Summary: This video reveals the immensity of space by showing how its vast distances are measured and by examining the strange effects of Einstein's Theory of Relativity on space travel. Topics include the units of measure in astronomy; how scientists estimate distances through parallax calculations, the inverse square law of light brightness, and the Cepheid variable, Doppler shift, and supernova...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This video looks deep into space to learn how stars are born and how, eventually, they die. Each stage is covered: the formation of proto-stars, the nuclear ignition of main sequence stars, the cooling of red giants, the compaction of white dwarfs, and the final drama: death by burnout as a black dwarf or by supernova. Special attention is given to the Sun-its effect on the Earth, its projected...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: What are the odds that life exists elsewhere in the universe, and what are we doing to find out? Topics in this video range from the meaning of the Drake Equation and assumptions being used to narrow the vast field of stars in which scientists are searching, to the Doppler and transit methods of discovering extrasolar planets, to three initiatives that will help pinpoint probable...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In the darkness of space, invisible energy fills the vast regions between the stars. This video sheds light on intergalactic radio waves, microwaves, X-rays, deadly gamma rays, and other forms of energy not visible to the naked eye. Information on technology for seeing the invisible universe such as the Very Large Array radio telescope, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, the Compton Gamma Ray...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This video introduces some of the oddest objects in space: black holes, bottomless gravity pits that can trap even light; neutron stars, more massive than our Sun but packed into spheres less than ten miles across; quasars, those beacons from the dawn of the universe; and, for an explosive finale, supernovas. Magnetars and the Local Bubble are also discussed, along with CHIPS, the Cosmic Hot...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006