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 ...
Astronomers studying space have two big problems: A lot of things in space seem invisible – they do not give out light we can see. Scientists cannot leave the Earth to go and collect pieces of ...
Hundreds of extrasolar planets (around other stars) have been found using several methods, including transit, ‘wobble’ and microlensing. New Zealand scientists are part of the hunt for extrasolar ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
The Science Learning Hub has lots of resources for primary teachers related to the night sky in the Planet Earth and Beyond strand of the New Zealand Curriculum. The night sky is fascinating to ...
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.
Dr Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, from Victoria University of Wellington, describes what black holes are. She also explains the importance to radio astronomers of black holes at the centres of galaxy ...
Dr Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, from Victoria University of Wellington, explains the difference between planets and stars, and the place of the Solar System in our galaxy.
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 ...
Watch this animation of Mars that shows all the major features of the Martian topography.
Astronomers use telescopes that detect radiation from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. This interactive explains which part of the spectrum various telescopes are able to view and ...
