Science in the Media Press Conference

This video supports the Science in the Media curriculum module, which culminates with students playing the role of reporters viewing this simulated press conference and writing a story about it. The findings discussed in the video are actual results from the Suzaku satellite.

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Comparison of the Chandra and Suzaku spacecraft's sensitivity to X-rays using the metaphor of the visible light spectrum.

Graph of X-rays from NGC 1365 detected by Suzaku. The green lines mark dips indicating that something has blocked X-rays from the galaxy's central supermassive black hole.

Artist's interpretation of what the cloud would look like as it eclipsed the black hole.

The cloud and its comet-like tail to scale with Earth's orbit.

As the final element in the Science in the Media curriculum, students play reporters viewing a simulated press conference on actual results from the Suzaku X-ray satellite. In this photo, Goddard astrophysicists Kojii Mukai (left) and Kimberly Weaver (center rear) and moderator Lynn Chandler (right) take last-minute direction from Scott Wiessinger (center foreground).

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Barbara Mattson