Astronomy
Planetary Astronomy
Solar System Mechanics
To model the inner solar system.
8A10.11 Center of Mass Between Two Objects
To model many astronomical systems in which two bodies orbit about their center of mass.
8A10.15 Scale Model of the Solar System
To model the relative sizes of and distances between the planets in the solar system.
8A10.32 Earth, Moon, and Sun Models
To model the interactions between the earth, moon and sun.
Earth - Moon Mechanics
8A10.50 Precession of the Equinoxes
To model the precession of the Earth’s equinoxes.
To show how the tilt of earth creates the seasons.
To show the reason for the phases of the moon.
To model the two components of the shadow the moon casts on the earth during a solar eclipse.
Views from Earth
Planetary Characteristics
To explain the retrograde motion of Mars.
To demonstrate how parallax can be used to measure the distance from an observer to a star.
To show the daily movement of the stars.
To model the scattering of the sun’s rays in the Earth’s atmosphere which makes the sky blue.
To model the sun heating the Earth via radiation.
To model the earth’s atmosphere trapping thermal radiation from the sun.
To discuss the angular momentum of rotating planets.
To model the differential rotation which occurs in gaseous planets, solar systems and galaxies.
Comets and the Search for Life
To model the formation of craters.
8A80.92 Miller-Urey Experiment Prop
To show a prop similar to the apparatus used in the Miller-Urey experiment.
Stellar Astronomy
The Sun
Stellar Spectra
Stellar Evolution
To show that a sunspot appears dark because it radiates less than the surrounding area.
To model the convection cells which form on the surface of the sun.
To model a technique for identifying exoplanets.
To show the variation in brightness as a binary star rotates.
To model a supernova in which a star collapses due to pressure.
To model the light emitted by a pulsar.
To explain why a pulsar does not appear to flash when observed through a telescope.
8B30.75 Pauli Exclusion and Electron Degeneracy Pressure
To model the force which prevents gravity from collapsing small stars.
Stellar Miscellaneous
8B50.45 Hydrostatic Equilibrium
To model the balance between the force of gravity and the radiation pressure in stars.
Cosmology
Models of the Universe
Gravitational Effects
To model the universe expanding uniformly in all directions.
8C10.15 Dark Matter and the Big Bang
To model how the presence of dark matter at the time of the big bang allowed for the formation of galaxies.
8C10.20 Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
To discuss slight deviations in temperature in the universe.
To model the curvature of space surrounding objects with large mass.
8C20.35 Non-Euclidean Geometry
To model the distortion of straight lines by positively curved space.
To show that the sum of the angles of a triangle is 180 degrees in Cartesian space but not in curved space.
To simulate the bending of light due to gravity.
To model the formation of cosmic strings due to topological defects in the early universe.
To model a black hole increasing in temperature as it radiates.