EXTRA
CREDIT
REVIEWS OF ASTRONOMY 10 VIDEOS
PRESENTED IN LIBRARY
For the actual dates that each week starts, see the General Schedule of Activities
|
Week # |
Title and Review |
|
3 |
"Different Worlds": Travel back in time and space to witness
the awesome forces that gave birth to the Sun and the far-flung family of
planets that orbit it. From the rocky,
superheated surface of Mercury, to the storm-wracked atmosphere of gigantic
Jupiter and the distant mysteries of Pluto, this is a richly detailed
introduction to the creation, composition, and alien landscapes of the
planets. |
|
4 |
"Terra Firma": Relive the thrill of the first glimpses of
otherworldly terrain as you join the early quest to discover the true nature
of our planetary neighbors. Pierce the
toxic clouds of Venus to map ancient lava flows the size of continents. Visit a Martian volcano taller than |
|
5 |
"Giants": They are the heavyweights of the planetary
line-up. They are unimaginably vast
orbs of seething gas, brilliant cloud bands that contain virtually no landscapes. Now, take measure of these planetary
behemoths. From the pioneering days of
Galileo's dogma-shattering discovery of the Jupiter moons, to NASA's
billion-mile sojourns of Saturn and Neptune, the conclusion is timeless. These are awesome giants. |
|
6 |
"Moon":
While a number of planets are accompanied by moons of all sizes and
compositions, only the Earth boasts such a comparatively huge "companion
world". What forces could have
resulted in this planetary odd couple?
Join the search for the answer to one of the solar system's most
baffling mysteries, from Cold War scientists racing to be the first on the
Moon, to current theories and remarkable computer-generated visions of the
Moon's explosive creation. |
|
7 |
"Star":
To primitive peoples, the Sun was synonymous with God - the ultimate
source of life-giving warmth and light.
Now, step aboard the Skylab space station to probe the turbulent heart
of our local power source. Plunge into
the center of the Sun to witness the reactions driving its primordial atomic
pulse. And observe the spectacle of
massive solar flares capable of engulfing entire planets - including our own. |
|
8 |
"Atmosphere": Atmospheres make weather. This can result in alien weather reports
that seem as if they're taken right out of a science fiction film. The local forecast for this program: torrential sulfuric rain and metallic snow
on Venus, global dust storms raging across Mars, and centuries-long
Earth-sized cyclones circling Jupiter.
It's an eye-opening exploration of otherworldly weather that reveals
the surprising variety and force of atmospheric activity throughout the solar
system. |
EXTRA
CREDIT
REVIEWS OF ASTRONOMY 10 VIDEOS
PRESENTED IN LIBRARY
For the actual dates that each week starts, see the General Schedule of Activities
|
Week # |
Title and Review |
|
9 |
"Life Beyond the Sun": From the startling Copernican revelation
that the Earth was not at the center of the Universe, humanity has wondered
if life was unique to our world. But
how likely is it that Earth is the only reservoir of life in the vastness of
space? Come along for the ride as
early planetary researchers learn that conditions on our neighboring planets
may be too hostile to support life - and discover how recent findings hint
there may be alien life "hiding out" in places we've overlooked. |
|
10 |
"Destiny": What is the long-term fate of the planets
in our solar system? Voyage to a
future billions of years in the distance.
Explore the Sun's expansion as it engulfs its planetary progeny in the
final, fiery act of its billion year-long dilemma. Watch as chilly Mars experiences a sultry
heat wave, Mercury and Venus melt down, and gas giants undergo a startling
cosmic change. |
|
11 |
"The Astronomers - Where is the Rest of the
Universe": Astronomers believe
the Universe contains at least ten times as much mass as can be seen and
accounted for. How they are able to
detect this missing mass and to discover more about it are the subjects of
this episode. |
|
12 |
"The Astronomers - Searching for Black
Holes": At the center of galaxy
NGC 1275 - some 200 million light years from Earth - there might be a
supermassive black hole, one of the most intriguing objects in the
Universe. This episode is centered
around astronomers' attempts to map the galaxy and look deep into its heart
through the use of a very large radio telescope. |
|
13 |
"The Astronomers - A Window to Creation": One of the biggest questions ever asked
is: "How did the Universe
begin?" How did the chaos which
astronomers call "The Big Bang" give birth to galaxies with
billions of stars? In search of an
answer, this video follows the scientists who are attempting to sort through
the remnants of the big bang for evidence which still lingers after 15
billion years. |
|
14 |
"The Astronomers - Waves of the
Future": Gravity waves, as yet
undetected but predicted by Albert Einstein, may contain the answers to many
questions about the Universe. This
video centers around the scientists who are building gravity-wave detectors
in an attempt to prove whether or not gravity waves exist. |
|
15 |
"The Astronomers - Stardust": The deaths of stars allow our own lives to
come into being. This episode explains
how and looks at the complete life cycle of the stars that make up our
galaxy. |
|
16 |
"The Astronomers - Prospecting for
Planets": Although many
scientists are convinced that other planetary systems exist, so far none have
been found with absolute certainty.
This program focuses on efforts to discover other systems and learn
more about our own solar system. |