TEACHER
RESOURCE
PLANETARIUM
STARDOME OBSERVATORY & ES ON...
TIVITI
FACTS, RESOURCES AND AC
STARS
AE)
L
U
B
E
N
1
T
R
A
P
(
are made of star stuff”
Carl Sagan’s quote “We
of star material in our
nts
me
ele
is true; we have
, we need to know
bodies. To understand how
more about stars.
r night, we can see
With a telescope and clea
nebulae. Nebulae
are
rs”
“sta
that some of the
t, ice, and rock
dus
,
are massive clouds of gas
a single stars
as
eye
ed
nak
that appear to the
way. But in reality they
because they are so far
System by tens of
ar
Sol
are larger than our
thousands of times.
of
ds
dre
hun
to
thousands
the chemical
Astrophysicists determine
g telescopes fitted
usin
ulae
neb
of
n
itio
compos
thod led to the
me
s
Thi
.
with spectrographs
stly made of
mo
are
ulae
neb
t
tha
ry
discove
ssive amounts
ma
e
hav
hydrogen gas. Nebulae
e huge amounts
of mass, and therefore hav
When gravity
er.
of gravity pulling it togeth
s
collapse into dense sphere
to
ulae
neb
the
the
forces parts of
n 1,500 degrees Celsius,
tha
re
mo
at
e
cor
a
h
Wit
e ionized as
the star process begins.
om
bec
and
er
eth
tog
no longer bound
hydrogen molecules are
t coming off of these
states. We can see the ligh
ited
exc
in
und
aro
iz
they wh
tars.
to-S
Pro
as
we refer to them
super-heated spheres, and
the core to reach over
for
ugh
the sphere is dense eno
en
wh
is
ge
sta
t
nex
The
the ions and electrons form
sius. At this temperature
one million degrees Cel
incredibly high speeds.
up”, moving together at
a plasma of hydrogen “so
the repulsion of similarly
sius
Cel
s
10 million degree
If the core reaches about
es which smash them
by the strength of the forc
charged ions is overcome
ividual nuclei collide.
ind
ere
wh
nt
ates an environme
n
together. This action cre
ation of helium which the
fusion results in the cre
t. When the
ligh
This process of nuclear
of
s
ton
pho
of
outward in the form
ed.
lets off energy radiating
of gravity, a star is form
es with the inward pull
anc
bal
d
war
pressure out
of
millions of years
into a star would require
To see nebulae change
of formation scattered
ges
sta
all
in
e
ula
re are neb
observation. Luckily, the
on of these clouds and
luti
evo
, and we can see the
throughout our night sky
ilar stars have formed
them. By viewing how sim
.
the stars forming within
of our own Solar System
ory
n able to trace the hist
bee
e
hav
ts
icis
hys
rop
ast
ing
in our sky, we aren’t see
when we view the stars
t ranging
pas
It should be noted that
the
in
e
etim
som
e
, but as they wer
them as they currently are
ago (stars just inside
) to thousands of years
Sun
r
(ou
ago
s
ute
from min
our galaxy).
her resources... EVM5QLk
Check out thesewwot
6KjM
.youtube.com/watch?v=
SCIEN
CONTE CE
NT/
CURRIC
ULUM L
PLANET
INK
EA
– ASTRO RTH AND BE
Y
EXPLAIN NOMICAL SYS OND
TE
T
CYCLES HE NATURE AN MS –
OF DIFF
D LIFE
ERENT
OF STA
TYPES
R
OF ENE S IN TERMS
RGY CH
AND TIM ANGES
E.
Infrared images from Kitt Peak National Observatory and
Spitzer (NASA’s space telescope) of a protostar outburst
from the Orion nebula. Image credit: NASA/JPL
Light travels at a
speed (1 billion
km/h), which seems
instantaneous over
short distances. But
from 9.5 trillion km
away, it would take
light a year to reach us.
This is where we get
the distance light-year
from, the distance
it takes light to
travel in one year.
: https://w
Nebula size comparison
ectroscopy
n.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sp
Spectroscopy: https://e
ormation
ar_f
i/St
n.wikipedia.org/wik
Star formation: https://e
801/content/l5_p4.html
stro
u/a
u.ed
n.ps
: https://www.e-educatio
lear fusion in Proto-Stars
Nuc
N
O
I
S
S
DISCPUOINT
ving from a
Breakdown the process of mo
r on the
Nebula, to a Proto-Star, to a s,Sta
trons,
neu
ton
pro
ing
atomic level includ
os.
trin
neu
and
s
ray
positrons, gamma
STARDOME.ORG.NZ
09 624 1246
ACTIVITY
PLANETARIUM
STARDOME OBSERVATORY &
E
H
T
R
E
D
N
U
E
P
O
C
S
E
L
TE
Objective...
to think about:
To get students
y
ale of our galax
Th
e sc
cts that
je
tronomical ob
Th
e as
r galaxy
ou
nd
exist in and arou
the
eed of light and
Th
e sp
vel
tra
ht to
time it takes lig
s.
ce
over large distan
Scenario...
ey
e aliens and th
Your students ar
n
io
iss
m
a
to
d
ne
have been assig
e
th
t
ou
ab
e
to discover mor
planet Earth.
Project...
a location in
udents to select
st
e
th
k
as
,
ps
In grou
ring galaxy.
or in a neighbou
our Milky Way
r
mission plan fo
ts to prepare a
n.
tio
Ask the studen
ca
lo
en
from their chos
studying Earth
llowing:
fo
e
th
t
ou
ab
k
in
They should th
aliens?
vanced are the
chnologically ad
Ho
w te
rve Earth?
ey use to obse
uipment will th
eq
t
ha
W
to discover?
do they expect
W
alien location?
hat
ts are on their
en
em
el
l
ta
en
environm
away Earth is?
W
hat
any light-years
m
w
ho
e
lat
lcu
d be?
e students ca
Ca
d on Earth woul
n th
t the time perio
ha
w
e
lat
lcu
ca
ey then
brief outline of
Ca
n th
s, along with a
ng
di
fin
r
ei
th
t
presen
Students should
.
tion, to the class
ca
lo
ed
ct
le
their se
Example...
ALIEN LOCATION: Orion Nebula.
METHOD TO OBSERVE EARTH:
Space Observatory (more advanced than
anything humans have created).
DISTANCE FROM EARTH: 1,000 light-years.
AIM: To discover more about transportation
on Earth.
DATE ON EARTH: 1016.
DISCOVERIES:
•O
bserved Medieval Europe.
•H
umans used horses for transportation.
send it to us.
d
an
ity
tiv
ac
ur
yo
of
o
ot
ph
a
ke
Ta
ardome.org.nz
We’d love to see it! education@st
STARDOME.ORG.NZ
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