Here's what you'll find inside:

Mini Stars Kits

• Mini star kits include 3 3D prints (shown below): :
  -Supernova remnant / pulsar Crab Nebula
  -Star system Eta Carina
  -Star formation Pillars of Creation (M16/ Eagle Nebula)

• Audio files with descriptions of each of the 3 3D-printed objects.

• Sonifications for each of the 3 objects.

• A descriptive handout in text and Braille formats.

M16, also called the Pillars of Creation, is a nearby star-forming region. The Pillars, which are sometimes called elephant trunks due to their shape, are an example of the column-like shapes that develop in giant clouds of gas and dust that are the birthplaces of new stars. This 3D model depicts details about the orientation of the Pillars in space, mostly that the Pillars actually consist of several distinct pieces on either side of a star cluster. In this model, note that the relative distance between the pillars is not to scale.

This 3D print of M16 is based on data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope with data from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Listen to the M16/Pillars of Creation audio description

The Crab Nebula is the remnant of a massive stellar explosion, or supernova, that was seen on Earth in 1054 AD. The nebula is about six light years across, or 60 trillion kilometers, and expanding outward at about 3 million miles per hour. At the center of the bright nebula is a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar, that emits pulses of radiation 30 times a second. In this 3D print of the inner region of the nebula you'll notice a ringed disk, which is made up of energized material. Additionally, there is a pair of jets of particles firing off from opposite ends of the pulsar (the pulsar is hidden inside the ringed disk and can’t be felt).

This 3D print of the Crab Nebula is based on X-ray data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Listen to the Crab Nebula audio description

In the middle of the 19th century, the massive binary system Eta Carinae underwent an eruption that ejected at least 10 times the sun's mass and made it the second-brightest star in the sky. As a part of this event, which astronomers call the Great Eruption, the gaseous shell formed a twin-lobed dust-filled cloud known as the Homunculus Nebula, which is now about 10 trillion kilometers long and continues to expand at more than 2.1 million kilometers per hour. This 3D print of the Homunculus Nebula reveals protrusions, trenches, holes and irregularities in the gaseous material.

This 3D print of Eta Carinae is based on data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope with data from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Listen to the Eta Carinae audio description