Supernovas and Neutron Stars
Students learn why massive stars collapse and explode as supernovas, what neutron stars and pulsars are, how white dwarfs can also explode, and how supernovas spread the elements that make up Earth and people.
Grades 5-8About 15 minutes of narrated flight, plus discussion stops7 stops
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What students will see and do
Students fly to Betelgeuse and Rigel, take three close looks at the Crab Nebula and its pulsar, visit Antares and return to Earth while Aetherion explains how stars explode. The class can pause to discuss at the Betelgeuse, Antares and Earth stops.
Learning objectives
- Explain why fusion stops being a source of energy once a massive star's core turns to iron.
- Describe the properties of a neutron star, including its size, density and spin.
- Compare a core collapse supernova with an exploding white dwarf.
- Trace how elements made in stars ended up in Earth and the human body.
NGSS connections
| MS-ESS1-2 | Students model how gravity drives the collapse of a stellar core and holds neutron stars together, and how stars recycle material into new solar systems. |
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Stops on this journey
- A Star Near the End (discussion stop)
- Why Big Stars Explode
- The Guest Star of Ten Fifty Four
- The Spinning Heart
- A Cosmic Lighthouse
- Not All Supernovas Are Alike (discussion stop)
- Made of Star Stuff (discussion stop)
Vocabulary
- supernova
- neutron star
- pulsar
- neutrino
- white dwarf
- core collapse
- element
- red supergiant