Extra Credit Exercise
This page contains links to sites maintained by different astronomical societies and institutes.

1. Astronomy Picture of the Day

Each and every day this site, maintained at the Goddard Space Flight Center, has a new astronomical image. Some pictures are from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), some from ground based observatories. Some are artists conceptions or pictures of ancient or modern astronomers, and sometimes the images are from computer simulations. Each picture is explained in a brief bit of text below the image. Within the text are further links to other resources.
Since this is the first website you are visiting, it should pop up a new window. Do not close that window since all other webpages will be displayed there.

What was the Picture of the Day?


Briefly describe in your own words the explanation given for the picture of the day.


2. NSSDC Photo Gallery

NSSDC stands for the National Space Science Data Center which is associated with the Goddard Space Flight Center. This organization is part of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Their homepage includes images of the planets, their rings and moons as well as some of the most beautiful extra-solar objects in our Galaxy and the rest of the Universe.

What was one of the new images you saw?


Briefly describe in your own words the image you saw. Which telescope and instrument was used? What is the significance of the image?


3. Latest HST Releases

The Hubble Space Telescope is one of the best instruments for observing distant objects available to astronomers today. Since it is in orbit around the Earth, it does not have to look through the Earth's atmosphere which usually causes serious problems for astronomers viewing the sky from the ground. Since the US government funded the HST project, many people want to know what they have gotten back from it. Well here's your chance to see exactly what the HST has provided for astronomers and for the public. Here are some of the most recent images taken by this telescope in the sky.

What was one of the latest HST releases?


Briefly describe in your own words the significance of this find.


4. HST Movies

Some of these are made with real images and some are created with numerical simulations. Either way, they are usually pretty cool. Check out this site and click on a few of the images to see rotating planets, galaxies forming, comets in motion and differential rotation of stars. Some of the movies take a few seconds to load, so be patient. If nothing has happened in two or three minutes, hit the Stop button and try another movie. Don't get too frustrated!

What was one of the movies you saw?


Briefly describe in your own words the importance of the animation or movie. How has making this movie or simulation helped astronomers understand the object they are studying?


5. Cassini Mission to Saturn

Currently, NASA has a space probe in orbit around Saturn--"Cassini". At this website you will find some amazing pictures of Saturn and its moons, as well as various movies. Spend some time here!

What did you look at?.


Describe briefly in your own words the the nature of the object/feature you examined.


6. Chandra X-ray Observatory

NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is a telescope specially designed to detect X-ray emission from very hot regions of the Universe such as exploded stars, clusters of galaxies, and matter around black holes. Because X-rays are absorbed by Earth's atmosphere, Chandra must orbit above it, up to an altitude of 139,000 km (86,500 mi) in space. Check out the latest press releases on some of the hottest objects in the universe.

Which did you read about?


Describe what you learned in your own words, including why you picked that topic and the broader impact it has.


7. Our Sun

Our everyday experience with the Sun might lull us into thinking it is constant and its behavior is boring --- this couldn't be further from the truth! The Sun is an active and dynamic object, even when it isn't flinging charged gas into space at speeds up to 3200 km/s (7 million mph). Below are listed two observatories dedicated to studying the Sun. Pick a satellite, visit the site's newsroom or gallery, and find something that catches your interest. Which site did you visit?


Describe what you learned in your own words, including why you picked that topic and the broader impact it has.


8. Comet Homepage

Comets are usually the astronomical objects which receive the most attention from the public and the media. These ball of ice and rock make beautiful streaks across our sky as they approach the Sun and are vaporized by the Sun's heat and the solar wind. This site is dedicated to these little objects. Look at some of the images of recent comets and read the section on the Origin of comets.

Name one of the comets you saw an image of.


Describe briefly in your own words the origin of comets in our solar system.


9. Astronomy in the News

There are a lot of great astronomy news sites out there. We've listed a few of them for you. Visit a site and pick a news article to read. Which site did you visit?


Brielfy summarize the article you read. Be sure to mention why you chose that article (it was interesting, you didn't believe the title, you learned about it in class, etc.).


10. The Sky This Month

There's always something interesting going on in the sky, from meteor showers to planets. Visit one of the following sites to learn about the sky this month. What site did you visit?


What's happening in the sky this month?


11. Astronomy in New Mexico

New Mexico has some of the best sites for astronomical telescopes and has many planetariums and special centers for the public. NMSU partly owns a 3.5m reflector telescope in Cloudcroft which faculty and students at NMSU use. There are a couple of planetariums in the state as well as the space center in Alamogordo where the public can learn more about astronomy. Visit some of these New Mexican astronomy related homepages! Find out about the places you can visit yourself to learn more about how astronomers in New Mexico do their research. Check out the Alamogordo Space Center which has great educational programs for the public, including frequent showings of OMNIMAX movies.

Which site did you visit?


Briefly describe one of the places you visited? What sort of public outreach programs are available? Do you think you might plan to visit one of these places in the future?


12. Astronomy at New Mexico State University

Not only does the NMSU Astronomy department offer amazing undergraduate courses, but they also do a range of neat research. Visit the department website and then click on 'Research' to learn more about what they're doing.

Which researcher did you read about?


Briefly describe the kind of work they do. Why does this person's research interest you?


Congratulations! Make sure you have answered all the questions above, and also fill out the information below to assure your submission goes to the correct TA. Click the 'submit' button when you're done.


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More Astronomy Links
Views of the Solar System
NOAO Homepage
SIRTF/Spitzer
Keck Observatory