When you look across a lake, what colour do you expect to see? The common answer is usually blue – but what shade of blue? The...
Visible light is the small part within the electromagnetic spectrum that human eyes are sensitive to and can detect. Visible light waves consist of different wavelengths....
Polarised sunglasses look like regular sunglasses, but they are able to filter out the glare from automobile windscreens and the surface of water. The glasses you...
When children draw pictures of the Sun, they often show rays radiating outwards – similar to the image below. These light rays travel in a straight...
Astronomers at Victoria University were part of an international team led by Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), which has pooled their radio astronomy observations...
Light is a form of energy produced by a light source. Light is made of photons that travel very fast. Photons of light behave like both...
Satellites are equipped with a wide range of super sense technology. Sensors have been developed that can detect radiation returns for many parts of the electromagnetic...
The Sun is the source of almost all our energy. It is a huge ball of hot gases that gives off energy as heat and light....
An inquiry approach is a method often used in science education. The question bank provides an initial list of questions about the secret lives of planets,...
Since finding all the planets in our Solar System, the search was on for planets around other stars (extrasolar planets). As methods and technology improve, more...
New Zealand astronomers use different wavelengths of light to reveal information about stars and galaxies and to find new planets. This resource provides explanations of the...
Position: Former Professor, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington. Field: Astrophysics. Collecting data How do you study things you can’t touch, or...
Position: Professor of Radio Astronomy, Curtin University and Director, Murchison Widefield Array. Field: Radio Astronomy. The universe as a laboratory Do you want to explore the...
The universe is full of amazing things, but we need help to see most of them. There are many types of light that our eyes cannot...
Distances in space are really, really big. The Voyager 1 spacecraft is heading out of our Solar System at 62,000 km per hour, but even at...
The 100 billion galaxies in the universe are not just scattered randomly in space. Most galaxies are arranged in small groups or larger clusters. What is...
Professor Denis Sullivan studies white dwarfs – small and dense stars that are cooling down after being red giants. Our Sun, and most other stars, will...
Hundreds of extrasolar planets (around other stars) have been found using several methods, including transit, ‘wobble’ and microlensing. New Zealand scientists are part of the hunt...
Astronomers studying space have two big problems: A lot of things in space seem invisible – they do not give out light we can see. Scientists...
An inquiry approach is a method often used in science education. The question bank provides an initial list of questions about good and the bad of...
The New Zealand Ministry of Health website states, “Using a sunbed is never recommended. They are not a safe way to tan or boost your vitamin...
Dr Richard McKenzie, a senior scientist for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), has been conducting research into ultraviolet radiation for a number...
Researchers like Richard McKenzie have shown that summer radiation in New Zealand has the potential to burn and, as research shows that excess UV exposure in...
Often we hear of ultraviolet radiation (UV) in the media. The message given is that it is a dangerous and invisible component of sunlight that is...
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