A Few of My Presentations:

1. Stars - What is a star? Why are there blue, white, yellow, orange, and red stars? What are stars made of? What are the sizes of stars? What are neutron stars? Are black holes made from stars? How old are stars? This presentation answers common questions and explains the life cycle of stars including our Sun. Fascinating pictures of our active Sun showing solar flares, prominences, coronal mass ejections (CMA) are also presented. Find out why we are "star stuff."

2. Galaxies - What is a galaxy? What is a galaxy made of? What is in the center of a galaxy? What kind of galaxy do we live in? Where are we located in the Milky Way Galaxy? This presentations answers common questions about galaxies. Also included students will learn about galaxies differ greatly in size and shape and how some contain as few as a hundred million stars, but the biggest have more than a trillion stars. We'll explore the three main types of galaxies based on their shape: spiral, oval, and irregular. Last, pictures of galaxies colliding will be presented and students will learn the Andromeda galaxy is heading toward our Milky Way Galaxy!

3. Powers of Ten - The presentation begins with a one-meter above view of a man and woman picnicking in a small Chicago park. Each photograph thereafter zooms out to a view ten meters farther above the man and woman. The zoom-out continues until we reach a field of 10²⁴ meters which is as far as our telescopes can reach...so far. Along the "tour," we'll take a time out and examine a few planets, comets, and asteroids in our Solar System. Once we reach a distance of 10²⁴ the pictures zooms back to the man and woman and stops at one meter. Last, we plunge toward the two people to views of negative powers of 10⁻¹ m (10 centimeters), and so forth—until the pictures come to 10⁻¹⁶ meter where we must view an artist's picture of what we think a carbon atom quark looks like.

4. Our Solar System - What makes up the solar system? How are planets different from stars? This assembly explores how the solar system was formed from a swirling cloud of gas and dust after the Sun formed. Each of the planets are presented with the newest images starting with the "Inner Solar System" - Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Then, the "Outer Solar System" will be presented with breathtaking pictures of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Last, Pluto (now called a "dwarf planet"), asteroids, comets, and other objects discovered in the Oort cloud will be presented.

5. The Space Shuttle - This program reveals how space shuttles are prepared for launch, what happens during launch, the eight-minute ride into orbit, microgravity, examples of missions, the Orbiter's return to Earth, and how they are prepared for the next launch.

6. History of the Hubble Space Telescope - This program starts with the conception of placing a telescope into space, and how engineers and scientist constructed it for servicing. Then, the most incredible images we have received (and continue to receive) from the HST will be presented giving views almost to the "edge" of our universe. When the HST returns to Earth, the next telescope, the Webb Telescope, will be presented to the audience. This telescope is 3X larger than the HST and will be placed over 900,000 miles from Earth.

7. Harvest Moon - This program thoroughly explains a Harvest Moon, Super Harvest Moon, why the Moon seems bigger, brighter, and more colorful, and how various cultures celebrate this special time.

8. Annular Solar Eclipse, Solar Eclipse, and Lunar Eclipse - This program explains and demonstrates the major differences between a solar (including annular solar eclipse) and lunar eclipse and how various cultures react to both.

9. Jupiter - Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. This program thoroughly explains what scientists have learned about this enormous planet. Incredible images from the Galileo and Juno spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope are included. NASA's JUNO Mission will also be included when available from NASA.

10. Saturn - Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system and a favorite due to it's gorgeous rings. This program explains what scientists have learned about this beautiful gas planet, its rings, and magnificent moons (especially Titan). Incredible images from the Cassini/Huygens spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope are included.

11. Venus - There are many fascinating Venus facts which help to understand this planet better. Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and it is the sixth largest in our solar system. The planet has been named after the Goddess of love and beauty in Roman mythology. Venus and the earth are often called "sister planets" as they are similar in size, mass, and density. However, both differ drastically when it comes to the atmosphere and the surface of these planets. This program shares information, images, and amazing videos of the Venusian surface.

12. Mars - So far, the exploration of Mars has occurred in three stages: four flybys, ten orbiters, and seven landers & rovers. This program shares amazing information of what scientists discovered, spectacular images, various video clips that include whirling dust devils moving rapidly across the surface!

This presentation includes the new CURIOSITY rover mission - landing a one ton rover on the surface of Mars that is searching for solid evidence of water.

13. The DAWN Mission - This program shares the discoveries from NASA's DAWN spacecraft, reveals new details about the two largest asteroids in our solar system, Ceres and Vesta with varied surface composition, sharp temperature changes, and clues to its internal structure.

14. The MESSENGER Mission - The MESSENGER mission is a scientific investigation of planet Mercury that is helping scientists understand Mercury and the forces that have shaped it which is fundamental to understanding the terrestrial planets and their evolution. This program shares exciting new images of planet Mercury.

15. (Suggest an astronomy topic for me to present!)

Email: snewocnhoj@gmail.com

OPTIONAL: If you would like me to conduct a star party in the evening for students and parents, let me know. Click HERE to see my telescope!