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The Universe Forum's role as part of NASA's Education Support Network concluded in September, 2009. Please visit NASA at http://nasascience.nasa.gov/ for current information about NASA's science, education, and public outreach activities.

Roy Gould, Universe Forum Director
Mary Dussault, Deputy Director
Simon Steel, Project Manager
Bruce Gregory, Education Specialist
Jennifer Grier, Project Manager

Homepage
Explore Our Place in Space
Explore Big Bang
Explore Black Holes

Explore Dark Energy
Learning Resources
Missions
What's Up

Homepage
Composite Image: Composite created by Nicole Parente. Big Bang: WMAP Science Team/NASA. Black Holes: Illustration, ESA, NASA, and Felix Mirabel (French Atomic Energy Commission and Institute for Astronomy and Space Physics/Conicet of Argentina). Dark Energy: P. Challis (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

Learning Resources: Kevin Burke/SAO

Missions: X-ray (NASA/CXC/M. Karovska et al.); Radio 21-cm image (NRAO/VLA/J.Van Gorkom/Schminovich et al.), Radio continuum image (NRAO/VLA/J.Condon et al.); Optical (Digitized Sky Survey U.K. Schmidt Image/STScI)

What's Up: Beyond Einstein roadmap

Our Place in Space
Our Place in Space (Earth)
William Herschel Telescope: Nik Szymanek and Ian King
Galaxy: The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)
Earth and Moon: Courtesy NASA

Our Place in Space (Our Sun)
Sun: SOHO (ESA & NASA)
Galaxy: The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)
NGC 7009: B. Balick (U. Washington) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA
NGC 7027: H. Bond (STScI) and NASA
The Eskimo nebula: NASA, Andrew Fruchter and the ERO Team (STScI)
cr12688: Raghvendra Sahai and John Trauger (JPL), the WFPC2 science team, and NASA
hen 1357: Matt Bobrowsky (Orbital Sciences Corporation) and NASA
m2-9: Bruce Balick (University of Washington), Vincent Icke (Leiden University, The Netherlands), Garrelt Mellema (Stockholm University), and NASA

Our Place in Space (Nearby Stars)
Lagoon Nebula: A. Caulet (ST-ECF, ESA) and NASA
Galaxy: The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)
Keyhole Nebula: NASA, The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)

Our Place in Space (Star Field)
Star field: The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)
Galaxy: The Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI/NASA)

Our Place in Space (Galaxy)
Andromeda Galaxy: © 1993-1995 by the California Institute of Technology, Palomar Observatory, STScI/DSS, Image processing P. Challis, CfA
Centaurus A optical: © ESO
Centaurus A radio: NRAO/AUI

Our Place in Space (Cluster)
Abell 1689 galaxy cluster: NASA, N. Benitez (JHU), T. Broadhurst (Racah Institute of Physics/The Hebrew University), H. Ford (JHU), M. Clampin (STScI), G. Hartig (STScI), G. Illingworth (UCO/Lick Observatory), the ACS Science Team and ESA
Gas cloud: NASA and Megan Donahue (STScI)

Our Place in Space (Deep Field)
Hubble Ultra Deep Field: S. Beckwith & the HUDF Working Group (STScI), HST, ESA, NASA

Our Place in Space (Dark Age)
Distant Galaxies: NASA/CXC/PSU/D.M.Alexander, F.E.Bauer, W.N.Brandt et al.

The Big Bang
Landing page
WMAP satellite: WMAP Science Team/NASA
Ultra Deep Field galaxies: S. Beckwith & the HUDF Working Group (STScI), HST, ESA, NASA

What was the Big Bang?
Star Field: NASA, ESA, and K. Sahu (STScI)
14 billion year history: Galaxy simulations courtesy Lars Hernquist and Martin White, Copyright 2004 Smithsonian Institution
Speeding galaxies: ARC and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Collaboration, Copyright 2004 Smithsonian Institution
COBE image: DIRBE Team, COBE, NASA

What powered the Big Bang?
M64 Galaxy: NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI), S. Smartt (IoA) & D. Richstone (U. Michigan) et al.
The inflationary universe: Courtesy Andrei Linde
WMAP image: NASA/WMAP Science Team

Where did the universe come from?
Quasar: John Bahcall (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton), Mike Disney (University of Wales), and NASA
DASI detector: © Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000 by Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica
LISA mission: Courtesy NASA

Black Holes
Landing page
Black Hole: Illustration, ESA, NASA, and Felix Mirabel (French Atomic Energy Commission and Institute for Astronomy and Space Physics/Conicet of Argentina)
M82 in X-ray: NASA/ CXC/ SAO

What are Black Holes?
Curving spacetime: taken from the Southampton General Relativity Explorer
Spacetime lab: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
When a great star dies: NASA/Dana Berry/SkyWorks Digital

Do Black Holes really exist?
Black Hole binary system: ESA 2002/Medialab
Centaurus A (optical): Marina Rejkuba (ESO-Garching) et al., ISAAC, VLT ANTU telescope, ESO Paranal Obs
Centaurus A (x-ray): NASA/SAO/R.Kraft et al.
M87: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)
3C 273: NASA/CXC/SAO/H.Marshall et al.
3C296: Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI
Cygnus A: Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI
NGC 326: Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI, Inset: STScI
Seeing a hidden monster: Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics

What are we trying to find out?
XMM-Newton: © European Space Agency
Bubble of plasma: R. Spencer, S. Garrington, D. McKay, T. Muxlow, P. Thomasson, C. de la Force, A. M. Stirling (University of Manchester, Jodrell Bank); G. Pooley (University of Cambridge); R. Fender (University of Amsterdam)
Colliding black holes: K. Thorne (Caltech) , T. Carnahan (NASA GSFC)

Dark Energy
Landing page
Supernova 1987A: P. Challis (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)
Supernova 1994D: NASA and Vera Rubin (Carnegie Institution of Washington)

Where did the idea come from?
Before supernova: Adam G. Riess (STScI) et al., NASA
Exploding star: NASA and Vera Rubin (Carnegie Institution of Washington)
Find the exploding star: NASA and J. Blakeslee (JHU)

What might Dark Energy be?
Albert Einstein: Courtesy of Fred Stein, www.fredstein.com
Stephan's Quintet galaxies: NASA, Jayanne English (University of Manitoba), Sally Hunsberger (Pennsylvania State University), Zolt Levay (Space Telescope Science Institute), Sarah Gallagher (Pennsylvania State University), and Jane Charlton (Pennsylvania State University)
Yakov Zeldovich: Photo ca. 1950, courtesy Prof. V. I. Goldanskii

Why do we care?
James Webb Space Telescope: Northrop Grumman Space Technology
BOOMERANG sky: produced by the BOOMERANG project
Dark Energy probe: Image courtesy of the Supernova Acceleration Collaboration

Learning Resources
Cosmic Questions exhibit: Kevin Burke/SAO

Missions
Centaurus A galaxy composite: X-ray (NASA/CXC/M. Karovska et al.); Radio 21-cm image (NRAO/VLA/J.Van Gorkom/Schminovich et al.), Radio continuum image (NRAO/VLA/J.Condon et al.); Optical (Digitized Sky Survey U.K. Schmidt Image/STScI)

All mission images are courtesy of NASA and the official mission teams. Please visit the SEU mission homepages to learn more. You can also visit http://science.hq.nasa.gov/missions/ to explore the complete range of NASA's space science missions.

What's Up
Events and Happenings
Gravity Probe B: Lockheed Martin
Venus Transit: NASA's Sun Earth Connection Education Forum
Cosmic Questions exhibit: ASTC
Einstein: © California Institute of Technology

Science News
NASA Universe News: Aurore Simonnet, Sonoma State University
NASA Science News: D. Armbrecht (Spectrum Astro) / NASA
Center for Astrophysics: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S.T. Megeath (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA)
Hubble Space Telescope: NASA, Andrew Fruchter and the ERO Team (STScI)

Cosmic Conversations
Bob Kirshner: Courtesy Rick Friedman