Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness
A Fairfax County Public Schools Planetarium
B&W Version (for printing) | SCSA Home
Grade Level 4 - The Sun and its Neighbors (our Solar System)
Related Internet Information Resources
General Interest
- Views of the Solar System
or http://www.hawastsoc.org/solar/homepage.htm
- Welcome to the
Planets
- The
Nine Planets - A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System
- The Solar
System
- Planets and
the Solar System - good collection of links to solar system-related
Web sites
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Exploring the Planets
online gallery
- Calendar of
Planet Positions - generate a list of which constellation each planet
is in for each month of the user-specified year.
- Solar System Live, the
interactive Orrery of the Web. You can view the entire Solar System, or
just the inner planets (through the orbit of Mars). Controls allow you to
set time and date, viewpoint, observing location, orbital elements to
track an asteroid or comet, and a variety of other parameters.
- Solar System Simulator
- A Virtual Tour
of the Sun
- Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Earth Today - A Digital View
of our Dynamic Planet
- Center for Earth & Planetary
Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. The
Center for Earth and Planetary Studies (CEPS - pronounced like "steps"
without the "t") is one of the scientific research departments at the
National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. The Center
plays an active role in research related to planetary and terrestrial
geology using remote sensing data from Earth-orbiting satellites and
manned and unmanned space missions. The Center possesses a computer image
processing lab which allows for in-house processing and manipulation of
remotely-sensed data.
- Earth from Space - An Astronaut's
Views of the Home Planet
- Explore the surface of Mars (Mars
multi-scale map)!
- Unmasking
the Face on Mars - New high resolution image shows an eroded hill, not
a face (as suggested by low resolution imagery of the same feature). The
Mars Global Surveyor image has a resolution of 14 feet (4.3 meters), ten
times sharper than the best previous image of the Face.
Visitors from Space - Meteors, Asteroids, and Comets
- Asteroid and Comet Impact
Hazards
- The Impact
of an Asteroid off the New York Coast
- CTH 3D Comet
Impact Simulations
- The Near-Earth Object Program
Web site features comprehensive and up-to-date information including a
table of so-called Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) which provides,
for the next 100 years, the times and close approach distances along with
their associated uncertainties, the minimum possible close approach
distances and Earth impact probabilities.
- NASA
Fact Sheet: Asteroids, Comets, and NASA Research
- Simulate the collision of an asteroid or a comet with any planet in
the Solar System! Visit Solar System
Collisions to create your own "deep imact!" (Note: the first time
you visit this site, click on the "Help" button for useful background
information.)
- Terrestrial
Impact Craters - Impact craters are geologic structures formed when a
large meteoroid, asteroid or comet smashes into a planet or a satellite.
Believe it or not, the Earth has been even more heavily impacted than the
Moon! In contrast to the Moon (where craters are well-preserved), craters
on the Earth are continually erased by erosion and redeposition as well as
by volcanic resurfacing and tectonic activity. Thus only about 120
terrestrial impact craters have been recognized. View several of the more
prominent craters on Earth.
Educational Activities
Models of the Solar System
New Links
New links added regularly. Stay tuned....