On this page: General Resources | Stars | Constellations | Big Bang | Biographies
general resources
📖 NightWatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe by Terence Dickinson. This classic bestselling backyard stargazing manual was completely updated in 2006. With star charts, a list of upcoming celestial phenomena, photographs, information on using a telescope, and more, this is the ultimate guide book for amateur stargazers. – All
📖 A Child’s Introduction to the Night Sky: The Story of the Stars, Planets, and Constellations by Michael Driscoll. This 90-page illustrated book makes a fine reference guide for all things astronomy. Includes short sections on the stars, sun, moon, planets, "hunks, chunks, and flying objects," astronomers, astronauts, and constellations. Note: published in 2004; the Pluto section is now outdated. – Elementary • Middle
📖 The Universe by Seymour Simon. This photograph-heavy Seymour Simon book provides a beautiful, informative overview of the universe. Learn about galaxies, stars, planets, nebulae, and more. Also check out Simon’s Destination: Space. – Elementary • Middle
📖 Mysterious Universe by Ellen Jackson. This entry in the Scientists in the Field series takes readers to Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, where a team of researchers led by Dr. Alex Fillippenko is studying supernovae, black holes, and dark energy. Includes many cool photos. – Middle
📺 COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey. Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and ambassador of science, hosts this superb new version of Carl Sagan's classic science documentary. – All
📺 The Universe. "As the Earth grapples with the effects of global warming, science has increasingly looked to outer space for answers to the glaring threats facing our world. Are there other planets in the Universe with the unique ability to support life, or is there truly no place like home? In 13 awe-inspiring programs, THE UNIVERSE ventures into the uncharted territory of outer space." – All
🔗 Content Connection: Solar System. Learn about the sun, moon, and planets.
stars
📖 Stars by Seymour Simon. “Twinkling in the night sky, stars have inspired wonder and amazement in us since ancient times. They have guided our journeys and inspired our poetry and art, but until recently we have known very little about them. Now, through new instruments and technology, we are learning more about stars every day, from their dusty beginnings in nebulas to their spectacular ends as supernovas.” Another great Seymour Simon book. – Elementary • Middle
📖 A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano. Here is a terrific discussion of black holes for middle grade students. Written in a conversational tone, this short chapter book uses analogies, illustrations, and humor to clearly explain the science of black holes. A good addition to an astronomy or physics unit. – Middle
▶️ The last light before eternal darkness – white dwarfs and black dwarfs from Kurzgesagt. “Everything will end. Even the universe. But in a future so far away that it defies description, there will still be light and therefore a chance for life. It will be around White Dwarfs, the corpses of stars. But even they will fade one day.” – Middle • High
▶️ The last star in the Universe – red dwarfs explained from Kurzgesagt. “The last star in the universe will be a red dwarf. Red dwarfs in general might be great places to look for aliens, or planets for humans to find a new home after our solar system has died.” – All
▶️ How to detect a supernova from TED-Ed. "Just now, somewhere in the universe, a star exploded. In fact, a supernova occurs every second or so in the observable universe. Yet, we’ve never actually been able to watch a supernova in its first violent moments. Is early detection possible? " – All
▶️ Where does gold come from? from TED-Ed. "Did you know that gold is extraterrestrial? Instead of arising from our planet’s rocky crust, it was actually cooked up in space and is present on Earth because of cataclysmic stellar explosions called supernovae." – All
▶️ Black holes explained – from birth to death from Kurzgesagt. “Black holes are some of the most mysterious objects in the universe—what are they? How do they form and die?” – Middle • High
▶️ Can a black hole be destroyed? from TED-Ed. “Black holes are among the most destructive objects in the universe. Anything that gets too close to a black hole, be it an asteroid, planet, or star, risks being torn apart by its extreme gravitational field. By some accounts, the universe may eventually consist entirely of black holes. But is there any way to destroy a black hole?” – Middle • High
▶️ Could the Earth be swallowed by a black hole? from TED-Ed. “From asteroids capable of destroying entire species to supernovae that could exterminate life on Earth, outer space has no shortage of forces that could wreak havoc on our planet. But there’s something in space that is even more terrifying than any of these, something that wipes out everything it comes near. Fabio Pacucci examines the probability of Earth being gobbled up by a black hole.” – All
▶️ Intro to black holes from Socratica. "Stars do not last forever. After a star has burned all its fuel, gravity collapses the remaining matter together. For very large stars, a Black Hole is formed. This is an object so dense that anything that gets too close will completely disappear from view, including light." – Middle • High
▶️ What are neutron stars? from Socratica. "Stars are not eternal and unchanging: they are born, live their lives, and then die. The way a star dies depends on its mass. A low mass star ends as a white dwarf. A high mass star becomes a black hole. But in between, a star becomes a neutron star." – Middle • High
▶️ Neutron stars from Kurzgesagt. Neutron stars are one of the most extreme and violent things in the universe. Giant atomic nuclei, only a few kilometers in diameter but as massive as stars. And they owe their existence to the death of something majestic. – All
▶️ The life cycle of a neutron star from TED-Ed. “About once every century, a massive star somewhere in our galaxy runs out of fuel. No longer able to produce sufficient energy to maintain its structure, it collapses under its own gravitational pressure and explodes in a supernova. The death of that star is the birth of a neutron star: one of the densest known objects in the universe.” – All
constellations
📖 Once Upon a Starry Night and Zoo in the Sky by Jacqueline Mitton. These beautifully illustrated books offer brief re-tellings of the legends of the night sky. Once Upon a Starry Night introduces constellations named for figures in Greek and Roman mythology, and Zoo in the Sky is a book of animal constellations. – Elementary
🔗 Content Connection: Ancient Greece. Study Ancient Greek mythology.
big bang
▶️ The beginning of everything – the Big Bang from Kurzgesagt. “Has the universe a beginning or was it here since forever? Well, evidence suggests that there was indeed a starting point to this universe we are part of right now. But how can this be? How can something come from nothing? And what about time? We don't have all the answers yet so let's talk about what we know.” – All
biographies
📖 Starry Messenger: Galileo Galiliei by Peter Sis. This biography is beautifully illustrated but light on content. For a more substantive treatment of Galileo’s life and scientific contributions, check out Fisher’s Galileo. – Elementary
📖 Galileo's Journal, 1609-1610 by Jeanne Pettenati. This simple picture book, written in as a series of diary entries, focuses almost exclusively on Galileo's work with the telescope, which led him to identify the moons of Jupiter. The Author's Note talks more about the implications of this key discovery. – Elementary
📖 Galileo by Leonard Everett Fisher. Fisher's biography of Galileo is out of print but worth getting your hands on if you can—you'll find lots of information and gorgeous, atmospheric black-and-white paintings. – Elementary • Middle
📖 Star Stuff: Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos by Stephanie Roth Sisson. This short and sweet picture book biography of Carl Sagan dwells mainly on his childhood fascination with space. A good one to borrow from the library. – Preschool • Elementary
▶️ Tycho Brahe, the scandalous astronomer from TED-Ed. "If you think scientists lead boring, monotonous lives, you must not know about Tycho Brahe. The 16th century astronomer who accurately predicted planetary motion led quite a dramatic life—complete with a kidnapping, a sword duel and even a clairvoyant dwarf." – All