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Science Nation: Young Astronomers to Investigate the Outer Solar System

3 minutes 4 seconds

Now Playing As: Captioned (English) (change)

With support from the National Science Foundation, astronomers Marc Buie and John Keller are involving citizen scientists from throughout the western United States to participate in the Research and Education Cooperative Occultation Network (RECON). The project has provided telescope equipment and training to 14 small western U.S. communities north and south of Reno, Nevada, where night skies are clear and dark. When RECON students look out at the night sky, they look way out to the Kuiper Belt, a ring of icy debris that litters the Solar System out beyond Neptune. The network is looking to determine the sizes of Kuiper Belt objects as they pass in front of distant stars. Part of the National Science Foundation Series “Science Nation.”

Media Details

Runtime: 3 minutes 4 seconds

Computer screens with color-shaded images of a spiral shaped storm. Caption: study hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards from the inside.
Science Nation
Episode 1
3 minutes 14 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
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Science Nation
Episode 2
3 minutes 9 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
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Science Nation
Episode 3
3 minutes 7 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
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Science Nation
Episode 4
3 minutes 47 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
Bolt of lightning arcing from cloud to ground. Caption: we all want up-to-the-minute information.
Science Nation
Episode 5
3 minutes 9 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
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Science Nation
Episode 6
3 minutes 6 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
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Science Nation
Episode 7
3 minutes 4 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
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Science Nation
Episode 8
3 minutes 3 seconds
Grade Level: 9 - 12
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Science Nation
Episode 9
3 minutes 35 seconds
Grade Level: 7 - 12
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Science Nation
Episode 10
3 minutes 19 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12