Can't convince mom and dad to take you to the Moon, or even Cape Canaveral, Florida? Well, don't worry.
You can soar into space right from your computer.
If you have a research paper on space, be careful which sites you use for information, advises Dr. Mary L.
Urquhart of the NASA Ames Research Center. "Reputable places like NASA and official
university Web sites are good places to start. Be a bit careful about other sites. If in doubt, always
look for some information about the author or source of the information. Do they have sufficient
background knowledge to know what they are talking about?"
You'll definitely want to jet off to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration site, which offers
pictures, NASA TV and more. Dr. Urquhart recommends two
NASA sites designed for kids, Space Place and
NASA Quest.
If you're looking for a site that gives a general overview of space, you'll find ground zero research at
Absoluteastronomy.com and
Windows to the Universe You can explore planets, moons, constellations,
stars, nebulas, galaxies and everything under the sun. Then see them all through the
Hubble Telescope.
Did you know that Pluto got its name from the Roman god of the underworld? Visit
The Nine Planets, recently updated on the news there are only eight planets, to find the history and lots of useful
facts about our solar system. Size up the planets using
Planetary Fact Sheets compiled by the National
Space Science Data Center. Then impress your teacher by making a model of the
solar system.
One single planet or star may seem miniscule from your telescope, but NASA is probably researching
it. Get a little sun with NASA's information on the
solar probe and read about
the red planet with Mars Team Online.
What about the stars? If you've got a telescope, check out Que Tal in the
Current Skies to download monthly star maps to help you find your way. NASA's
SkyView page offers more complex star maps.
Much of space is still the great unknown, but that doesn't mean all your questions have to go
unanswered. If you have a question, you can "Ask an Astronomer" at
Cornell University or "Ask an Astrophysicist" at
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
--- M. Magnarelli
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