Astronomy Activities Inspired by Women Who Study the Stars

A whimsical illustration of the Earth smiling up at an anthropomorphized space telescope.

Ages 4 and Up

Learn about space telescopes .

A woman smiles and stares out of a decorated coffee can.

Ages 5 and Up

Make a viewer to help you see the night sky in a different way.

The background of this photograph is an expansive view of the universe, with swirling vapor like shapes and glowing stars. A large white outline near the edges of the image frames the view of the Nancy Grace Roman telescope, while a small box in the center frames the view of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Ages 8 and Up

Discover how different telescopes let scientists see different things.

Ages 5 and Up (With Reading Help from a Grown Up)

Women have helped make some of the biggest discoveries in space. Meet two of them.

1. If you have a printer, print the field of view templates and cut the grey area out of the middle of the paper. Print Templates

If you do not have a printer, cut a 1" square out of the center of the piece of paper. Cut a 7" by 4" rectangle out of another piece of paper.

2. Select an image of the universe to look at.

An orange cloud like mountain shaped mass floats above a blue field with what appear to be stars in it.

The image is tinted pink and purple throughout, with thousands of bright blue and pink pin pricks. IN the center and three large blue clusters that appear as though breaks in the clouds of pink clusters.

An image of a glowing green amorphous translucent shape that seems to float in a field of stars in space. The tendrils on the sides of the amphoras shape give the sense that it's growing.

An image of purple vapor-like clouds that run from the bottom left corner of the image to the top right corner. Behind it is a black field with white glowing stars.

Against a dusty blue and pink pastel background, stars shine. In the background they're small and reddish in color, towards the center of the image they appear to come towards you getting brighter, whiter, and larger.

Against a black background, seemingly millions of bright lights sparkle. They get denser and closer together in the center of the image, but also smaller like they're further away. Speckled along the image are some that flare and glow a warmer orange.

Against a black background of white start, a cloud like shape appears in the center. It takes the shape of a seven, and appears to be made of three layers, the furthest back is an unformed orange cloud, the middle is a light blue cloud, and the front most is a deep orange cloud.

Five galaxies all glow in different colors, surrounded by lacy, glowing clouds of gas and dust. Three are visibly spiral galaxies. The galaxy farthest to the left appears slightly more clearly, with vibrant blue lacing surrounding the oval-shaped light of the galaxy. The galaxies all appear against a field of sparkling stars and other, farther galaxies.

3. Hold the piece of paper with the smaller hole up to the screen. What do you notice?
This represents what the Hubble Space Telescope can see.

4. Hold up the piece of paper with the larger hole up to the screen. What do you notice?
This represents what the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will see.

5. Compare what you can see with the two viewers.

How does using each viewer change what you see?
How many of the small viewers would it take to cover the whole image? How many larger viewers?
Which viewer helps you focus on a single detail? How could that help a scientist?
Which viewer helps you see many details together? How could that help a scientist?
Which would you use to explore the universe? Which would you use to look carefully at a star? Why?

6. Bonus! Repeat the activity looking at a different picture of the universe or take both viewers outside to look a the night sky. What do you notice?

This activity was designed with help from the Space Telescope Scientific Institute.

Spacecraft Hubble: Hubble Floating Free (2002)

Air and Space Connection

Different telescopes see different things. These views are inspired by real telescopes.

The Hubble Space Telescope has a narrow field of view: it sees a small part of the sky in great detail.
The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will have a wide field of view: it will see a big part of the sky all at once.
Scientists will use the Nancy Grace Roman telescope to find interesting things for the Hubble Space Telescope to look at in more detail.

For Grown Ups: More About Hubble Space Telescope

Elisa works at NASA and uses telescopes to find planets outside our solar system.
When she was younger, she didn't think she was good at math and did not want to be a scientist. But later, she took a math class and realized she liked it!

For Kids: Activities About Planets Outside Our Solar System

Nancy used telescopes to learn how stars move and what they're made of.
When Nancy was a student, her school counselor said girls shouldn't take math. She didn't listen and studied math anyway.
Nancy helped build the first large telescope sent into outer space, the Hubble Space Telescope. People call her the "Mother of Hubble."
A new telescope is going to be named after her.

For Grown Ups: More About Nancy Grace Roman

Soar Together at Air and Space is made possible by the generous support of the Northrop Grumman Foundation.

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Astronomy Activities Inspired by Women Who Study the Stars

Story Time Video

Create a Space Viewer

What Can Space Telescopes See?

Meet Scientists

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Cosmic Cliffs in the Carina Nebula

Dwarf Galaxy NGC 4214

Dying Star

Exploded Star in the Veil Nebula

Trumpler 14 Cluster

Star Clusters

Swan Nebula

Galaxies

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Air and Space Connection

Meet Scientists

Elisa Quintana

Nancy Grace Roman

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