Scout Archives

Looking at a galaxy's shape can reveal a lot about it, such as its age and how it was formed. Galaxy Zoo harnesses the power of citizen science by asking volunteers to help classify hundreds of thousands of images of galaxies so that scientists can better study them. To join in, citizen scientists can click "Get Started" on the homepage or "Classify" in the banner menu. Users will be prompted with...

What does the Milky Way sound like? The Chandra Data Sonification project transforms data from the NASA Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Spitzer Space Telescope into sound, so stargazers can "listen" to the Galactic Center of the Milky Way, the supernova Cassiopeia A, and the "Pillars of Creation" star-forming region of the Messier 16 "Eagle Nebula." Each telescope...

Every day, Astrobites posts a plain-language summary of a recent paper from a different subfield of astronomy, meant to be read in five minutes or less. A rotating team of graduate students from around the world writes the daily digest with the goal of making technical papers accessible to undergraduate students in the physical sciences. While spotlighting a piece of current research and...

Tactile Universe exists to make astronomy and current astrophysical research accessible to people with vision impairments. As a public engagement project, it creates 3D printed tactile images of galaxies for use at schools and public engagement events. Based in Portsmouth, England, the team is currently producing classroom resources for ages 7-14. Visitors can download lesson plans and galaxy...

Storytelling is intrinsically linked to social change. In just over 30 minutes, this documentary tells the story of activists, including Indigenous climate interveners, water protectors, and land defenders, who fought to protect their land from fossil fuel expansion. Thomas X, a Red Lake Ojibwe rapper and poet, drives the narration of the film with lessons from "7 Teachings," a song that...