Astronomy

Telescopes
We can see the universe with telescopes. Some of them are on the ground and one of them, called the Hubble telescope is in a satellite orbiting the earth. We can also use telescopes in outer space to take pictures of the earth. That is how we get weather photos. You can even use them to take overhead pictures of where we live. Some pictures show the earth in color changing every day.  Other telescopes are used to take a picture of the sun (our own star).

Pictures of outer space
Now days the best astronomy pictures are on the internet. Every day this web page shows a cool new astronomy picture. (list) . Another cool place to see astronomy pictures is the Hubble space telescope.  If you are interested in planets, this page lets you zoom in on Mars and Venus and other planets just like you are flying over them in an airplane. Do you see any alien cities?

Internet Telescopes
For astronomy, the internet works  like a just like a telescope. The Virtual Sky lets you zoom in on stars.  Just click on the sky picture to see stars and keep clicking until you set to see a galaxy. It even lets you see radiation you can't see with your eyes such as Xrays, radio waves and Infrared (heat waves). Another very cool site is SDSS . There the scientists are making the largest map ever of the sky and they have lots of pictures on line. This group has just discovered the oldest galaxies ever.  (and you can see the pictures)

How big is the universe?
How old is the universe?
What is the universe made of? What holds it together?
Is gravity the same everywhere?

It's cool that the very best telescopes (Hubble and SDSS) are online. Everyone can see the same data scientists use to study the universe. Some questions can be answered by kids just looking at the sky, either with your eyes, binoculars, telescopes or with Virtual Sky or SDSS.

What color are galaxies?
What color are stars? Are they all the same color or different colors?
Are most galaxies round like a ball or shaped?
Do stars and  galaxies occur in bunches or by themselves?
Can you see any evidence of alien civilizations in space.
How about aliens on the Moon, Mars or Venus?
How does the sky look different if you zoom in on it?
Can you see the milky way?
How many stars are in the sky?
 

You can find more questions here at SDSS science projects   ,