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Professor Denis Sullivan (1942–2019)

Position: Former Professor, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington. Field: Astrophysics. Collecting data How do you study things you can’t touch, or even see ...

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ARTICLE

Mapping the Milky Way’s magnetic field

Astronomers at Victoria University were part of an international team led by Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), which has pooled their radio astronomy observations of the ...

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ARTICLE

Investigating satellites – introduction

A satellite is anything that orbits around another object. Moons are natural satellites that orbit around planets, whereas artificial satellites are objects that people have made and launched ...

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ACTIVITY

Hunt the planet

In this activity, students explore the transit method of searching for planets. They plot graphs of light measurements from stars, searching for dimming that indicates the presence of a planet ...

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ACTIVITY

Gravity and satellites: true or false?

In this activity, students use a simple true or false interactive tool to categorise facts. This activity could be used as a formative activity to gather students prior knowledge and ...

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ACTIVITY

Observing natural satellites

In this activity, students observe how the Moon appears to move across the sky each hour, as well as over several days. They discuss how both the rotation of the Earth as well as the satellite ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Planet Hunters

Search data from NASA’s Kepler spacecraft for the dips in star light intensity caused by exoplanets – planets that orbit stars other than the Sun. As these exoplanets pass between the star and ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Globe at Night

Globe at Night is an international citizen science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by inviting citizen scientists to measure and submit their night sky ...

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CITIZEN SCIENCE PROJECT

Loss of the Night

Loss of the Night is an international citizen science project aiming to quantify the illumination of the night sky caused by artificial light. By monitoring how bright the night sky is over time ...

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TEACHER PLD

Explore Women in STEM – Science, Technology Engineering ...

In this online PD session recorded on 2 June 2016, Andrea Soanes from the Science Learning Hub was joined by three guest presenters – all inspirational women working in STEM – who shared their ...

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TEACHER PLD

Teachers using the Hub – Space and astronomy

In this online PD session recorded on 13 August 2015, secondary school teacher Steve Chrystall describes how he uses the Science Learning Hub’s satellites and rocket resources to teach space and ...

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TEACHER PLD

Physical World – forces

Are you looking for ways to teach forces? If you’re new to the Science Learning Hub, you may want to start with our introductory video on teaching physics. Alternatively, use the links below to ...

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Explore related videos

VIDEO

The chase

Professor Denis Sullivan, from Victoria University of Wellington, describes the basic scientific process of astrophysics – measurement, prediction and the hunt for answers.

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VIDEO

Life on other planets

Will we ever see life on planets outside our Solar System? Professor Denis Sullivan, from Victoria University of Wellington, suggests that we may never know for sure.

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VIDEO

Gravity keeps satellites in orbit

Dr Allan McInnes and Dr Adrian McDonald, from the University of Canterbury, explain how gravity and projectile motion keep natural and artificial satellites in an orbital path.

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Explore related interactives

INTERACTIVE

Satellites and orbits

The size, orbit and design of a satellite depend on its purpose. In this interactive, scientists discuss the functions of various satellites and orbits. Accompanying fact files provide ...

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INTERACTIVE

The Martian topography

Watch this animation of Mars that shows all the major features of the Martian topography.

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INTERACTIVE

Gravity and satellites: true or false? – graphic ...

Use this interactive graphic organiser to highlight common alternative conceptions about gravity and satellites. Students can place the labels where they think they belong. This activity can be ...

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