Hunting the Edge of Space: The Mystery of the Milky Way (Video)
Meet Geoff Marcy, one of the world's foremost planet hunters, who is searching for planets in solar systems beyond our own. (Chapter 5, approx. 12 min.; Program available after broadcast)

The Founders of Modern Astronomy (Video)
Find out more about William Herschel's sister, Caroline, who was also a pioneer astronomer. (4:13 min.)

Secret Life of Scientists: Caroline Moore (Multimedia)
Meet Caroline Moore, a teenage astronomer and the youngest person to ever find a supernova (and an incredibly rare one at that).

Galactic Explorer (Multimedia)
Listen to astronomer Andrea Ghez talk about her huge discovery—a supermassive black hole, with over three million times the mass of our sun, at the core of the Milky Way galaxy.

Hubble's Expanding Universe (Lesson/Video)
Watch a video and answer discussion questions to understand how astronomer Edwin Hubble's findings—that billions of galaxies exist outside of our own, and that the universe is actually expanding—shook the foundations of astronomy and laid the foundation for the Big Bang theory.

Curriculum Connections
Edwin Hubble, Henrietta Leavitt, Big Bang theory, expanding universe, galaxies, Milky Way, Cepheid variable stars, wavelengths, light, frequencies, Hubble's law, Hubble Space Telescope, space

Standards
Grades 5-8
Standard A: Science as Inquiry: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, Understanding about scientific inquiry
Standard B: Physical Science: Transfer of energy
Standard E: Science and Technology: Understandings about science and technology
Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Science and technology in society
Standard G: History and Nature of Science: Science as a human endeavor, Nature of science, History of science

Grades 9-12
Standard A: Science as Inquiry: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, Understanding about scientific inquiry
Standard B: Physical Science: Interactions of energy and matter
Standard E: Science and Technology: Understandings about science and technology
Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges
Standard G: History and Nature of Science: Science as a human endeavor, Nature of scientific knowledge, Historical perspectives

Rescue Mission in Space (Lesson/Interactive)
Review some of the milestones in astronomy since 2000 BCE.

Curriculum Connections
Astronomers, Copernicus, Galileo, religious condemnation

Standards
Grades 5-8
Standard A: Science as Inquiry: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, Understanding about scientific inquiry
Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Science and technology in society
Standard G: History and Nature of Science: Science as a human endeavor, History of science

Grades 9-12
Standard A: Science as Inquiry: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry, Understanding about scientific inquiry
Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives: Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges
Standard G: History and Nature of Science: Science as a human endeavor, Historical perspectives