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Junior Astronomer Academy

Nine free lessons for your telescope and your night sky. Read a lesson, try its sky challenge, and answer three questions to finish it. Finish all nine to earn your Junior Astronomer certificate.

Start Lesson 1Pick your telescope

Which telescope do you have?

Stellar Dreams students received one of two Celestron telescopes. Pick yours, and every lesson shows the steps and numbers for it. Not sure which one you have? Look for the name printed on the tube.

What you'll see

Real photos of the sky you'll explore

A full Moon. The dark patches are the maria.

Photo: NASA/JPL/USGS · Source

A full Moon. The dark patches are the maria.

Saturn photographed through a backyard telescope.

Image: Stub Mandrel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Saturn photographed through a backyard telescope.

Jupiter and its Great Red Spot, a storm wider than Earth.

Photo: NASA · Source

Jupiter and its Great Red Spot, a storm wider than Earth.

The Pleiades, also called the Seven Sisters.

Photo: NASA, ESA, AURA/Caltech, Palomar Observatory · Source

The Pleiades, also called the Seven Sisters.

The Orion Nebula, a star nursery, photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Photo: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto (STScI/ESA) and the Hubble Orion Treasury Project Team · Source

The Orion Nebula, a star nursery, photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Albireo through an 8-inch telescope. One star glows gold and the other blue.

Image: Topoignaz, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Albireo through an 8-inch telescope. One star glows gold and the other blue.

The Big Dipper over Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.

Photo: Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve · Source

The Big Dipper over Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.

The Milky Way over Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.

Photo: NPS/Patrick Myers · Source

The Milky Way over Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado.

Swipe for more. Tap a photo to see it big. Photo credits

Your lessons

Lessons 1 through 4 work indoors or in daylight. The rest need a clear night.

0 of 9 lessons finished. Each lesson you finish lights a star. Finish all nine to draw a telescope in the sky.

Open your observing log · Photo credits

  1. What is a telescope?Find out what a telescope does, who made the first ones, and the three main kinds.Indoors, any time.
  2. Meet your telescopeLearn the parts of your telescope, how to care for it, and the one rule every astronomer follows.Indoors, any time.
  3. Set up and aim in daylightSet up your telescope, focus it, and line up your finder so you can aim at anything.Outside in daylight, with an adult nearby.
  4. Magnification mathWork out how much your telescope magnifies, and learn when more power helps and when it hurts.Indoors with a pencil, then outside to test it.
  5. Find your way around the night skyGet your eyes ready for the dark, measure the sky with your hand, and find the North Star.Outside on a clear night.
  6. Explore the MoonLearn why the Moon changes shape, then find craters, mountains, and plains of old lava.Outside, any time the Moon is up.
  7. Spot the planetsFind planets in the night sky, watch Jupiter's moons move, and see Saturn's rings.Outside on a clear night. Check an app to see which planets are up.
  8. Stars, clusters, and star colorsFind out what a star's color means, split double stars, and explore star clusters.Outside on a clear night, away from bright lights if you can.
  9. Be a citizen scientistShare your observations with scientists and help them study the night sky.Outside on a clear night with no Moon, plus a few minutes online with an adult.

Your mission pins

Every space mission has its own pin. Finish a lesson to earn its pin, and win the games inside each lesson along the way.

0 of 9 mission pins earned · 0 games won

Design your own mission pin

Pick a shape, colors, a symbol, and the words on your banner. Your pin goes on your certificate.

MY MISSION
Shape
Pin color
Edge and banner color
Symbol

Earn your certificate

Finish all nine lessons to print your certificate. You've finished 0.

The Stellar Dreams balloon arch at the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium

Part of Stellar Dreams

Through Stellar Dreams, The Science Haven gave telescopes and astronomy lessons to students in grades 5 to 12. The Junior Astronomer Academy is free for them, and for anyone else with a telescope.

About Stellar Dreams