Cosmic Rays: Mysterious Extraterrestrial Visitors

Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Cosmic Rays is a colour A5 leaflet that opens out into an A2 double-sided wallchart describing cosmic rays and where they come from, what effect they have on Earth and how they are used in scientific applications. Sections of the leaflet cover: *The...

Antimatter - Matter's Hidden Shadow

This poster looks at the nature of antimatter. One side of the poster discusses Dirac’s prediction and the subsequent discovery of antimatter, in the form of the positron. The difficulty of the storage of antimatter is explained and the use of positrons in medical imaging (PET scanners) is described. The other side...

The Structure of Matter

This poster looks at the structure of matter. One side of the poster discusses the limits of imaging with light and the use of electron microscopes, and looks at the 20th century pioneers – from J. J. Thomson’s plum pudding model, through Rutherford and Chadwick’s advances in understanding the nucleus, to the use...

Cooking a Comet

Comets are considered to be time capsules containing information about the conditions of the early Solar System. In order to understand what comets are, where they come from, and their influence on the evolution of Earth, it is necessary to find out what material they contain. This teacher demonstration and student...

Gaia's place in space

Gaia is a European Space Agency satellite, mapping one billion stars in the Milky Way. 

This worksheet uses the context of the orbit of the Gaia spacecraft to look at circular motion and the gravitational force between two bodies.  The content is suitable for GCSE and A-level Physics.

A teacher's...

Getting Gaia going

Gaia is a European Space Agency satellite, mapping one billion stars in the Milky Way. 

This worksheet guides students through some calculations on the power requirements for the Gaia spacecraft, the content is suitable for GCSE and A-level Physics.

A teacher's guide gives worked solutions.

Marble-ous Ellipses

In order to understand the orbits of planets, comets and other celestial bodies, it is necessary to examine the principles of how gravity, and the velocity of an object, interact to produce an orbit. It is a common misconception among students that planetary orbits are circular. This practical activity gives a...

The Earth's Atmosphere - Why Is the Sky Blue?

This Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), helps to explain the answer to a simple question: why is the sky blue?

Colour and Temperature of Stars

This Teaching Astronomy and Space video clip, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), shows how it is possible to illustrate how the light emitted by a star is related to the star's temperature. Using...

Saturn and the Scale of the Solar System

In this Teaching Astronomy and Space video, from the Institute of Physics (IOP), Teachers TV and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), planetary scientist Sheila Kanani shows us the stunning images of Saturn and its moons taken from the Cassini...