NASA Goddard The Universe Beyond the Solar System… Anita Krishnamurthi Education and Public Outreach Lead Astrophysics Science Division NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Goddard Goddard Space Flight Center is one of 10 NASA centers Located in Greenbelt, Maryland Largest science center for NASA Sciences and Exploration Directorate is composed of –Astrophysics Science Division –Solar System –Heliophysics –Earth Science

Astrophysics Science Division Labs and Missions Astroparticle physics [Balloon programs, Swift, Integral, GLAST…] X-ray Astrophysics [RXTE, Suzaku, XMM-Newton, Constellation-X] Observational Cosmology [Balloon programs, WMAP, JDEM, JWST…] Gravitational Astrophysics [Theoretical work, LISA] Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics [Instruments on Hubble, Spitzer, JWST, TPF…] Astroparticle physics [Balloon programs, Swift, Integral, GLAST…] X-ray Astrophysics [RXTE, Suzaku, XMM-Newton, Constellation-X] Observational Cosmology [Balloon programs, WMAP, JDEM, JWST…] Gravitational Astrophysics [Theoretical work, LISA] Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics [Instruments on Hubble, Spitzer, JWST, TPF…]

The Early Universe Galaxies Stars Black Holes and Neutron Stars Gamma Ray Bursts Extra-solar planets Gravitational Waves (Theory) Technology Development What we study….

Challenges and opportunities for communicating with the public Challenges: –Large range of science themes and missions –High-energy astrophysics is not very visual –“Exotic” science Opportunities: –“Exotic” science! People are fascinated… –Can discuss a wide variety of astronomy topics –Highlight importance of multi-wavelength astronomy –Show technology  science interdependence

Evidence of public interest…

Reaching the public… Classrooms - Curriculum support - Training workshops - Teacher programs Wide range of projects and programs for a variety of audiences: “Influentials” Press Policy-makers

Reaching the public… Out-of-school-time - Afterschool programs - Girl Scouts - Family Science Nights General public Websites, Podcast, Public Talks, DVDs, Brochures

Popular website targeted at general public (~1 million visits/month) Has “Ask-an- Astrophysicist” feature “Teacher’s Corner” has curriculum support materials as well tools for analyzing data Imagine the Universe!

Beyond Einstein Explorers’ Program (BEEP) Out-of-school-time program teaches middle-school kids about the Universe beyond the solar system Kids that age really interested in “complex” science, but not much opportunity to learn about them Currently 12 sessions – steps through basics and introduces content such as life cycles of stars, black holes, galaxies… Flexibly structured beyondeinstein.nasa.gov/education/BEEP/

BEEP (contd.) Very hands-on, incorporates art and movement Piloted with small group in 2006 and tested nation- wide in 2007 –“It changed my idea of how big the Universe really is.” –“I was more enthused about astronomy because I now have a better understanding.” Widely available in Spring 2008 – detailed downloadable PDF manual + materials list

Worlds Beyond Educational art project exploring the topic of exoplanets Students learn about detection techniques and “adopt” an exoplanet Translate their scientific knowledge into art Successfully piloted in

Opportunities for IYA Including the themes of IYA into our existing programming Share our programs with people like you Develop some new programming around technology development – JWST presents an opportunity to highlight how far we’ve come since Galileo! We’re open to other ideas!

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EPO programs in ASD

“Cosmic Times” is latest project - explores current understandi ng of cosmology through series of newspaper posters