Pinhole Viewer
By building their own pinhole camera, students will learn how cameras, telescopes, and their own eyes use light in similar ways.
Solar Spotting
Using the Swedish Solar Telescope, a ground-based observatory, Goran Scharmer and colleagues probe the penumbra—that’s the stringy structure around the perimeter of the dark part of the sunspot.
Candy Corn In Space
Astronauts are allowed to bring special “crew preference” items when they go up in space. NASA astronaut Don Pettit chose candy corn.
Fun With Optics
In this activity, students will perform several experiments, using simple materials to explore the properties of reflection and refraction and how they work in telescopes.
Happy Birthday, Buckyballs!
Twenty-five years ago this month, researchers first identified buckminsterfullerenes — chemical structures shaped like tiny carbon soccer balls.
New Views of the Moon
New images of the moon’s surface taken from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera show fault lines with a surprising explanation: The moon may be shrinking.
Seeing A Star In A New Light
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), launched in February, has started to send back data…
Water Balloons in Space
About ten years ago, two scientists had a little extra time on board NASA’s low gravity aircraft and came up with the idea of popping water balloons.
Sputnik Anniversary
Fifty years ago, a little beeping ball stunned the world. Join Ira Flatow in this hour of Science Friday for a look back at Sputnik and its effect on the way we look at the world.