Herschel/SPIRE Infrared Astronomy Schools Ask an Astronomer Media
 

Several activities feature infrared radiation and their role in astronomy:

 
 
(1) Hot Spots!
With this interactive game you can learn to view your surroundings as if you were looking through infrared goggles. Find the hot and cold spots in the picture gallery, and an infrared picture will show you where the hottest and coldest parts are in the picture.

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(2) Starforge
In Starmaker you can create your own star online - if you know how! You have control over the conditions in the protostar system. Starmaker will tell you whether you were successful in your efforts to get cold dust to collapse into a new star.

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(3) The Herschel experiment
In 1800, William Herschel was the first to report infrared radiation from an astronomical source: our sun. His experiment was very simple, involving a piece of glass from his living room chandelier. That breakthrough discovery can be repeated today with the help of a glass prism, a few thermometers, and a sunny day.

 
     

 
(4) Infrared Memory
As in the traditional memory board game, you have to match a pair of tiles. One tile shows an object in the visible and another shows it in the infrared. A whole class can play this hands-on game and learn what everyday objects, animals, stars, and galaxies look like in the infrared. This game is available at the Lethbridge Astronomy Society, and through the Astronomy crate from the Science Alberta Foundation.
 


 

 

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SPIRE Poster:

Click on image for larger graphic. You can download a printable version of the poster by right clicking on the larger graphic (once opened) and saving the image to your computer.

 

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