Successfully carrying out a secondary school physics inquiry requires a considerable amount of procedural and content knowledge. It further requires knowledge of how and why maintaining scientific standards produces the best available answer to the given research question. To this purpose, a series of five inquiry activities was developed and…

Since 2017 the Italian Space Agency (ASI) participates to so-called 'Alternanza Scuola-Lavoro' (i.e. 'school-work synergy') outreach projects promoted by the Italian government, and the ASI Space Science Data Center (SSDC) actively contributes to them, with the primary aim of bringing students closer to space-related activities before choosing…

Discusses new problems arising from the growing observational data through radio telescope arrays, involving the origin of radio sources, apparent superluminal velocities, conversion of radio sources to relativistic particles, and the nature of compact opaque and extended transparent sources. New physics may be needed to answer these cosmological…

Discussed are the behaviors of particles and energies in the magnetic fields of neutron stars. Different types of possible research using neutron stars as a laboratory for the study of strong magnetic fields are proposed. (CW)

Helioseismology (similar to geophysicists' study of seismic waves) makes it possible to penetrate the sun's opaque brilliance by measuring surface oscillations. Their pattern and period hold clues to temperature, structure, composition, and dynamics of the sun's interior. Scientists have used data to build models (evolved mathematically) to…

Describes the rationale behind the construction of a private observatory by seven astronomers. Lists pertinent factors that should be considered in the creation of an observatory. (CP)

This reference surveys resources of astronomical information including books and articles about the solar system, Mercury, Venus, Earth, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors. Also included is a list of seven available slide sets about the solar system. (CW)

Gives a short biography of James E. Keeler, and describes some of his outstanding discoveries, and his pioneering work in observational research where he applied physical methods to the analysis of planets, stars and nebulae. (GA)

Six articles review current understanding and research in solar physics. Included are topics on sunspots, the corona, solar flares, solar waves, and solar-energy generation. Also included is a resume of physical data relating to the sun. (SL)

This review is one of a series of assessments and reviews prepared in the public interest by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The purpose of this review is to outline the potential achievements of solar system exploration and suggest a course of action which will maximize the rewards to mankind. A secondary purpose is…

A brief summary. Topics include: solid crystals, nonlinear physics, collective phenomena, heavy-ion physics, astrophysics, and particle physics. (BB)

This article shows that the centrifugal force in a rotating reference frame possesses the property that the brachistochrone and tautochrone are identical. In this system the force is repulsive and proportional to the distance from the force center. (Author/BB)

Described is an overview of the Voyager 2 encounter with Neptune. Discussed are the trajectory, atmosphere, rings, satellites, magnetosphere, and future of Voyager 2. (YP)

Describes the current understanding of the structure and evolution of the white dwarf stars that was gained as a result of the increasingly sensitive and detailed astronomical observations coupled with calculations of the properties of matter under extreme conditions. (Author/GA)