Stars    LHA 120-N150

NGC 1805    NGC 2014 & NGC 2020    NGC 2188

NGC 5585    NGC 2835    Supernova in NGC 2525

UGC 2885    First Stars    James Webb Space Telescope

Galactic Dust – WR 140    The Early Universe

2020 Review Credits

2019

2019 Review – Music free version    2019 Introduction      Comet 2I Borisov

Southern Crab Nebula     NGC 1466 in LMC       Pan-STARRS1 Surveys

NGC 4485 and 4490      Bedin 1     ESO 495-21 Henize 2-10

D100 Loosing Gas      Arp-Madore 2026-424     GRB 190114C

Sunburst Arc Galaxy    Hubble Legacy Field   M87 Jet      Superluminal Motion

Relativistic Beaming    M87 EHT Black Hole Image    Event Horizon Telescope

2019 Review Credits

2018

2018 Review – Music free version    2018 Introduction      Saturn’s Northern Lights

Landing on Asteroid Ryugu       IC 63 – The ghost of Cassiopeia       Serpens Nebula – HBC 672

Spatial Scanning      NGC 6397     Milky Way Bulge Stars

GAIA Data Release 2      NGC 3344     M100 in Focus

NGC 1052 – DF2      NGC 3256      NGC 1277

Coma Star Clusters    ARP 256    Abell 370 Survey

Icarus    Hubble Deep Ultraviolet      Brown Dwarf Teide 1

Brown Dwarf Rho-Oph 102      Brown Dwarf Formation       Brown Dwarf Classifications

Gravity from Rocks to Gas Giants      Hydrostatic Equilibrium     Electron Pressure

Deuterium Fusion      The Smallest Star       A Nearby Brown Dwarf

Brown Dwarfs in the Orion Nebula     NGC 1333     2018 Review Credits

2017

2017 Review – Music free version    2017 Introduction      Jupiter 2017

Water Vents on Europa      Interstellar Asteroid 1I/2017 U1       Gaia’s LMC

Dark Matter in Sculptor      New Era for SN 1987A     Type 1A Survivor N103B

Runaway Star in Orion      Star Collapses into a Black Hole     Zwicky Sees First Light

Type 1A Gravitational Lensing      Some Interacting Galaxies   An Early Dead Galaxy

Gamma Ray Bursts    Merging Neutron Stars’ Gravitational Wave    A Trip Through the Deep Field

2017 Review Credits

2016

2016 Review – Music free version      2016 Introduction        Solar Flares

Mars at Opposition 2016     Juno Reaches Jupiter    Rosetta Mission Ends

Gaia Update 2016      Trumpler 14     Bubble Nebula

Crab Nebula Pulsar     Terzan 5    Milky Way Core Star Cluster

Magnetars       Milky Way Rotation Curve    NGC 248

Star Cluster R136 in Ultraviolet    Eta Carinae’s Twin in M51

Kiso 5639   NGC 4696   GOODS Survey   Zwicky Transient Facility

2016 Update Credits

2015

2015 review – Music Free Version   2015 Introduction      HH 24 in Orion

Veil Nebula in Motion       Eagle Nebula in Infrared   White Dwarfs in the Central Bulge

GAIA 2015 Update      Andromeda in 4K          Local Void and NGC 6503          Hanny’s Voorwerp         Laniakea

Dark Matter Discovery            Galactic Dark Matter         Intergalactic Dark Matter           Dark Matter Candidates

2015 Review Credits