The Night Sky Network has created 13 Outreach Toolkits, distributed to Night Sky Network member clubs. Here we have collected the original manuals for all of them for reference. Each activitiy has a list of materials to recreate any resources used. We have had many updates over the years: new kits have been created as older ones have run out. You can find many of our most popular resources in this collection.

While not all Toolkits are currently available, past Outreach Toolkit resources are still available on the Night Sky Network website in digital form, and will continue to remain available to everyone to download and use as they are able. 


The Big Astronomy Toolkit features the large telescopes in Chile. Activities include models of the Milky Way Galaxy, light pollution demonstrations, fun with filters, and legends from around the world. 
Also available in Spanish and with adaptations for Blind and Low Vision visitors. 





Life in the Universe
Aliens are a favorite topic for many visitors to public astronomy events. This ToolKit is designed to take science fiction questions and direct them toward scientific facts and exciting new discoveries being made in the search for life outside Earth.




Our Galaxy, Our Universe

Two of the most misunderstood concepts in astronomy are distance and scale. Related to those are the difference between the Solar System, the Galaxy, and the universe. This ToolKit consists of activities and resources that are designed to help your audiences visualize the basic structure and organization of our Galaxy and the rest of the universe, and the place of our Solar System within it.




Shadows and Silhouettes

Hands-on activities on Moon phases, lunar and solar eclipses, transits, and Venus phases. Features NASA's Kepler Mission and provides activities to explore searching for planets orbiting in the habitable zone around other stars.



Exploring the Solar System

This ToolKit includes hands-on activities to show the structure of our solar System, including models for sizes and distances, and to connect what is seen in the sky with where the planets are in relation to Earth. The many NASA missions that explore our Solar System serve as an inspiration to children and adults. This ToolKit also provides activities that give an introduction to the many ways we can explore, learn, and discover: fly-bys, orbiters, landers, probes, sample returns.



Apollo 50th Lunar Toolkit
Ths kit is packed with handouts and activities focused on our nearest neighbor, the Moon, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11!



Space Rocks

Our smallest Solar System neighbors are often overlooked when we think of objects in our solar neighborhood. But in fact, asteroids and comets have had dramatic effects on Solar System bodies, including Earth. Impacts are not just a part of history. The Earth is hit all the time with literally tons of space rocks. This ToolKit explores some of our smallest neighbors, asteroids, and their significance for us here on Earth



Our Magnetic Sun

This ToolKit provides activities and demonstrations that explore the Sun and its powerful magnetic fields, how these fields generate the features we observe, and how the Sun's magnetic activity affects our way of life and technologies here on Earth.



PlanetQuest

The search continues for planets around distant stars. Many have short orbital periods. If planets like Earth exist, with smaller masses and longer orbital periods, their discovery will require more sensitive instruments and years of precise, sustained observation. The PlanetQuest ToolKit provides activities designed to pique interest and answer visitor questions about the hunt for exoplanets.



Black Hole Survival

This Toolkit consists of hands-on activities and resources that are designed to address gravity in general and black holes in particular as an extreme form of gravity.



Supernova!

The SUPERNOVA! ToolKit tells the story of the lives of stars, cosmic radiation, and how Earth is protected from that radiation. Using marshmallows and macaroni, explain nuclear fusion and the radiation generated from a supernova explosion. Use balls in an activity that illustrates what happens when a star explodes. Find the stars in the night sky likely to go supernova. Discover the importance of supernovae in the universe.



Telescopes: Eyes on the Universe
This ToolKit provides hands-on activities to answer common questions at the telescope: Why don't I see any color? Why is the image upside down? What power is your telescope? Why doesn't it look like the photos? Can you see the flag on the Moon?



Glass and Mirrors

Use the demonstrations in this ToolKit to answer questions that the public (or new club members!) may have about how telescopes work. Show how both a reflector and a refractor work.


Additional Resources
Find more guides and resources in our Club Coordinator Tips and Tools page!


Last Updated: May 2023

Night Sky Network (NSN) member clubs are dedicated to bringing the wonders of space and NASA science to folks across the USA.NSN program participitation provides clubs with tools and resources to assist in their public outreach. Interested? Join clubs and astronomy events near you, and may you have clear skies!

Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram for the latest NSN news and outreach photos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for recordings of monthly astronomy webinars and archives of our outreach toolkit demonstration videos.  #NightSkyNetwork #AstronomyOutreach



The NASA Night Sky Network is managed by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. The ASP is a 501c3 non-profit organization advancing science literacy through astronomy.