Resources by Royal Observatory Greenwich

Landing on a comet

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet uses the context of the Rosetta mission to develop students understanding of weight, mass and gravity. Included is an online video that introduces the Rosetta mission and discusses its significance. Questions and answers are included that test a student’s...

Looking for a habitable exoplanet

Produce by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet introduces exoplanets, planetary transits and light curves. Included is an online video that provides context for a lesson by discussing if there are aliens and where they might be found. This is followed by questions and answers that test understanding of...

Looking for Jupiter

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet introduces the Stellarium computer program. Included is an online video that demonstrates Stellarium and shows the operation of a telescope. The booklet gives teachers and students instructions to locate Jupiter using the software. The booklet could be given...

Magnetic Meteorites

This resource, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, includes a short video about rocks from space, and then a short activity sheet that students can use to discuss the difference between magnetic and...

Making Shadows

This activity, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, looks at how shadows are formed and what affects their size, direction and shape. Students place an object at the centre of a sheet of paper, and use a torch to produce shadows of different length and direction.

This activity can be used as an introduction...

Making star trails

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet shows how to demonstrate star trails in a classroom environment using a ‘lazy susan’ spinning table and video editing software. Included is an online video showing the setup of the demonstration. Due to the tools involved this would only be suitable as a...

Mass of an exoplanet from radial velocity

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet shows how the Doppler effect and the radial velocity of an exoplanet can be used to calculate its mass. Included is an online video that demonstrates the Doppler effect using a portable speaker and discusses how it can be applied to a distant exoplanet....

Measuring the Universe

Produced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, this booklet introduces the concept of parallax and how it can be used to measure the distance to stars, using the constellation of Orion as an example. Included is an online video that demonstrates parallax in everyday contexts and in astronomy.  It also discusses the...

Mission to Mars

This resource, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, is an animated video, teacher guidance and pupil activities that explore some of the challenges that exist for getting astronauts to Mars, and what it would be like to live there for a while....

Nuclear Fusion in Stars

This resource, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, has a video that introduces the evolution on the universe beginning at the Big Bang, but it also has a worksheet that explores how mass loss through nuclear fusion can explain the prodigious ...