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>> They have uncaged
the, the telescope

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and they're going
to acquire target.

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>> My students are
10- and 11-year-olds,

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so some of their questions,
well first their, the questions

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that they wanted to know
was about, you know,

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extraterrestrial life, and to
what extent, you know, we were,

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we were going to be gathering
information about that.

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And while it's not the
same, I don't think

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that this is what they
had in mind when, when,

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when they asked this question,
I think one of the things

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that is very interesting is
tonight's mission we're looking

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at star formation.

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>> So these are just raw frames
as they come off the camera.

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>> And so it's not
the type of life

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that they're thinking
about, but it is, in a way,

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this idea of the origins,
right, of something.

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>> So these are, these
are now process frames

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that really show the background

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and the actual astronomical
sources.

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I think the science
on this target is,

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is that these are stars that
are really literally just

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at the early parts of formation,
and so they're still collapsing

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under gravity and they haven't
fully switched on fusion

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in their cores yet, or
maybe it's like a balance

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of maybe 50% fusion,
50% gravity.

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>> So you're saying that the one
they're doing now is a little

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bit more graphical,
if more of a --

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>> So I'm really interested to
see the, some of the information

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that we're collecting today
that deals with star formation.

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We deal a lot with, in
eighth grade, about genetics

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and looking at the life cycle
of, of genes and organisms,

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and this allows us
to kind of talk

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about the life cycle of a star.

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It allows them to see that,
that something even as complex

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or as far away as a star, you
know, can have a life cycle

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of its own and, and
helps them kind

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of see how stars
fit into, into that.

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>> Like here?

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>> Yeah.

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>> So these are three
different imagers that we have.

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It's hard to see because they
just happen to be overlaid,

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but this is the target that
we're looking at right there.

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>> For me, it's been, I mean,
everything from, you know,

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sitting down and having
conversations of star formation,

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which is something that
I've never been, you know,

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at a table with scientists
and astronomers that,

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you know, can speak about that.

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Normally you'll, you'll read
it in books, like I said,

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or you'll take a class, but
it doesn't get any more real

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than actually sitting with
the people who are studying,

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you know, this type of material.

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>> And that allows us to
measure the thermal emission

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from the telescope itself.

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>> A raw image is going
to look like this,

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and so you can see
that it's not flat.

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>> I'd love to bring out my
students on an experience

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like this, but I can't, so I
look for opportunities for me

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to experience things like
this and then bring back

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that experience to them.

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>> And then the final
step is that merge step

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where you add everything
together,

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and then this is the final
image that you see here.

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>> You know, I really teach
the 21st century skills

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like critical thinking,
collaboration, communication,

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and problem solving, and so
just giving them, you know,

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real world examples of how all
these skills come together is,

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is going to be so
valuable to my students.

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>> So if you were to look at
the brightness versus wavelength

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from that image, if it were
a cool object you would see

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it rising.

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>> I was very pleasantly
surprised to see

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that a large number
of the teachers

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that were selected
were not only teachers

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who don't necessarily have
to teach stellar astronomy

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to their students, but they're
actually non-science teachers,

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and so I think there's
a lot to this program

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that could benefit teachers
or educators across the board

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that don't think that just
because you don't teach

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that to your students that
there aren't experiences

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that can be a part of the,
the SOFIA program that,

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that you can't be a part of.

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