NASA's Astrophoto Challenge: Winter 2025

Audience: Astronomy enthusiasts of all ages

Entry Deadline: Feb. 28, 2025

Join NASA's Universe of Learning for an exciting opportunity to use real astronomical data and tools to create your own beautiful images. This winter, explore the Cartwheel and Andromeda galaxies, two examples of galaxies that have undergone dramatic interactions with other galaxies. Capture your own real-time telescope image using the MicroObservatory robotic telescope network. Or work with archival data files taken with multi-wavelength NASA missions from NASA (Webb, Hubble, Chandra, GALEX, and WISE).

Need inspiration? Click here to see the standout entries from the Summer 2024 NASA Astrophoto Challenge.

Joint Polar Satellite System STEM Activity: Where in the World is Leo DelMar – An Oceanic Mystery

Audience: General public, grades 5-12 students and teachers

NOAA and NASA’s Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites help observe Earth’s ocean. These observations include sea surface temperatures, ocean color, cloud cover, and even infrared imaging that can be used to spot illegal fishing vessels.

In this escape room-style activity, students use clues - plus JPSS maps, data, and imagery - to solve the mystery of a missing person. Students will be introduced to real satellite imagery of the ocean and test their graph reading skills.

Student Suborbital Flight Opportunity – Cubes in Space

Audience: Educators (formal, informal, home-school) of students ages 11-18

Registration Deadline: Feb. 17, 2025

Contact: info@cubesinspace.com

NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and iEDU Inc. invite educators to register for the free Cubes in Space program. Participants receive a course of activities that guide students to design experiments or technologies that connect to a real-world Earth or space-based problem or need. Selected experiments will be launched via a sounding rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia as part of RockSat-C in late June 2025, or from a high-altitude scientific balloon in New Mexico by NASA’s Balloon Program Office in late August 2025.

ACTIVITIES

Explore Glow-in-the-Dark Water!

Have you ever been fascinated by things that glow in the dark? It can be a lot of fun to play with bracelets, wands, and other toys that are glow-in-the-dark, like some stickers and creepy, crawly, plastic insects! Have you ever wanted to make something at home that glows? It turns out that it is not that hard to do — all you need is tonic water and a black light! Some common household chemicals can also affect this beverage's glow. In this science activity, you will make tonic water glow… Read more

How Do Arctic Animals Stay Warm?

How lovely it is to come home after a chilly winter walk to a cozy house, put on your fluffy slippers, and settle by the fireplace with a warming cup of hot chocolate. Animals like the polar bear, the Arctic wolf, or Antarctic penguins are not so lucky to have such a place. How do they face the extreme winter temperatures? Most take on “winter coats” in the fall. Wondering what these coats look like, and how they help keep animals warm? Do this cool activity and you will feel it… Read more

Project registration for the 70th Annual SARSEF Regional Science and Engineering Fair is open!

Register January 17 - February 23, 2025

The time has come to start registering projects, though we recommend you do not begin registration until you have all of the information to be able to complete the registration. This sample registration sheet will help you know what information you need to gather.

If you would like the option to monitor or edit your registration, be sure to create an account during the registration process. As a reminder, the 2025 SARSEF Fair projects will be digital project presentation submissions. Please see our website for digital project requirements and resources. If you have any concerns about how to create a digital project or convert physical projects boards for submission to SARSEF, please contact us.

Also, please note that high school interviews will be in-person this year at the U of A Student Union Ballroom on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. Elementary and Middle School judging and interviews will be held virtually on Wednesday and Thursday, March 5-6, 2025.

Register a Project

For more details, please go to the Fair website:

2025 SARSEF REGIONAL FAIR INFORMATION

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