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The Moon has been a source of wonder and curiosity for humans even since we started looking up. From when Galileo first observed the craters on the lunar surface astronomers have been able to slowly piece together its turbulent history, with some help from a prominent New Zealand astronomer!
Using our planetarium software we take a tour of the lunar features and explore the expansive lava filled seas and piece together the sequence of impact events that have shaped the Moon we see today. It’s through observation of the lunar surface that astronomers have been able to create a timeline of successive bombardments by asteroids. These can also be related to the few remnant impact craters we have on Earth where we can observe the weathering effects of the atmosphere and plate tectonics. In understanding the history of the Moon we get to understand the history of the Solar System and how its stability, that we enjoy today, was significantly different in its turbulent past.
Mars is within reach. The most populated with robots planet awaits for its first human visitors.
Check out our podcast and resources about Mars. Listen to Mitch Schulte, NASA scientist with Perseverance Rover as he talks about how it is to work on Mars and what one needs to do if they want a job like that.
Follow Hari as she trained as an analog Mars astronaut at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah.
Learn where to find Matariki in the sky and take a ride through it.
The planetarium software we use was made with support from NASA. Here is a user-friendly version of it for your classroom. Click here.
Navigate through the Solar System, and zoom in to see our galaxy.
On this website – and app, you can zoom in to very small sizes such as mimiviruses, UV light, DNA, all the way to strings, or out to see the entire Universe. We loved the comparisons between moons of the Solar System and places on Earth.
Click here to see how far you have to scroll to discover how far other things in our Solar System would be if the Moon was one pixel.
Milky-Way.Kiwi is a social enterprise for quality and affordable access to the night sky run by professional space science communicators. We provide educational services for teachers and schools – Spaceward Bound NZ, stargazing and astronomy and space courses and programmes for the public – Star Safari and we write about space and astronomy with a New Zealand perspective.
At Star Safari, everyone 15 and younger is FREE because we believe that young people should not pay for inspiration.
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