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Space

This topic covers the solar system, galaxies, constellations, moon, sun, stars, planets, comets, asteroids and meteors. It also includes astronomy, astronomers, the work of NASA, the possibility of extra-terrestrial life and UFOs. SCIS no. 1809112

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Space

Space, or outer space, is the area outside our planet Earth's atmosphere. People have always been interested in the stars in our night sky, asking - what is out there! This question led us to devel...

Space (junior)

Space, or outer space, is the area outside our planet Earth's atmosphere. Stars and planets exist in space. This entry has websites where you can find information about everything related to space ...

What is Matariki?

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa provides a variety of information and resources about Matariki. Includes downloadable resources.

How to find the Matariki star cluster

The sighting of the star cluster signals the beginning of Māori New Year.

Maramataka – the lunar calendar

Maramataka is the traditional Māori calendar. Each year has 12 months based on the cycles of the moon.

The Southern Cross and pointers

The Southern Cross and pointers

The Southern Cross is at the centre of this photograph, just above and to the right of a dark region of the galaxy, where few stars are visible. The two bright Pointers are on the left.

NASA space place

Contains everything you need to know about space.

New space programme

New space programme

Cartoon referring to the United States space programmes and their reluctance to do anything about global warming.

New Zealand from space

This true-colour NASA image shows New Zealand’s two main islands – the North and South islands. In Māori tradition the North Island was a fish hauled up by the demigod Māui, and is called Te Ika-a-...

Hubble captures space 'ghosts'

NASA's Hubble space telescope has captured images of wispy, green objects that are the ghosts of quasars that flickered to life and then faded.

Newspaper article about Venus from 1894.

Neil Armstrong's biographer describes his life

Neil Armstrong's biographer describes his life

Neil Armstrong's biographer Dr James Hansen describes the space pioneer's life.

Space Station toilet fails

Space Station toilet fails

Cartoon referring to the toilet that got blocked on the International Space Station.

Earth-like' planet discovery

Earth-like' planet discovery

Astronomers have confirmed the first ever Earth-like planet that may hold life. The Kepler 22-b lies about 600 light years away and is about 2.4 times the size of Earth, with a temperature of about...

Night sky: southern stars

Article about stars in the Southern Hemisphere.

Moon

Photograph of the moon rising.

Scientists find planet like Earth

Scientists find planet like Earth

Cartoon referring to the discovery of a new planet similar to Earth.

An Extraordinary meteor

Newspaper article about a meteor seen in Victoria in 1874.

Fragment, meteorite

Fragment, meteorite

A 75 gram fragment of the Mokoia meteorite. The fragment has a black fusion crust and a slightly rounded shape. Numerous white Calcium Aluminium Inclusions are visible on the surface. It appears as...

MOA telescope

Image of the largest telescope in New Zealand.

The Solar eclipse

The Solar eclipse

Newspaper article about the solar eclipse that took place in 1911.

Comet tours

Brochure produced to promote commercial ‘comet tours’ around the country.

Observatory opened

Observatory opened

Article about the opening of the James Cook Observatory in Gisborne in 1971.

Astronauts tuck into space-grown lettuce

Astronauts tuck into space-grown lettuce

Astronauts on the International Space Station have taken their first bites of space-grown lettuce, which grows 26 times faster in orbit than it does down on earth.

Fly me to the Moon

Fly me to the Moon

Article about a piece of rock that Neil Armstrong brought back from the moon.

New Zealand tour under direction of G Victor Beck

New Zealand tour under direction of G Victor Beck

Poster advertising Clement L. Wragge’s lectures on ‘Marvellous Radium’.

DWELLERS IN THE PLANET MARS! (Star, 29 January 1898)

Transit of venus

Transit of venus

Dr Scott using a Zenith telescope on the Chatham Islands, during the 1874 United States expedition.

An 18th-century observatory tent

An 18th-century observatory tent

James Cook was sent to the Pacific to observe the transit of Venus from Tahiti. (The passage of Venus across the face of the sun could be used to calculate distances between the sun, Venus and the ...

Comet over Mt Taranaki and Parihaka

Comet over Mt Taranaki and Parihaka

This 1972 painting by Ralph Hōtere was inspired by a photograph taken in 1882, which showed a comet in the sky over Mt Taranaki, with Parihaka village in the foreground.

Mt John observatory

Mt John observatory

Mt John Observatory overlooks Lake Tekapo. It was originally set up in the 1960s in joint partnership between the universities of Pennsylvania and Canterbury. The Americans were looking to establis...

Boulder Hill and the Milky Way

Boulder Hill and the Milky Way

A lovely clear winter night in the Wellington area. This is an overhead shot on the Boulder Hill track in Belmont Regional Park near Kelson, in Lower Hutt, with the Southern Cross, The Pointers, a...

Moon garden

This cartoon refers to NASA’s plan to plant seeds on the moon to see whether the moon can sustain human life. Obviously, plants can’t be planted directly onto the lunar surface so NASA constructed ...

Galileo Galilei

Facts, photographs, and links to other relevant information about the Italian astronomer and inventor.

NASA kids' club

Learn about NASA through playing fun interactive games.

Well-presented facts about the moon and planets, sun and stars.

All about Rocket Lab

Located on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula is Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1.

What will extraterrestrial life look like?

Within the next 20 years, human beings might discover life of other planets.

Space : National Geographic Kids

Search for articles, videos and images about Space on National Geographic Kids. This is accessible through EPIC. Login may be required.

Meteor hits Russia, 2013

A "small" meteorite streaked through the skies above Russia's Urals region. The shock wave was equivalent to 300,000 tons of TNT.

Nine planets, a Solar System tour

This website is an overview of the history, mythology and current scientific knowledge of the planets, moons and other objects in our solar system.

Cosmology and astronomy

A collection of videos that cover the scale of the universe, stars, black holes, galaxies, and life on Earth.

We are the planets The Solar System song sung by the StoryBots.

Solar system quiz

An interactive quiz about the solar system.

The View from space

Time-lapse sequences of Earth captured by astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Jamie xx - Gosh

Music video that shows the exploration and terraforming of Mars.

Solar System lesson for kids

An excellent lesson about the Solar System.

Space exploration

Information about the United States’ space flight programs.

Covers the business and politics of the space industry on a daily basis.

Timelapse Footage of a VLT (Very Large Telescope.)

https://www.rocketlabusa.com/gallery/

There are over 100 million particles of space junk out there, and humans are responsible for all of it!

Space revealed – key terms

Explanations of the key concepts encountered when exploring our Solar System and the work by astronomers

is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.

Dwellers in the planet Mars! (Star, 29 January 1898)

In 1898 Camille Flammarion hypothesises on what vegetation, and life could be like on planet Mars.

This poem which was published in the NZ Truth newspaper in 1906 refers to the thick band of light you see across the middle of the night sky, known as the Milky Way.

This video takes you on a tour through the possible forms alien life might take.

The Kaikoura UFO

The Kaikoura UFO sighting continues to baffle, 30 years on.

STEM lessons from space

Astronauts demonstrate STEM concepts such as motion, surface tension and advances in technology.

Snowball fight in the solar system

How does a snowball make x-rays?

Cosmic rays as messengers

Cosmic rays help us discover what lies beyond our galaxy and universe.

Space rubbish. June: 2019

A humorous play about a space ship in the future runs into trouble when its rubbish blasting machine stops working.

A Māori aerospace engineer is living the dream

An interview with Māori aerospace engineer and NASA employee Mana Vautier. Text and audio available.

Heliocentric theory

According to the heliocentric theory, the Sun is at the centre of the solar system. Read this article on Science (Gale in Context) available through EPIC. School login may be required.

Three missions head for Mars

Three spacecraft will launch missions to Mars in 2020.

Look inside space by Rob Lloyd Jones

Young readers learn about space from this book filled with colourful illustrations and information. Read this book from Gale Books and Authors available through EPIC. School login may be required.

A decade of sun

As of June 2020, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory — SDO — has now been watching the Sun non-stop for over a full decade

Earth April 13, 2036

A video of a speculative impact by the Apophis asteroid on Earth in 2036.

Winter stars important to Māori

A chart showing winter stars that were important to Māori.

Space probe Galileo explores Jupiter

Discoveries, and facts from space probe Galileo that orbited Jupiter for 8 years.

How big is space?

We all know that space is pretty huge, but just HOW big actually is it?

Hubble focus: galaxies through space and time

The Hubble telescope investigates everything from black holes to planets around other stars. This website includes news, images, learning resources and videos.

Visionary astronomers, our fascination with the cosmos and more.

The kids should see this : space

300 videos about space.

What is an exoplanet?

How many exoplanets have been discovered? And - why are astronomers interested in exoplanets?

To study the cool cosmos, infrared light is our window into the heat of the coolest things in the Universe.

Top results for Space from AnyQuestions

Space

Space

Space, or outer space, is the area outside our planet Earth's atmosphere. People have always been interested in the...

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Space (junior)

Space (junior)

Space, or outer space, is the area outside our planet Earth's atmosphere. Stars and planets exist in space. This...

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Space exploration

Space exploration

Humans have been fascinated with the stars for thousands of years, but were unable to visit space until the 20th...

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Stars

Stars

Stars are huge bodies of hot gasses usually made up of helium and hydrogen. Stars can be of different sizes, colours,...

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