Astronomical Visualizations
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The Solar Neighborhood (Youtube/mp4 video)
A tour of all the objects within the Solar Neighborhood, here defined as within 25 parsecs (81.5 light years) of the Sun. Everything from planets to brown dwarfs to giant stars, from single stars to sextuples (yes, six), from the hottest stars to the coldest stars, are shown off here. Dataset by the RECONS group. (soon to be published) Music by Clarence Yapp. |
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Dust settling in red brown dwarfs (Youtube/mp4 video)
One theory about why some brown dwarfs are redder than other objects of the same spectral type, is that these brown dwarfs have an extra layer of dust high up in their atmosphere. The hypothesis is that this dust layer eventually rains out leaving behind a normal-looking older brown dwarf. Recent research - Hiranaka et al. (in prep) - says that may not actually be true. But it makes a cool video. Thanks to Kay Hiranaka/BDNYC/CUNY - Hunter College |
The HR Diagram. (Powerpoint 2007+)
Animation fills in the various properties and areas of the HR Diagram one-by-one.
Animation fills in the various properties and areas of the HR Diagram one-by-one.
Trigonometric Parallax. (Powerpoint 2007+)
Animation shows the Earth in its orbit around the Sun, and the corresponding perspective shift (parallax) that imposes on the position of the stars.
Animation shows the Earth in its orbit around the Sun, and the corresponding perspective shift (parallax) that imposes on the position of the stars.
Proper Motion. (Powerpoint 2007+)
Animation demonstrates proper motion in terms of the orbits around the Galactic Center. This was actually done by using a 'parallax scroller' to create the illusion of depth, similar to old SNES games.
Animation demonstrates proper motion in terms of the orbits around the Galactic Center. This was actually done by using a 'parallax scroller' to create the illusion of depth, similar to old SNES games.
The Proper Motion of Proxima Centauri. (Animated .gif).
The apparent sky motion of Proxima Centauri (the closest star to the Solar System) over 10 years (2000-2010).
The image was constructed from observations taken with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 0.9m telescope (administered by the SMARTS consortium) as part of the parallax program run by the RECONS group at Georgia State University. Credit should be to A. Riedel/RECONS/SMARTS.
The apparent sky motion of Proxima Centauri (the closest star to the Solar System) over 10 years (2000-2010).
The image was constructed from observations taken with the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 0.9m telescope (administered by the SMARTS consortium) as part of the parallax program run by the RECONS group at Georgia State University. Credit should be to A. Riedel/RECONS/SMARTS.
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Expansion of the Crab Nebula. (Animated .gif)
The Crab Nebula is a supernova that went off in 1054. Less than a thousand years later, we can still see the shocked gasses shooting out into space, as these images taken 40 years apart (from the Palomar Sky Survey I and Palomar Sky Survey II) show. There's also at least one high proper motion star visible in these images. |
The Doppler Effect. (Powerpoint 2007+)
This set of slides demonstrates the Doppler effect as it relates to both sound and light. It might actually be worth showing students the raw slides, just to prove that all it's really doing is setting off a series of expanding circles in sequence.
This set of slides demonstrates the Doppler effect as it relates to both sound and light. It might actually be worth showing students the raw slides, just to prove that all it's really doing is setting off a series of expanding circles in sequence.
Kirchhoff's Gas Laws. (Powerpoint 2007+)
This set of slides demonstrates Kirchhoff's three gas laws using animations to visualize atomic orbitals and the effects of gas clouds.
This set of slides demonstrates Kirchhoff's three gas laws using animations to visualize atomic orbitals and the effects of gas clouds.