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Shelf Life Episode 5: How to Time Travel to a Star

6 minutes 33 seconds

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Astrophysicists at the American Museum of Natural History are searching through early photographs of the night sky in an effort to digitize the collection of photographs. Also in this episode, they discuss the advancement of astronomical instrumentation through the ages. Part of the "Shelf Life" series.

Media Details

Runtime: 6 minutes 33 seconds

Topic: Arts, Science, Technology
Subtopic: Astronomy, Photography, Science Methods, Space Sciences, Technology
Grade/Interest Level: 10 - 12
Standards:

Release Year: 2015
Producer/Distributor: American Museum of Natural History
Series: Shelf Life
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Congo expedition of the American Museum of Natural History May 1909 to November 1915. Black and white photos of explorers with crocodile skulls and a map in the background. Caption: Those explorers had collected crocodile specimens

Person holding the fossilized skull of an animal. Caption: but there's still a liveliness and a connection

Three turtles, one with a tag around its neck. Caption: The turtles are all here together.

Irregular pinkish-brown shapes on a white background. Caption: you can actually really see that very fine cellular detail.

Four observatory telescopes pointed towards a starry sky. Caption: We have one record of the universe streaming by us.

Illustration of a person standing on the shoreline next to a squid with a body larger than the person is tall. Caption: had just found a giant squid, and would I be interested?

Fossilized dinosaur skeleton still partially encased in rock displayed next to a model of the same dinosaur. Caption: Out of those, only a few are really prepared well.

Two toads, one light brown, the other darker brown with light spots. Caption: Maybe temperatures got too warm for these toads.

Viewer Comments

Erin F. (Watertown, MA)

September 14th, 2021 at 09:13 AM

As always excellent content. This aligned with a book that we had just finished discussing.