Tag: Heliophysics

Bundling the Best of Heliophysics Education: DigiKits for Physics and Astronomy Teachers

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Learn Home Bundling the Best of… For Educators Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science   3 min read Bundling the Best of Heliophysics Education: DigiKits for Physics and Astronomy Teachers For nearly a decade, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has been working to bring together resources through its DigiKits–multimedia collections of vetted high-quality resources for teachers and their students. These resources are toolkits, allowing teachers to pick and choose interesting content to support their instruction. As a partner with…

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30 Years On, NASA’s Wind Is a Windfall for Studying our Neighborhood in Space

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5 min read 30 Years On, NASA’s Wind Is a Windfall for Studying our Neighborhood in Space An artist’s concept of NASA’s Wind spacecraft outside of Earth’s magnetosphere. NASA Picture it: 1994. The first World Wide Web conference took place in Geneva, the first Chunnel train traveled under the English Channel, and just three years after the end of the Cold War, the first Russian instrument on a U.S. spacecraft launched into deep space from Cape Canaveral. The mission to study the solar wind, aptly named Wind, held promise for…

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NASA to Launch Innovative Solar Coronagraph to Space Station

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5 min read NASA to Launch Innovative Solar Coronagraph to Space Station NASA’s Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX) is ready to launch to the International Space Station to reveal new details about the solar wind including its origin and its evolution. Launching in November 2024 aboard SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission, CODEX will be robotically installed on the exterior of the space station. As a solar coronagraph, CODEX will block out the bright light from the Sun’s surface to better see details in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona. In…

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Educator Night at the Museum of the North: Activating Science in Fairbanks Classrooms

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Learn Home Educator Night at the Museum… Heliophysics Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Activation Stories Citizen Science   2 min read Educator Night at the Museum of the North: Activating Science in Fairbanks Classrooms The NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (NASA HEAT) set out to activate science in Fairbanks classrooms in early October at the University of Alaska’s Museum of the North annual Educators’ Night. This free Fall semester event introduces educators and school staff to a variety of resources and connections, connecting attendees…

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Sail Along with NASA’s Solar Sail Tech Demo in Real-Time Simulation

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Unable to render the provided source NASA invites the public to virtually sail along with the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System‘s space journey using NASA’s “Eyes on the Solar System” visualization tool, a digital model of the solar system. This simulation shows the real-time positions of the planets, moons, and spacecraft – including NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System. Solar sails use the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, angling toward or away from the Sun so that photons bounce off the reflective sail to push a spacecraft. This eliminates the need for heavy…

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Leveraging Teacher Leaders to Share the Joy of NASA Heliophysics

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Learn Home Leveraging Teacher Leaders to… Heliophysics Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Stories Science Activation Highlights Citizen Science   2 min read Leveraging Teacher Leaders to Share the Joy of NASA Heliophysics Many teachers are exceptionally skilled at bridging students’ interests with real-world science. Now for the third year, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) has brought together such a group of highly-motivated secondary and higher education teachers as part of their NASA Heliophysics Education Activation Team (HEAT) Space Physics Ambassador program. In…

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NASA, ESA Missions Help Scientists Uncover How Solar Wind Gets Energy

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5 min read NASA, ESA Missions Help Scientists Uncover How Solar Wind Gets Energy Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun’s supersonic “solar wind,” a stream of energetic particles that flows out into the solar system, continues to receive energy once it leaves the Sun. Now, thanks to a lucky lineup of a NASA and an ESA (European Space Agency)/NASA spacecraft both currently studying the Sun, they may have discovered the answer — knowledge that is a crucial piece of the puzzle to help scientists better forecast solar…

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Eclipse Soundscapes AudioMoth Donations Will Study Nature at Night

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Learn Home Eclipse Soundscapes AudioMoth… Audio Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Stories Science Activation Highlights Citizen Science   3 min read Eclipse Soundscapes AudioMoth Donations Will Study Nature at Night During the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse, approximately 770 AudioMoth recording devices were used to capture sound data as part of the Eclipse Soundscapes Project — a multisensory participatory science (also known as “citizen science”) project that is studying how eclipses impact life on Earth. Following the eclipse, participants had the option to…

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Solar Eclipse Data Story Helps the Public Visualize the April 2024 Total Eclipse

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Learn Home Solar Eclipse Data Story Helps… For Educators Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Stories Science Activation Highlights Citizen Science   2 min read Solar Eclipse Data Story Helps the Public Visualize the April 2024 Total Eclipse The NASA Science Activation program’s Cosmic Data Stories team, led by Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, released a new Data Story for the April 8, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse. A Data Story is an interactive, digital showcase of new science imagery, including ideas for exploration and scientific…

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Celebrate Heliophysics Big Year: Free Monthly Webinars on the Sun Touches Everything

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Learn Home Celebrate Heliophysics Big… Heliophysics Overview Learning Resources Science Activation Teams SME Map Opportunities More Science Stories Science Activation Highlights Citizen Science   2 min read Celebrate Heliophysics Big Year: Free Monthly Webinars on the Sun Touches Everything Once a month (usually on the first Tuesday), the Heliophysics Education Community meets online to share knowledge and opportunities. During the Heliophysics Big Year (HBY) – a global celebration of the Sun’s influence on Earth and the entire solar system, beginning with the Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023, continuing…

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