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Posting-frequency: semi-monthly (Wednesday)
Archive-name: astronomy/faq/part1
Version: $Revision: 4.5$
Last-modified: $Date: 2001/02/06 23:49:24$
URL: http://sciastro.astronomy.net/
------------------------------
Subject: Introduction
*sci.astro* is a newsgroup devoted to the discussion of the science of
astronomy. As such its content ranges from the Earth to the farthest
reaches of the Universe.
However, certain questions tend to appear fairly regularly. This document
attempts to summarize answers to these questions.
This document is posted on the first and third Wednesdays of each month to
the newsgroup *sci.astro*. It is available via _anonymous ftp_,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/astronomy/>, and it is
on the World Wide Web at the _sci.astro FAQ site_,
<URL:http://sciastro.astronomy.net/sci.astro.html>, and _Internet FAQ
Archives_, <URL:http://www.faqs.org/faqs/astronomy/faq/>. A partial list
of worldwide _mirrors_, <URL:http://sciastro.astronomy.net/mirrors.html>,
(both ftp and Web) is also available. (As a general note, many other FAQs
are also available from _rtfm.mit.edu_,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/>.)
Questions/comments/flames should be directed to the FAQ maintainer, Joseph
Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net>.
Subject: The Internet and other information sources
[Dates in brackets are last edit.]
1. What are the sci.astro* newsgroups about? [1999-11-04]
2. How do I subscribe to sci.astro*? [1998-02-28]
3. What are the guidelines for posting on astronomy (sci.astro*) newsgroups?
[1996-12-1]
4. What should I do if I see an article that doesn't follow these guidelines?
(What about cranks?) [1997-02-04]
5. Can I get help on my homework from the Net? [1995-07-26]
6. What are good Net sites for astronomy info and images? [2003-01-17]
7. How can I find contact addresses for astronomers/observatories?
[2003-01-17]
8. Which observatories offer tours or public viewing? [1995-09-17]
9. Is there a list of astro jokes? [1999-12-15]
10. What are good books on astronomy (especially for beginners)? [1995-06-27]
11. Are there other sources of information? [1996-01-24]
12. How can I find an astronomy club? [1996-01-24]
13. Where can I find out about public lectures or star parties? [1995-09-17]
Subject: A.01 What are the sci.astro* newsgroups about?
Author: Philippe Brieu <philippeumich.edu>,
Walter I. Nissen Jr. CDP <dk058@cleveland.freenet.edu>,
Steven Willner <swillner@cfa.harvard.edu>
There are eight groups in the *sci.astro* hierarchy:
*sci.astro*
Astronomy discussions and information
*sci.astro.amateur*
Amateur astronomy equipment, techniques, info, etc.
*sci.astro.seti*
The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
*sci.astro.fits*
Issues related to the Flexible Image Transport System
*sci.astro.hubble*
Processing Hubble Space Telescope data. (Moderated)
*sci.astro.planetarium*
Discussion of planetariums
*sci.astro.research*
Forum in astronomy/astrophysics research. (Moderated)
*sci.astro.satellites.visual-observe*
Visual observing of artificial satellites
Each group except *sci.astro* has a charter that defines appropriate
postings. You can get the full charters via _anonymous ftp_,
<URL:ftp://ftp.uu.net/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/sci/>.
By default, everything that is related to astronomy/astrophysics and is
NOT covered by one of the other *sci.astro.** groups is acceptable for
posting in *sci.astro*. If something belongs in one of those groups, then
it does NOT belong in *sci.astro* and should NOT be (cross)posted there.
In particular, this includes all amateur observations, hardware, software,
and trade (see *sci.astro.amateur*).
The *sci.astro* hierarchy is NOT the appropriate forum for metaphysical
discussions. There are other groups for that (e.g.
*alt.paranet.metaphysics*). Neither is it the right group to discuss
astrology (*alt.astrology* is), which has nothing to do with astronomy, or
topics such as creationism (*talk.origins* for that). This is a science
group, not one for religion, sociology, or philosophy (even of science).
In addition, a number of topics related to astrophysics are better suited
for other groups. For instance, elementary particle physics should be
discussed in *sci.physics.particle* (but discussions of astronomical
consequences are welcome in astro groups). Likewise for photons and the
speed of light (*sci.physics*). Finally, all space related issues (e.g.
spacecraft and faster than light/time travel) have a home in the
*sci.space.** hierarchy (but astronomical results from space missions are
welcome).
Subject: A.02 How do I subscribe to *sci.astro**?
Author: Joseph Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net>
(I've answered this question offline enough times that I thought it would
be worthwhile to include it here. The FAQ is distributed widely enough
that people may happen upon it through non-Usenet channels.)
In order to access *sci.astro*, you need an internet service provider
(ISP). This could be a large commercial provider, like AOL or Prodigy in
the U.S., or a more local one (check your phonebook under "Computer
Networks" or "Internet"). If you're enrolled at a college or university in
the U.S. (or overseas?), talk to your computer center; many colleges and
universities are now providing free Internet access to students. If you
don't have an ISP, you'll have to choose one. If you're interested in
reading the *sci.astro* groups, as you search for an ISP, you'll want to
ask the various contenders if they provide access to Usenet and
specifically to the sci. hierarchy. If they don't, or can't tell you,
that's a bad sign.
If you already have an ISP, you'll have to read their documentation or
talk to their tech help. Some ISPs provide Usenet access through a Web
browser (like Mosaic, Netscape, or Internet Explorer), others provide
access through a dedicated news reading program like tin, rn, or GNUS.
There are many different possibilities.
Subject: A.03 What are the guidelines for posting on astronomy (sci.astro*)
newsgroups?
Author: Philippe Brieu <philippeumich.edu>,
Walter I. Nissen Jr. CDP <dk058@cleveland.freenet.edu>,
Steven Willner <swillner@cfa.harvard.edu>
If you will follow this group for a month or so before posting here, you
will greatly reduce the likelihood that you will participate in making the
newsgroup less productive and friendly and then end up regretting it. If
you are new here, it is likely that any question you have has already been
asked. If so, its answer is probably in one of the FAQ files. Check out
the newsgroups *news.answers*, *sci.answers*, and *news.announce.newusers*,
or ask your local help file or administrator to point you toward the FAQs.
Also, please check an Usenet archive like _Google_,
<URL:http://groups.google.com/>, to see if somebody has posted a comment or
query similar to yours recently. If you become really frustrated, pick on
one of the more helpful posters here and send e-mail (not a post) politely
asking for some help. Conversely, if your question is novel and not in a
FAQ, readers will likely be intensely interested in considering it.
Certain topics repeatedly come up and lead to lengthy, loud-mouthed
discussions that never lead anywhere interesting. Often these topics have
extremely little to do with the science of astronomy. Experience also
shows that when messages are cross-posted to other groups, followups very
seldom are appropriate in *sci.astro*. It would also help if you would ask
yourself a few simple questions before posting:
If you do ask a question, please consider writing up the answer for a FAQ
file. New entries to the FAQ are always welcome!
There are also a number of common rules for all newsgroups. The following
types of posts are NOT acceptable (see the newsgroup
*news.announce.newusers* and its FAQs at _rtfm.mit.edu_,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/>, for more
details):
* advertising (other than announcement of availability of products of
direct use to people interested in astronomy without any kind of hype);
* late breaking news (e.g., "CNN just announced that..."), although
questions about recent announcements are acceptable;
* questions answered in the FAQ: always check the appropriate FAQ before
asking a question;
* answers to questions covered by these or other FAQs or posts saying that
the answer is in the FAQ. Instead send email to the poster with a pointer
to the relevant FAQ. If you have a better answer to a FAQ, by all means
contact the maintainer!
* personal messages (e.g. "Looking for..."), especially if it is because
you cannot reach your party by e-mail;
* test messages (there are dedicated groups for that);
* corrections to your own posts (if they are minor and likely to be evident
to the reader), especially if it is just a missing signature;
* "me too" messages: if someone posts a request for something you would
like to get and asks for a reply by e-mail, do NOT post an article to say
you want it too (instead send e-mail to the person who posted the request
and ask to have the information forwarded to you by e-mail).
Also, please try to follow the following USENET guidelines when posting:
* keep your text under 72 columns wide and make sure lines have a newline
character at the end; do not insert any control character; do not use all
upper or all lower cases (mix them);
* post the same message only ONCE (it may not appear immediately on your
news server, but that does not mean that the rest of the world has not
received it yet)---only if your news software tells you it could not post
the article should you try to post it again (but make sure you cancel
previous posts);
* unless you have something to say that is of interest to all/most readers,
reply to the poster by e-mail instead of following up on the group (think
carefully about this);
* keep in mind that private e-mail is copyrighted by law, and that you may
not post it (in whole or in part) without the author's permission;
* before following up, check all other articles in the group for potential
followups that might make what you were going to say useless to say;
* when following up, check the headers (especially newsgroups) and edit
appropriately (especially the subject line if you are changing topics);
* do not quote the entire post you are following up (trim to the minimum
amount of text needed to make your message understood, and eliminate
signatures and useless headers);
* avoid posting the same message to more than one group; crosspost ONLY if
the subject is CLEARLY of EQUAL interest to several groups (check the FAQs
and charters for all groups in the hierarchy to decide where to post);
* never "spam."
Subject: A.04 What should I do if I see an article that doesn't follow
these guidelines? (What about cranks?)
Author: Philippe Brieu <philippeumich.edu>,
Walter I. Nissen Jr. CDP <dk058@cleveland.freenet.edu>,
Steven Willner <swillner@cfa.harvard.edu>
You may come to this newsgroup in search of information and productive
discussion. Others may have different motives. Their posts are often
pretty sophisticated in that they have been designed and tested to be
effective in pushing your hot buttons. And please bear in mind that some
of these people will come into possession of new identities and will post
something that sure looks like it comes from a hapless newbie.
DO *NOT* POST A FOLLOWUP UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!
To reemphasize, you should NOT post anything in response to an
inappropriate post in *sci.astro*. Other readers are probably as annoyed
as you are by that post, and the last thing they/you want is to waste
their/your time/disk space by adding more useless articles and fueling a
useless discussion.
What should you do then? Ignore people you consider crackpots (sometimes
a.k.a. cranks) altogether: do not send them e-mail, do not refer to their
posts or even name in your messages. Just pretend they do not exist and
they will go away! Why? Because attention and an opportunity to argue is
all they are looking for. Ignoring them is the ONLY way to deal with them.
One particularly easy way to ignore people is to use a KILL file. KILL
files allow you to specify that you do not want to see any articles on a
certain topic or by a certain person. If used, they can increase your
enjoyment of sci.astro considerably. The creation and maintenance depends
upon the particular newsreader you use, but you may want to consult the
_KILL file FAQ_, <URL:http://www.faqs.org/faqs/killfile-faq/>, (also
available via _anonymous ftp_,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/>,).
What about *spams*? Spams are the posting of a totally irrelevant (often
commercial) message to several (often many) groups by people who are just
trying to reach as many USENET readers as possible, indiscriminately. They
do not target you personally, but rather all of USENET. The ONLY
appropriate action is to send a message to their news administrator (
usenet or postmaster@their.site) complaining about it and asking for their
account to be closed (be sure to include the full spam message with all
headers). You can send a copy of your message to the posters so that they
end up being "mailbombed" by readers (but do NOT mailbomb them by
yourself!). There is no point in posting to the group because the spammers
do NOT read it anyway!
If the post you read is inappropriate in another way, chances are it is
not intentional. The poster was probably unaware of netiquette or rules
for this particular hierarchy/group. Be understanding: do not flame them
on the group. Instead, tell them politely what to do by private e-mail,
and refer them to this FAQ. Of course, if it is a repeat offender, feel
free to flame, but only by e-mail.
Subject: A.05 Can I get help on my homework from the Net?
Author: Philippe Brieu <philippeumich.edu>,
Steven Willner <swillner@cfa.harvard.edu>
A recurring subject of discussion is the posting of homework problems.
Students should NOT ask readers to solve their homework problems in detail
in this group because they are supposed to do it themselves in the first
place, and readers are unlikely to be sympathetic to a lazy attitude. More
importantly, answers are not guaranteed to be correct (far from that!), and
instead of getting an answer, you may initiate a long and useless
discussion on factors of two. Do not try to disguise homework: long time
readers (there are many) will detect it and you will get flamed!
However, if there is a concept you do not understand in a problem and
would like some guidance or some help getting started (not the solution),
then feel free to ask. Or if you find conflicting sources, it's fine to
ask about that. Basically, think of the net as a group of friends. You
wouldn't ask your friends to do your homework for you, but you might well
ask for help in the circumstances described. Of course it's up to you to
evaluate the answers you get!
Please keep in mind that articles take anywhere from one hour to several
days to propagate to other sites. Therefore, it is hopeless to get an
answer for an assignment you have to turn in the next day, or after the
weekend... USENET is NOT a last minute solution!
Subject: A.06 What are good Net sites for astronomy info and images?
Author: many
This list is an attempt to compile the locations of the biggest sites and
those with extensive cross-references. Please let me know other sites
*that fall into these categories* or *categories not included*. The FAQ
can't list everybody's favorite site, but it should list sites that
cross-reference most people's favorites.
Indices
* AstroWeb: Astronomy/Astrophysics on the Internet [multiple mirror sites]
- _NRAO, US East_, <URL:http://fits.cv.nrao.edu/www/astronomy.html>,
- _STScI, US East_, <URL:http://www.stsci.edu/net-resources.html>,
- _CDS, France_, <URL:http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/astroweb.html>,
- _ESO_, <URL:http://ecf.hq.eso.org/astroweb/yp_astro_resources.html>,
- _ESA, Spain_, <URL:http://www.vilspa.esa.es/astroweb/astronomy.html>,
- _ANU, Australia_, <URL:http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/%7Eanton/astroweb/>,
* _Students for the Exploration and Development of Space_,
<URL:http://www.seds.org/>, (SEDS) (Images, Info, and Software Archive)
- _anonymous ftp_, <URL:ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/>,
- _astroftp (text)_,
<URL:ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/faq/astroftp.txt>, list
- _astroftp (HTML)_,
<URL:ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/faq/astroftp.html>, list
* _Galaxy_, <URL:http://galaxy.einet.net/galaxy/Science/Astronomy.html>,
* _Google Groups_, <URL:http://groups.google.com/>,
Data Archives and Catalogs
* _JPL Solar System Dynamics_, <URL:http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/>,
("information [about] all known bodies in orbit around the Sun.")
* _Centre de Donnees astronomiques de Strasbourg_,
<URL:http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/>, (in English and includes SIMBAD)
* _NSSDC Astrophysics Data_, <URL:http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/>,
(space missions and catalog data)
* _Astronomical Data System_, <URL:http://adswww.harvard.edu/>,
(professional journals, conference proceedings, data)
* APS _Catalog of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey_,
<URL:http://isis.spa.umn.edu/>,
Images & Simulations
* _Astronomy Picture of the Day_,
<URL:http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html>,
* _SkyView_, <URL:http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov>, (digitized images of any
sky coordinates, multi-wavelength)
* _Jet Propulsion Laboratory_, <URL:http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/>, (JPL)
* The Nine Planet _Planetary Picture List_,
<URL:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/picturelist.html>,
* _NASA JSC Digital Image Collection_, <URL:http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/>,
(mostly Earth and spacecraft)
* _U.S. Geological Survey_,
<URL:http://www-pdsimage.wr.usgs.gov/PDS/public/mapmaker/mapmkr.htm>,
* _The Web Nebulae_, <URL:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/twn/>,
* _Messier Database_, <URL:http://www.seds.org/messier/>,
* _Solar System Live_, <URL:http://www.fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html>,
Societies, Institutions, Publishers
* _American Astronomical Society_, <URL:http://www.aas.org/>,
* _Royal Astronomical Society_, <URL:http://www.ras.org.uk/>,
* _American Association of Variable Star Observers_,
<URL:http://www.aavso.org/>,
* _NASA_, <URL:http://www.nasa.gov/>,
* _Space Telescope Electronic Information Service_,
<URL:http://www.stsci.edu/resources/>,
* _Sky and Telescope_, <URL:http://www.skyandtelescope.com/>,
* USGS _Astrogeology Research Program_,
<URL:http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/>,
Related Usenet newsgroups (see also A.01)
* _*sci.physics*_, <URL:news:sci.physics>,: Physical laws, properties, etc.
* _*sci.physics.particle*_, <URL:news:sci.physics.particle>,: Particle
physics discussions
* *sci.space.**: Discussions of space policy, travel, technology, etc.
* *talk.origins*: Discussions of creationism vs. evolution, the Big Bang,
and other science topics
Related FAQs
Many related newsgroups have FAQ's. Most can be obtained by anonymous ftp
from _rtfm.mit.edu_, <URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/>.
FAQ for *sci.physics*
available via _anonymous ftp_,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/>, and on the
Web from various mirrors including _US West Coast mirror_,
<URL:http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/>, _European mirror_,
<URL:http://www.desy.de/user/projects/Physics/>, and _Australia mirror_,
<URL:http://hermes.physics.adelaide.edu.au/%7Edkoks/Faq/>.
FAQ for *sci.space*
available via _anonymous ftp_,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/space/>,
Astro/Space Frequently Seen Acronyms
available via _anonymous ftp_,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/space/>,
FAQ for *sci.astro.planetarium*
available via the _Web_,
<URL:http://www.lochness.com/pltref/sapfaq.html>,
FAQ for *sci.skeptic*
available via _anonymous ftp_,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/>,
FAQ for *talk.origins*
available from the _talkorigins_,
<URL:http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-qa.html>, Web site
FAQ for relativity
_Usenet Relativity FAQ_,
<URL:http://www.weburbia.com/physics/relativity.html>,
FAQ for black holes
_Black Holes FAQ_,
<URL:http://cosmology.berkeley.edu/Education/BHfaq.html>,
FAQ for calendars
_Calendar FAQ_, <URL:http://www.tondering.dk/claus/calendar.html>,
FAQ for supernovae and supernova remnants
_Supernovae and Supernova Remnants FAQ_,
<URL:http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/supernova/>,
Lecture notes, essays, compilations, etc.
* _The Nine Planets_, <URL:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/>,
* Nick Strobel's _Astronomy Notes_, <URL:http://www.astronomynotes.com/>,
* _The Constellations and Their Stars_,
<URL:http://www.astro.wisc.edu/%7Edolan/constellations/>,
* John Baez's _General Relativity Tutorial_,
<URL:http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/gr/gr.html>,
* _The Astronomy Cafe_, <URL:http://www.astronomycafe.net/>,
* _Virtual Trips_, <URL:http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html>,
to black holes and neutron stars
* _Bad Astronomy_, <URL:http://www.badastronomy.com/>,
* _Powers of 10_,
<URL:http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/>,---The
Size of the Universe (interactive Java tutorial)
Subject: A.07 How can I find contact addresses for
astronomers/observatories?
Author: Ralph Martin <ralf@ast.cam.ac.uk>,
Luisa Rebull <rebull@boron.uchicago.edu>,
Joseph Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net>
The first thing to try would be to visit your favorite search engine and
enter the astronomer or observatory's name. Most astronomers and
observatories today have Web sites. Although they may not be
comprehensive, there are two astronomy-oriented Web sites with astronomer
and/or observatory information. They are the _Astronomy Search Engine
(English site)_, <URL:http://star-www.rl.ac.uk/astrolist/astrosearch.html>,
or _Astronomy Search Engine (German site)_,
<URL:http://www.astro.uni-jena.de/Often_used/astrosearch.html>, and the
_Star*s Family of Astronomy_,
<URL:http://vizier.u-strasbg.fr/starsfamily.html>, resources. The latter
is part of the AstroWeb Consortium (see A.06).
Subject: A.08 Which observatories offer tours or public viewing?
Author: Joseph Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net>
Many larger observatories do offer tours. If the observatory of interest
has a Web page, that should provide a way to contact somebody at the
observatory, see the FAQ "What are good Net sites for astronomy info and
images?" and How can I find contact addresses for
astronomers/observatories?.
Subject: A.09 Is there a list of astro jokes?
Of course! Astronomy is not an entirely sirius subject. Rather than try
to explain how many astronomers change light bulbs, please see the _Science
Jokes Collection_, <URL:http://www.xs4all.nl/%7Ejcdverha/scijokes/>, and
Yahoo!'s _science humor_,
<URL:http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Humor/Science/>, entries.
Subject: A.10 What are good books on astronomy (especially for beginners)?
Author: Hartmut Frommert <spider@seds.org>
Observing guides and images
* Kenneth Glyn Jones. _Messier's Nebulae and Star Clusters_. Sky
Publishing 1968, 2nd ed 19XX. 427p. A great handbook and resource!
Contains introduction to historical and astronomical background together
with data, historic and newer descriptions with a finder chart, drawing,
and photo (in appendix) for each object, plus biographical and historical
material on Messier and the other discoverers and early researchers of the
Messier objects.
* John Mallas & Everitt Kreimer. _The Messier Album_. Sky Publishing
1978, 248p. Messier biography (by Owen Gingerich), reprint of Messier's
original catalog (in French), descriptions for each object (but M102) with
finder chart, drawing (from 4") and b/w photo (12 1/2"). Messier object
chart of the Heavens, check list, color photos of some, 248 p.
* Hans Vehrenberg. _Atlas of Deep Sky Splendors_. Vehrenberg+Sky
Publishing 1st ed. 196X, 4th edition 198X, 242p. Original title: _Mein
Messier-Buch (My Messier Book)_. Schmidt photo charts of all Messier and
many other Deep Sky objects, partially color, descriptions, some with
photos from observatories.
* Don Machholz. _Messier Marathon Observer's Guide -- Handbook and Atlas_.
Make Wood Products, P.O.Box 1716, Colfax, CA 95713 (USA). Interesting
stuff on Charles Messier, his comets, his catalog including discussion of
"nebulous" (missing, stellar, and the star cloud) and "add-on" objects, a
catalog, finder charts, plus proposed Marathon.
Subject: A.11 Are there other sources of information?
Author: Hartmut Frommert <spider@seds.org>,
Joseph Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net>
In general, do not underestimate your local library. It likely contains
encyclopediae and other reference sources to answer many questions.
Pictures and/or other astronomical information
*
The Armagh Planetarium
College Hill
Armagh BT61 9DB, Northern Ireland, U.K.
Fax: +44 (0)861 52 6187
*
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
390 Ashton Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94112, USA
e-mail: asp@stars.sfsu.edu (customer correspondence)
Phone: +1 (415) 337 2624, Toll free (U.S. only): 800 335 2624
Fax: +1 (415) 337 5205
*
The Hansen Planetarium
1845 South 300 West,#A
Salt Lake City, Utah 84115, USA
Phone: +1 (801) 483 5400, Toll free (USA only): 800 321 2369
Fax: +1 (801) 483 5484
*
Holiday Film Corporation
P.O.Box 619
12607 E. Philadelphia St.
Whittier, CA 90608, USA
*
List of Great Observatories making Astronomical Photographs publicly
available
Hartmut Frommert
University of Constance
Dept. of Physics
P.O.Box 5560 M 678
D-78464 Konstanz, Germany
Phone: +49 7531-88-3789
E-Mail: spider@seds.org
_http://www.seds.org/%7Espider/obs-ims.txt_, <URL:http://www.seds.org/%7Espider/obs-ims.txt>,_anonymous ftp list_, <URL:ftp://www.seds.org/pub/info/obs-ims.txt>,
Subject: A.12 How can I find an astronomy club?
Author: Joseph Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net>,
Steve Willner <swillner@cfa183.harvard.edu>
There are a few different ways to find astronomy clubs (listed in no
particular order):
* Check Sky & Telescope's annual listing of astronomy clubs and societies.
* Contact a local university or college (if there is one near you). Often
times if there's a department of physics and/or astronomy, somebody within
it may know of a local club.
* Contact local science museums, planetaria, or other similar
organizations.
* Check the AstroWeb listing, see the FAQ "What are good Net sites for
astronomy info and images?"
Subject: A.13 Where can I find out about public lectures or star parties?
Author: Joseph Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net>
Very often public lectures and star parties are hosted by astronomy clubs.
The list of ways to find astronomy clubs, given in the FAQ "How can I find
an astronomy club?", can be exploited to find lectures and parties as well.
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with stars, then every direction you looked would eventually end on
the surface of a star, and the whole sky would be as bright as the
surface of the Sun.
Why would anyone assume this? Certainly, we have directions where we look that are dark because something that does not emit light (is not a star) is between us and the light. A close example is in our own solar system. When we look at the Sun (a star) during a solar eclipse the Moon blocks the light. When we look at the inner planets of our solar system (Mercury and Venus) as they pass between us and the Sun, do we not get the same effect, i.e. in the direction of the planet we see no light from the Sun? Those planets simply look like dark spots on the Sun.
Olbers' paradox seems to assume that only stars exist in the universe, but what about the planets? Aren't there more planets than stars, thus more obstructions to light than sources of light?
What may be more interesting is why can we see certain stars seemingly continuously. Are there no planets or other obstructions between them and us? Or is the twinkle in stars just caused by the movement of obstructions across the path of light between the stars and us? I was always told the twinkle defines a star while the steady light reflected by our planets defines a planet. Is that because the planets of our solar system don't have the obstructions between Earth and them to cause a twinkle effect?
9-14-2024 KP