Astro Raven

University of Washington
 Astronomy Department

Introductory Astronomy Clearinghouse
MOVIES, CLIPS, ANIMATIONS


Please note that the resources on this page are UW Astronomy resources, and are not for available for loan to other institutions or departments. If you see something that you want a copy of, you can try contacting the Washington Space Grant Consortium by email: nasa@u.washington.edu
Submit a review of one of these movies. Your comments will help others pick movies for their classes.

Compilations

Click on the title to find an index of the film...
Title Producer Running Time Year Summary
Cosmic Clips ASP 25 min ? Computer simulations. About half of them are worth previewing and considering for class. Their brevity is an advantage and complements lecture material. The simulations on galaxy collisions and Gravitational Clustering are recommended (although a bit advanced for a 100-level class). -- AML
Various Simulations Chaisson & McMillan 60 min 1998 These newer clips are from Chaisson's textbook. Many are "so-so" but some are extraordinary. "Death of the Sun I and II," "Evolution of a 1-Solar-Mass Star," HR Diagram Tracks & Stellar Evolution," "Anatomy of a Comet I and II," are among the best. These clips are all available in Quick Time on Chaisson's E-Book version of his text. -- AML
Astronomy Animations Chaisson & McMillan 41 min 1996 These older clips are from Chaisson's textbook, earlier editions.

Fundamentals of Astronomy and The Sky

Animated GIFs
Title Author Number of Frames
Moon Phases Palen 8
Seasons from Space Balick, from Redshift3 ?
Seasons from North Pole Balick, from Redshift3 ?
Seasons from the Sun Balick, from Redshift3 ?
Lunar Eclipse from Earth Balick, from Redshift3 ?
Lunar Eclipse from Space Balick, from Redshift3 ?
Solar Eclipse from Mexico Balick, from Redshift3 ?
Solar Eclipse over Mexico Balick, from Redshift3 ?
Lunar Phases Balick, from Redshift3 ?
Orbits of Jovian Moons Balick, from Redshift3 ?

VHS and other video
Title Producer Running Time Year Summary
Physics of Spaceflight Series Physics Curriculum & Instruction In 3 parts with shorter segments 1991 "...a three part program which presents physics principles as they apply to spaceflight and space related events." Relevant to studies in astronomy and planetary science are the following segments:
  • Part I: Launch Trajectories and Earth's Rotation (2:17); Lift-Off of Lunar Module from Moon's Surface (4:42)
  • Part II: Dynamics of Orbiting (7:29)
  • Part III: Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation (3:58); Microgravity Environment (3:42); Gravity Assist Principle (12:53)
With Teacher's Guide -- highly recommended even for lecture hall. -- AML
Cosmic Voyage Smithsonian/IMAX 35 min. 1996 From the back of the box: "Cosmic Voyage, a dynamic IMAX journey, combines live action with state-of-the-art computer-generated imagery, to show us where humans fit in our ever-expanding universe. Highlighting Cosmic Voyage is a 'cosmic zoom' based on the powers of ten, extending from the surface of the Earth to the largest observable structures ov the universe, and then back down into the sub-nuclear realm---a buided tour across some 42 orders of magnitude! Explore some of the greatest existing scientific theories, some of which have never before been visualized on film, from the birth of the cosmos and solar system to the nature of black holes and exploding supernovas."
Students enjoy the video as it is a good introduction to the scale of the Universe, although the video is a bit dreamy in places and the audio overdubbing is of poor quality. -- AML
Eclipse 99 Webcast Exploratorium/NASA 7 min. 1999 The Exploratorium had a very successful "sleepover/webcast" of the 1999 total solar eclipse. There's not much actual science in this video, but it is a tidy demonstration of how to make webcasting useful.

Solar System

Title Producer Running Time Year Summary
Science Forum: Volcanoes, Oceans and Life in our Solar System John Delaney 59:21 2000 ?
Solar System 200 Pictures on CD-ROM Holiday N/A 1998 Images of all of the planets, selecting the best from Voyager and other missions. Hubble views, geological features, eclipses, planet flyby movie clips, "true 3-D images" (ones from the Pathfinder are great), Mars Global Surveyor, and more.
Life on Mars Finley-Holiday Film Corp. 30 min 1996 A completely out of date, inaccurate film full of hype---good to show if you want to debunk it! It came out right after the "Mars Rock" press conferences. You can imagine.
The Doomsday Asteroid Nova ? 1995 ?

Stars

Animated GIFs
Title Author Number of Frames
Proton-Proton Chain Palen 17
VHS and other video
Title Producer Running Time Year Summary
The Savage Sun Discovery Channel 54 min 1999 Get launched on an exploration of increcible power, amazing energy and fantastic forces. Let Savage Sun shed light on the meaning of distant observations and illuminate other secrets of the sun. Find out how new technology is putting us on the surface of our nearest star, and into its interior.
The Solar Empire: A Star is Born Discovery Channel 51:52 1989 Venture into the wild black yonder with this visually compelling introduction to our solar system. Part One: Our sun, its formation and future. Part two: details of the planets from HST and Voyager.
Michael Dorn narrates; metaphors abound.

Stellar Evolution

Title Producer Running Time Year Summary
Death of a Star: Supernova Nova 60 min 1987 Supernovae, in particular SN 1987a...
Everything Old is New Again;
Don Brownlee		 UWTV ? ? ?
Stardust Memories;
Gerald Wasserburg 		? ? 1989
Black Holes
The Ultimate Abyss 		Discovery Channel School 52 min 1998 The 'famous' Bart and Homer Simpson video. Terrific 3-D animations. Stephen Hawking narrates some of the video.
Most of the video is very good. The persistence of the "mini-black hole" passing in front of the Milky Way gets annoying, and momentum is lost when the topic shifts to worm holes. But, the explanations of general relativity help students picture what happens near a black hole. -- AML

Galaxies

Title Producer Running Time Year Summary

Cosmology

Title Producer Running Time Year Summary
Runaway Universe NOVA 60 min 2000 From the back of the box: "Runaway Universe presents the dramatic quest to unlock the secrets fo the universe as two rival astronomy teams search for exploding stars, map gigantic cosmic patterns of galaxies and grapple with the ultimate question: what is the fate of the universe? With the use of stunning 3-D cosmic simulations captured with revolutionary high-definition technology, NOVA presents the first attempt to explore the riddle of "dark energy"---the mysterious repulsive force that some scientists believe counteracts gravity."
The process of discovery is emphasized along with the discoveries. The hesitancy of scientists to publish radical results is also brought out. -- AML
To the Edge of the Universe ? 54 min 1997 ?
Creation of the Universe PBS 92 min 1991 Timothy Ferris; Big Bang, physics frontiers,
interviews with famous scientists.
Way too much theological suppositions for a science course. -- AML
Where the Galaxies Are Estus/Geller 8 min 1991 "A dramatic journey through our corner of the universe shows the remarkable, recently discovered soap-bubble-like pattern."
Good. -- AML
So Many Galaxies, So Little Time Estus/Geller 40 min 1992 "live-action docudrama...contrasts the human side of
science with the grandeur of recent discoveries about the Universe..."
Extremely slow moving. -- AML
Stephen Hawking
On the Dark Side		 PBS 2 hrs 1997 1st half: matter, periodic table, relativity.
2nd half: dark matter
Looking Back in Time; Craig Hogan (2 copies) UWTV ? ? ?
New Cosmos: What Makes the Big Bang Big?; Craig Hogan UWTV 51 min 1998 ?
Brightest and Darkest Places;
Bruce Margon		 UWTV ? ? ?
Einstein Revealed Nova 50/55 min 1996 Two-part series about Einstein
Life's Big Questions ? 1 hr 1996 4 part series: 15 min each

Miscellaneous

Title Producer Running Time Year Summary
Search for Alien Worlds ? 51 min 1997 ?
Powers of 10 Eames 21 min 1991 Contains both versions of the
famous powers of 10 video.
The Observatories ASP 27 min ? ?
The Quest for Contact NASA/SETI 32 min 1987 ?
15th Century Astronomer ? 30 min 1994 ?
Audio Tape: Radio Pulsars ? 12.9 min 1978 ?
Audio Tape: Plasma Waves: Voyager ? ? ? ?
Invisible Universe, 16 mm NRAO ? ? ?
Installation of 16" @
Rattlesnake Ridge, 16 mm		 ? ? ? ?

Outdated Material

Solar Prominences Alan MacFarlane ? 1989 ?
Solar Atmosphere, 16 mm ? ? 1976? ?
Solar Films, 16 mm Big Bear ? 1970 ?
Sun in Action, 16 mm Lockheed ? ? ?
Venus '91 ? 2 min 1991?
IO Torus Double Feature ? 8:10 min ? ?
Astronaut's View of the Earth ? 15 min 1992 Earth from the space shuttle
The Miracle Planet:
The third planet		 PBS 53 min 1987 Origins of Earth, craters, meteorites, disappearance of dinosaurs...
Part I of a 6-hour 3-part series.
Planets Alan MacFarlane ? 1988 ?
Death of the Dinosaurs PBS 60 min 1992 ?
S/L9 impacts etc. Alan MacFarlane ? 1994 ?
Planet Fly-by's ASP ~30 min 1992 ?
Venus NOVA ? 1995 ?
Uranus/Miranda ASP 35 min 1986 ?
Apollo 11 ? 28 min 1969 ?
HST Comets/pre-repair ? 1.5 min 1992 ?
Apollo 16 ? 28 min 1973 ?
Voyager: Neptune ? ? 1989 ?
Voyager: Jupiter & Saturn ? 25 min 1982 ?
Saturn, 16 mm ? ? ? ?
Saturn, 16 mm JPL 5 min ? Pioneer 11: No sound (!)
Saturn, 16 mm ? ? ? Voyager 1 ?
Jupiter, 16 mm ? 9 min 1979 Voyager 1 ?
Mare Exemplum, 16 mm NASA 5.5 min ? ?

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