Browsing the Internet

This will be a brief overview of basics of surfing the internet for astronomy related material. For a more detailed overview, please consult ``Exploring Astrophysics Using the Internet'' by Carol Rawding.

There is an incredible wealth of information on the Internet. We'll only look at a tiny droplet of this vast ocean. First, let's get started by opening the Netscape browser by typing:

% netscape

Once the browser opens, you can explore the following sites:

• Astronomy Picture of the Day- antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod: ``Provides each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe, with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.''

  $\bullet$ Question 10: Locate the archive on this site. How many years does the archive contain? Select an interesting picture and describe it in your own words.

• HEASARC Homepage- guinan.gsfc.nasa.gov: The High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center. This will be the archive we'll be using to study X-ray sources.
• Hubble Space Telescope Public Pictures- oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html: Contains the latest images taken with this satellite in addition to an image database archive.
• Imagine the Universe!- imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/homepage.html: This site contains the important questions (with some answers) about the cosmos, and discusses how astronomers and astrophysicists come to know what they know

  $\bullet$ Question 11: Locate ``Imagine Science'' and describe what you've learned about either X-ray astronomy, X-ray generation or X-ray telescopes. Go to ``Quiz Me!'' to see how much you've learned!

• NASA Homepage- nasa.gov/NASA_homepage.html: ``NASA is deeply committed to spreading the unique knowledge that flows from its aeronautics and space reearch...'' A goldmine of information about NASA and its past present and future missions can be found here.

  $\bullet$ Question 12: Describe three important things you can find on this site.

• Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial- www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog.htm: Probes the questions about the history, present state and future of the universe
• SkyView- skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov/skyview.html:Provides Virtual images of the sky in different wavelength regimes from radio to X-ray.
• Space Telescope Science Institute- marvel.stsci.edu: Contains more information about the Hubble telescope and its images, in addition to