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EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES AND EVENTS

Educational Resources and Events Catalog

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  1. Science Briefing: New Insights into Rocky Exoplanets with the James Webb Space Telescope

    December 4, 2025 Professional Learning Webinar

    In this final edition of NASA’s Universe of Learning Science Briefings, we will explore how the James Webb Space Telescope is revolutionizing our understanding of rocky planets around stars other ...

  2. Science Briefing: The Shocking Universe

    October 2, 2025 Professional Learning Webinar

    In this edition of NASA’s Universe of Learning Science Briefings, we will explore cosmic shocks — regions where fast-moving particles crash into slower material, triggering sudden changes in ...

  3. Program Guide & Resources: Finding Exoplanets

    Resource Guide
    Many exoplanets — worlds beyond our solar system — are very small and faint compared to their bright host stars, making it nearly impossible to spot them directly. Despite this, astronomers...
    Rectangular graphic illustrating the Exoplanets program theme. The right four-fifths of the graphic shows an illustration of three exoplanets orbiting a bright star. Running vertically along the left side of the image is a wide blue bar. In the lower half of the bar is a line drawing of a simple hand-held telescope on a tripod. The telescope points toward a circular field of view showing stars and planets.

  4. Lights, Coronagraph, Action! An Exoplanet Direct Imaging Demo

    Activities
    In this demonstration, participants will learn about the direct imaging method astronomers use to find exoplanets — planets outside our solar system. Using a trifold display board and a lamp, participants...
    Split image: At left, a bright dot with a glare. At right, a hand holds a dark circle to block the star's light.

  5. Exoplanet Detectives: A Transit Method Activity

    Activities
    In this activity, participants will learn about the transit method to find exoplanets — planets outside our solar system. Using a trifold display board, a lamp, and exoplanet shadow puppets, participants...
    Large tri-fold poster says Exoplanet Detectives at the top.

  6. Science Briefing: Andromeda Galaxy

    August 7, 2025 Professional Learning Webinar

    In this edition of NASA’s Universe of Learning Science Briefings, we will learn about the formation and evolution of our nearest large neighbor galaxy, the Andromeda Galaxy. The clues to its formation ...

  7. Cosmic Canvas: Stellar Evolution Program Guide & Resources

    Activities | Resource Guide
    Stars are born, live incredible lives, and eventually die — sometimes in dramatic ways! This journey, known as stellar evolution, helps us understand how stars shape the universe. With these program...
    Artist's concept of the binary star system HM Sge on the black background of space sprinkled with various sizes of red and white points of light. At the top of the image, a blazing hot white disk surrounds a white dwarf star that is pulling a stream of material from its red giant companion, the glowing mottled ball at bottom right.

  8. Cosmic Canvas: Exoplanets Program Guide & Resources

    Activities | Resource Guide
    Astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets—planets beyond our solar system. Some exoplanets are hot and stormy, others icy and rocky, and some look wildly different than the planets within...
    Illustration depicting the seven planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system against a black background. The image does not show the planets' orbits to scale as they are placed in a diagonal manner from top left to bottom right. The exoplanets’ surfaces are illuminated, as if an offscreen light source is shining on the face-on portion of each exoplanet. The exoplanets vary in size, and each is unique in color and detail. From left to right: a large blue sphere, a light brown and gray sphere, a smaller dark blue sphere with a white marbled surface, a sphere with a brown, white, and blue surface, a slightly larger sphere with gray vein-like features, a similarly sized sphere with a light brown surface, and a small brown sphere.

  9. Cosmic Stories

    Activities
    This activity allows participants to practice making observations and conveying ideas while crafting a poem, short story, or song about astronomical images, illustrations, artworks, tactile plates, and/or...
    Composite image of MSH 15-52, a pulsar wind nebula, which strongly resembles a ghostly purple hand with sparkling fingertips. The hazy purple cloud is set against a black, starry backdrop. The bright white spot near the base of the palm is the pulsar. The three longest fingertips of the hand-shape point toward 1 o’clock. There, a small, mottled, orange and yellow cloud appears to sparkle or glow like embers. This orange cloud is part of the remains of the supernova explosion that created the pulsar.

  10. Paint a Star-forming Nebula

    Activities
    In this activity, participants explore real telescope images of star-forming nebulae and create watercolor paintings to visualize how stars, gas, and dust interact in these dynamic regions. A step-by-step...
    A person’s hand holds a paintbrush and is adding finishing touches to a watercolor painting of a star-forming nebula. The scene is viewed from above, with the paper placed on a wooden table. The nebula painting shows towering, reddish-brown pillar-like formations resembling those found in deep space images, surrounded by a soft, swirling purple and blue sky filled with stars. Bright yellow and orange star shapes, along with small scattered black and blue dots, depict stars scattered across the cosmic scene. On the left side of the image, a watercolor palette features over 30 vibrant colors, including shades of pink, orange, blue, green, and brown. A few colors show signs of recent use, with drops of paint on the palette and paper.

  11. Make Your Own Exoplanet Model

    Activities
    In this activity, participants design and create an exoplanet that could exist, complete with distinct features and characteristics, and then use art supplies to bring their vision to life. This activity...
    A colorful drawing of an imagined exoplanet orbiting two stars. Against a black background is a small yellow circle, a star, in the top left corner of the image. Just below, to its bottom right, is a larger circle that has a red surface with black splotches, another star. Toward the center right of the image is a larger circle, the exoplanet. The left half of the planet is mostly reddish-orange and has two blue patches to represent oceans. The right half of the planet is gray and black with curvy features depicting clouds. Handwritten text about the imagined exoplanet system appears in the top right corner.

  12. Drawing from the Data: Illustrating the TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets

    Activities
    In this activity, participants explore a scale model and real data from the TRAPPIST-1 exoplanet system to see how scientists and artists use current information to depict these distant worlds. Through...
    Illustration of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, showing an imagined lineup of the star and its seven Earth-sized planets labeled b through h. From left to right, the image shows a bright, glowing orange star (TRAPPIST-1) taking up the left edge of the image. The seven planets appear in a horizontal row extending to the right, each increasingly distant from the star. The planets are labeled in lowercase letters beneath them from left to right as: b, c, d, e, f, g, and h. TRAPPIST-1b, closest to the star, is depicted with a red-orange, volcanic surface resembling Jupiter’s moon Io. TRAPPIST-1c appears rocky with a slightly darker surface. TRAPPIST-1d is shown with a thin band of water along its terminator—the boundary between the bright day side and dark night side. TRAPPIST-1e and f are both shown as water-covered planets, with increasing ice coverage on their night sides. TRAPPIST-1g appears larger, green-blue in tone, with a cloudy atmosphere resembling Neptune’s, though it remains a rocky planet. TRAPPIST-1h, the farthest out, is portrayed as a smaller, cold world.

  13. Exploring the Cosmic Cliffs in 3D

    Videos
    This visualization presents a flight through the ethereal landscape of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s famous image nicknamed “Cosmic Cliffs.” These cliffs are a spectacular...
    The image is divided horizontally by an undulating line between a brown cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom and a comparatively clear upper portion in blue. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing innumerable stars of many sizes. The upper blue portion has wispy translucent cloud-like streaks rising from the nebula below. The orange and brown cloudy formation in the bottom half varies in density and ranges from translucent to opaque. The nebula contains ridges, peaks, and valleys—an appearance similar to a mountain range. In the bottom left corner, a clearer area free of gas and dust appears black with speckled stars.

  14. Star Formation from the Carina Nebula to the Cosmic Cliffs

    Videos
    This scientific visualization traverses the vast star-forming region of the Carina Nebula Complex using multiwavelength data from NASA space telescopes. The narrated journey explores clusters of massive...
    Four images from the Carina Nebula Complex are spliced vertically at an angle. From left to right: Hubble’s view in brown, gray, and light blue tones with a brilliant white star cluster at center; a bright purple and pink observation by Chandra; a bright pink wash with tiny blue orbs imaged by Spitzer; and a Webb view showing bright blue at top with brown clouds at bottom, overlaid with stars.

  15. Flight to the Carina Nebula Complex

    Videos
    This visualization travels across interstellar space to the vast star-forming region of the Carina Nebula Complex. Starting with the 2D sky as seen from Earth, the sequence traces out the nearby constellations...
    At the center is a loose splotch of red, the Carina Nebula, set against the black background of space. Distant stars and galaxies are speckled across the scene. The very center of the Carina Nebula is brightest, almost white, with larger stars represented as dots. The gas and dust that make up the nebula take the loose form of flower petals, like an iris. The top “petal” appears in the rough shape of a lowercase V and becomes more diffuse and darker red the farther away the material is from the core. Off to its right is a small, loose red circle with several bright white stars within it. The lower petal of the nebula is also deep red, appearing more like a triangle with one peak centered at the bottom. That edge peters out into deeper red and becomes more translucent the lower it goes. Below that, a short horizontal line of deep semi-transparent red material appears. There is a prominent orange orb center-left at the top, and a blue one toward the bottom a little farther left.