Mathematical Models: Black Holes Professional Development Web Seminar

Front cover of the Black Hole Math Educator GuideAs part of a series of electronic professional development experiences for educators, the NASA Explorer Schools and Learning Environments and Research Network, or LE&RN, projects are hosting a 60-minute live professional development Web seminar for educators on March 29, 2012, at 8 p.m. EDT. Misconceptions about black holes will be addressed, as participants learn background information about the structure and behavior of one of the universe’s most mysterious and spectacular bodies. Learn how to derive the equations used in the Black Hole Math problem set for students to better understand the physics of black holes.



Video Chat TODAY: Starry, Starry Night

Michelle ThallerToday, Dr. Michelle Thaller from Goddard Space Flight Center will answer student questions from 1 – 2 p.m. EDT. Dr. Thaller’s research interests are hot stars, colliding stellar winds, binary star evolution and evolved stellar companions. Don’t miss this opportunity to have your students ask Dr. Thaller about her research and the path that led her to NASA.


Big Sunspot Remains Active



This is the sunspot region AR 1429 that has generated several major solar storms recently. The video covers nine days (Mar. 4 – 12, 2011). Notice how the spot continually changes as its magnetic fields realign themselves. The images are white light images called intensitygrams captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).

Teach About the Sun During Solar Week – March 19-23, 2012

Solar Week  March 19-23, 2012Solar Week Spring 2012, March 19-23 is a lively week of online activities and curriculum for students about the sun, including games and lesson plans for the whole week. In addition, there’s a message board where your classroom can submit a question to leading solar scientists.


Every fall and spring since 2000, Solar Week has provided a week-long series of Web-based educational classroom activities and games geared for upper elementary, middle and early high school students with a focus on our dynamic sun and its effects on Earth. Students learn about solar eclipses, sunspots, solar flares and solar storms through a series of activities, games, and lessons. 

Solar Week is ideal for students studying the solar system, the stars, or astronomy in general, and now we feature a day on solar energy. It’s also for kids wondering what it’s like being a scientist, and pondering possible career choices. Participation makes for a fun computer lab activity as well. After doing the activities, students can interact on the bulletin board with leading scientists at the forefront of Sun-Earth research. It’s a great place for any student interested in our nearest star, the sun!

Solar Week is a collaboration between University of California, Berkeley and Rice University.

Note: Teachers, please read the FAQs before your class submits a question to the bulletin board. There you will find information and answers on how to ask a good question and other useful tips.

NES Related Resources (requires sign in to the Virtual Campus website):


Space Math Problems — Solar Storms

How do NASA scientists use geometry and measurement to predict the behavior of dangerous solar storms?


Use the problems in the NES featured lesson, Geometry: Space Math Problems — Solar Storms, to bring relevance to your classroom by connecting your lesson to recent solar activity. In these problems, students analyze images of a solar tsunami and use geometry and measurement skills to find the speed of the wave. They step into the shoes of a NASA scientist and use geometry to find the speed of a coronal mass ejection, or CME, also known as a solar storm. CMEs can have hazardous effects on the International Space Station and astronauts.


To see how you can use Space Math Problems with your students, take a look at the NES video collection for teachers.

The solar flare (upper-left) on 7 March 2012 seen by the SWAP
instrument on ESA’s Proba-2 satellite.

Sunspot 1429 Releases Two More M-Class Flares

Sunspot 1429 continues to grow and may yet produce more flares. It is now more than seven times wider than Earth Credit: NASA/SDO/HMIEvery day our Earth experiences storms of all kinds including one type of storm that we often don’t realize we are experiencing — a solar storm. Thanks to our protective atmosphere and magnetic field called the magnetosphere, we’re safe from the dangers of solar storms.


On March 10, 2012, the sun released another two M-class flares. One, rated as an M5.4, peaked at 12:27 a.m. EST. The second, rated as an M 8.4, peaked at 12:44 p.m. EST.These two flares came from the same active region on the sun, designated number 1429, that has already produced three X-class and numerous M-class flares over the past week.


On March 8, 2012 at 10:53 p.m. EST the sun erupted with an M6.3 class flare, and about an hour later released a coronal mass ejection or CME. These eruptions came from active region 1429 that has so far produced two X class flares, and numerous M-class flares.


NASA’s Space Weather Center models measure the CME traveling at speeds of over 700 miles per second.


For more information about Solar Storms, take a look at NASA Now: Solar Storms.

Preview of NASA Now: Solar Storms

The Sun — Impact of Solar Activity on Earth

Knowing when a solar flare, or CME, is going to occur is important for our satellites in orbit, for astronauts in space, and even for power companies on the ground. Instruments on board satellites now improve these predictions.


Should we be concerned about recent solar storms?



Preview of NASA Now: The Sun — Impact of Solar Activity on Earth


For more information about solar storms in 2012 you can also watch The Truth About 2012: Solar Storms.

Two CMEs Reach Earth's Magnetosphere

The leading edge of the March 6 coronal mass ejection, or CME, reached NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer, or ACE satellite at 5:42 a.m. EST this morning. ACE sits just outside of Earth’s magnetic environment, the magnetosphere. As magnetic fields from the CMEs connected up to the magnetosphere, instruments on Earth began to measure changes in our planet’s magnetic fields – indicating the onset of a geomagnetic storm.


NASA models using data from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, or STEREO, and the Solar Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO have now provided more information about the two CMEs associated with the March 6 flares. The first is traveling faster than 1,300 miles per second; the second more than 1,100 miles per second. NASA’s models predict that the CMEs will impact both Earth and Mars, as well as pass by several NASA spacecraft – Messenger, Spitzer, and STEREO-B. The models also predicted that the leading edge of the first CME will reach Earth at about 1:25 a.m. EST on the morning of March 8 (plus or minus 7 hours). Such a CME could result in a severe geomagnetic storm, causing aurora at low latitudes, with possible disruption to high frequency radio communication, global positioning systems (GPS), and power grids.



This movie of the March 6, 2012 X5.4 flare was captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) in the 171 Angstrom wavelength. One of the most dramatic features is the way the entire surface of the sun seems to ripple with the force of the eruption. This movement comes from something called EIT waves – because they were first discovered with the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) on the Solar Heliospheric Observatory. Since SDO captures images every 12 seconds, it has been able to map the full evolution of these waves and confirm that they can travel across the full breadth of the sun. The waves move at over a million miles per hour, zipping from one side of the sun to the other in about an hour. The movie shows two distinct waves. The first seems to spread in all directions; the second is narrower, moving toward the southeast. Such waves are associated with, and perhaps trigger, fast coronal mass ejections, so it is likely that each one is connected to one of the two CMEs that erupted on March 6. Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA 

Visit NASA Explorer Schools at the 2012 NSTA Conference

NSTA Conference logoIf you are attending the 2012 National Science Teachers Association National Conference on Science Education in Indianapolis on March 29 through April 1, be sure to stop by NASA’s exhibit booth #2159 in the exhibit hall. NASA Explorer Schools, or NES, representatives will be there to share information and answer your questions.

If you are not yet a participant in the NES project, you can obtain detailed information about NES by visiting the booth or attending a NES presentation. The session, “Teach STEM? NASA Explorer Schools Can Help!”, takes place on Friday, March 30, from 11 a.m. – noon in the Cabinet Room of the Westin Indianapolis.

Everyone is invited to attend any of the additional NES lesson-related sessions:
  •  The “Virtual Lab and NASA Explorer Schools” session on Fri., Mar. 30, from 4 – 4:45 p.m. in room 142 of the Convention Center.
  •  The “NASA Engineering Design Challenge: Thermal Protection System” session on Sat., Mar. 31, from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m., in room 111/112 of the Convention Center.

Attend one of these presentations and see how NES helps teachers by packaging everything needed to deliver an exciting NASA-related lesson to students!