Models, Evidence and Explanation in NASA Science Lindsay Marie Bartolone Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 2 Examples of Models? What models have you seen today? Galileo's "Jovilabe", 17th century Image Credit: Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 3 Examples of Evidence? What evidence has been provided to support a model? Spectrum Image Credit: Imagine the Universe: ay_spectra/worksheet-specgraph2-sol.html

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 4 Model of the solar system that changes over time? What is in a model of the Solar System? Where does the solar system end? NASA’s Kepler mission planet transit model Image Credit: Lindsay Bartolone

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 5 A simple 2-D model of the termination shock Movie Credit: IBEX Science Team

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 6 The “flowing water termination shock model” illustrated: Heliopause Termination shock Solar wind

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 7 What can we use to define the boundary of our Solar System? The heliosphere defines one type of boundary of our Solar System. The boundary of our Solar System is defined by the region where the solar wind and the interstellar medium collide. An artist’s rendition of our heliosphere. Image credit: Walt Feimer, NASA GSFC

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 8 What is IBEX? IBEX is a NASA-funded Small Explorer satellite mission to orbit Earth and map the boundary of the Solar System. The acronym IBEX stands for Interstellar Boundary Explorer. An artist’s rendition of the IBEX spacecraft. Image Credit: Walt Feimer, NASA GSFC

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 9 The current model of the Heliosphere Model: Strong vs Weak shock Evidence: IBEX will dramatically increase the amount of data that we have about the boundary of the Solar System. Explanation:??? Sample Global ENA Map with Voyager 1 and 2 positions inset. Image Credit: IBEX Team

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 10 How will IBEX data create a map of the boundary? Movie Credit: IBEX Team

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 11 Model of the Universe that changes over time? Has the Universe always been the same? Will it be the same forever? WMAP Full Sky Map Image credits: NASA/WMAP Science Team

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 12 Model of the Universe that changes over time? Has the Universe always been the same? Will it be the same forever? Journey through the Universe Image credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 13 Model of the Universe that changes over time? Model: Big Bang Theory and Inflation Ripples in the Universe Image credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 14 Model of the Universe that changes over time? Evidence: WMAP Full sky maps WMAP Full Sky Map Image credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 15 Model of the Universe that changes over time? Explanation: Big Bang Theory predicts left over light an heat from early Universe that is very uniform. Inflation predicts certain average size “spots” and that is what we observe. So the Universe was dense and hot in the past, has expanded and cooled ever since. WMAP Full Sky Map Image credit: NASA/WMAP Science Team

National Aeronautics and Space Administration IBEX: Interstellar Boundary Explorer - An Electronic Resource for Educators 16 Resources? IBEX Homepage: WMAP Homepage: US IYA page: Model the Universe and other resources: To get this presentation: Put your address on the sign in sheet

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