How would it be, to keep ranting about deep space,
blinking stars & expanding universes' without paying kudos' to the
history of astronomy? I found this site which was neatly cataloged &
organized. Go
to the site.
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image
or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief
explanation written by a professional astronomer. Link
to the site.
The Milky Way Galaxy
The Milky Way is the galaxy which homes our Solar
System together with at least 200 billion other stars and their planets,
and thousands of clusters and nebulae including at least almost all objects
of Messier's catalog which are not galaxies on their own (the only possible
exception may be M54 which may belong to SagDEG, a small galaxy which is
currently in a close encounter with the Milky Way, and thus our closest
known intergalactic neighbor). Link
to this site.
Comet Shoemaker-Levy Collision with Jupiter
From July 16 through July 22, 1994, pieces of
an object designated as Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided with Jupiter.
This is the first collision of two solar system bodies ever to be observed,
and the effects of the comet impacts on Jupiter's atmosphere have been
simply spectacular and beyond expectations. Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 consisted
of at least 21 discernible fragments with diameters estimated at up to
2 kilometers. Link to this site.
Superstrings
In the standard model of particle physics, particles are considered as points moving through space, tracing out a line called the World Line. Unfortunately, there are a great number of different fundamental particles, which makes the construction of a unified theory difficult. In String Theory, the myriad of particle types is replaced by a single fundamental loop, a `string'. The original hope was that String Theory would be able to unify all of the known forces and particles together into a single `Theory of Everything'.
The article I read from the Cambridge University
page provide some insight into this much abstruse theory. Besides it contains
a wealth of other interesting information. Go
to this article.
Skywatching Centre
At Earth and Sky, we believe that everyone has a "gene" for astronomy. In a better world, we'd all be able to go into our backyards -- look up to see the wonders of the universe -- and know what we're seeing! With our Tonight's Sky feature, we'll get you started along that path to astronomical enlightenment -- today.
A guide to the night sky for each day. Other than
the night-sky page it has various other astronomy interests that is interesting
material to read. Link
to this site.
Olber's Paradox : Why is the sky dark at night?
If you think the answer to this question is obvious, think again. The best minds of physics have studied this question for over a century, and the current answer may surprise you.
Great site! Go
to this site
Bad Astronomy
Wrong notions, incorrect 'facts', Armageddon & Deep Impacts don't really make good astronomy. Do you think? Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy is an eye-opener seeking to right the wrongs. I think the best way to imbibe science is to relate it to our everyday banter & news. You can't go past this webpage without paying it's due respects and having a hearty laugh about the foolishness around us all. At the end of it however you must be wiser as much as you had fun!
Astronomy Interactive Network
The opening page is a test
of patience as it loads. Grrrhhh! Once you are inside, it's sheer majic
- it's got an array of content, very very neatly organized. It's difficult
to get over my excitement and sound appropriate. It's kinda customizable
- you chooses the reason for your visit vis-a-vis fun, educational, reference,
etc. and the web page tells you exactly what you will find interesting
in the page. Cool, uh? The page has a glossary where you will find several
abstruse words and their explanations. Link
to this site.
Ask the astronomer
I have this itchy feeling
visiting any site with a dark background - very gloomy. However as much
as the sky is bright, it's the dark sky we all find interesting - atleast
most astronomers do - and model their websites as well with a dark background.
Here, Dr. Odenwald answers the 3001 questions he received thus far. Listed
according to subjects, find all the answers you need. Ask
the Astronomer!
Astronomy & Astrophysics at NSSDC
"NSSDC is a partner of the Astrophysics Data Facility, within Goddard's Space Science Data Operations Office, in bringing public data and services to the NASA and more general astronomy communities. Astronomy and astrophysics at a occupy a significant portion of NSSDC's archives. Much of NSSDC's most popular NASA astronomy and astrophysics data is accessible electronically through NSSDC's near-line data system (NDADS). In addition to actual spaceflight mission data, NSSDC archives hundreds of astronomical catalogs, many of which are accessible electronically, through the Astronomical Data Center. NSSDC also archives and distributes over 500 CD-ROMs, of which approximately 1/3 hold astronomy and astrophysics data. Those interested in reading about data available from, and other aspects of, currently important NASA astronomy and astrophysics missions should browse through the Flight Projects page."
Straight out of NSSDC front
page, I couldn't think of a better way to explain what you may find at
this page. Well, you are wise. Link to this site.
The Image/Poetry K12 Space Science
It's another site by our
"Ask the Astronomer" Dr. Odenwald. I was into reading an off-beat article
called "An annotated anatomy of a research paper in Astronomy" and
that's what
I am going to link here. At the end of this page however there is
a link to the Image/Poetry Space Science. It was very colorful but I did
not read much. If you find it interesting tell me and I can read up!
Absolute beginner's Astronomy page
Oh well! It's another one of those dark background, yellow/blue font disasters. If you are looking to get a telescope and are looking for some advice there are a lot of sites that offer you that. This is one such. I found it appealing due to the forthrightness and simple tone, but never losing sight of the basic facts. May be you can ask the web administrator there to save your eye the trouble.
Cosmos - Enhanced Version
Okay! The site is called
Cosmos - A search for life. Ever been told "Get a Life!" That's what the
title reminded me, and I thought it would be better if we had an enhanced
version of the cosmos itself. Cutting the crap, the site was delightful
expecially in the Galactapedium (glossary) and a Quiz to match. Does not
harm to visit the page. Get a Life!
More interesting information will be posted on this page. And if anyone has read an article that's interesting & providing a better insight to the myriad things in outer space, I will be very glad to hear from you.