PHY 110: Astronomy and Cosmology

Stars and Galaxies

Fall 2008

Prof. Matilsky's Website • Astronomy at Rutgers • Department of Physics & Astronomy • Rutgers University

Last updated September 1, 2008

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Public Observing

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General Astronomy	Websites on the Sky	Exploration of the Solar System	"Life on Mars"
Comets, Meteors and Impacts	Astronomical Observatories	History of Astronomy	Planets Around Other Stars
The Sun	Thinking Skeptically	Global Warming

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The following list is just a sampling of the multitude of websites that deal with the solar system, astronomy and cosmology.

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1. General Astronomy

• Views of the Solar System Images and information about the solar system.
• Sky and Telescope Magazine Terrific sections on what's in the sky, astronomical news, comets, and asteroids.
• Astronomy Magazine The website of another excellent magazine.
• AstroWeb Nice collection of pointers to Astronomy/Astrophysics sites.
• American Astronomical Society Homepage of the major professional organization in North America for astronomers, and other scientists and individuals interested in astronomy.
• Astronomy Picture of the Day Submitted astronomy pictures and images. Updated daily.

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2.  Websites on the Sky

• Antonio Cidadão's Time-lapse Animations A collection of very nice animations of objects in the sky (the stars, moon, planets, etc.) done by an amateur astronomer.
• Earth and Moon Viewer Various views of the Earth and Moon

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3. Exploration of the Solar System

• Welcome to the Planets Images from NASA's planetary exploration program. Objects and spacecraft.
• Near Earth Asteroid Rendevous Mission This spacecraft touched down on the asteriod Eros.
• Mars Pathfinder Fantasically successful Mars lander from the summer of 1997.
• Galileo Home Page Spacecraft that visited Jupiter, sending back many pictures.
• Lunar Prospector Homepage Spacecraft that orbited the Moon and mapped the composition of the surface.
• SEDS Homepage of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space.
• Mars Exploration Rover Mission Homepage of the NASA mission which put two rovers on the surface of Mars in 2004.
• Mars Express European Space Agency (ESA) mission to Mars. Arrived at Mars on December 25, 2003.
• Cassini-Huygens Homepage of the NASA spacecraft (currently en route) to orbit Saturn and drop a lander onto the surface of its largest moon, Titan. Arrival at Saturn was July 2004.

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4. "Life on Mars"

• 'Mars Meteorite's' Link to Life Questioned Recent review of the evidence for and against the notion that the Martian meteorite, ALH 84001, contains microfossils.
• ALH 84001 Magnetite Another report on the same infamous rock.

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5.  Comets, Meteors and Impacts

• Minor Planet Center The official website of the Center sanctioned by the International Astronomical Union to keep track of the discovery and observation of asteroids and comets.
• The Spacewatch Project Describes the most prolific of the current programs for finding near-Earth asteroids.
• Solar System Collisions Interesting web-based program to illustrate the effects of comet/asteriod collisions.
• Asteriods and Tsunamis Well written Space.Com article.
• Asteroid Impact Tied to Rise of Dinosaurs Another Space.Com article, this one reporting on some research on the fossil record done by Prof. Dennis Kent, of Rutgers.

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6.  Astronomical Observatories

• National Optical Astronomy Observatories The US national optical observatories.
• Hubble Space Telescope Many HST images and press releases.
• Chandra X-Ray Observatory The X-ray version of the Hubble Space Telescope, a Great Observatory in its own right.
• W.M. Keck Observatory Twin 10m optical telescopes in Hawaii
• Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) An 11m optical telescope, currently under construction in Sutherland, South Africa. Rutgers is one of the institutions that is building this telescope, scheduled to begin operations in 2004. When completed, it will be the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere.

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7.  History of Astronomy

Read the biographies of the following Astronomers in the History of Mathematics.

Eudoxus

Aristarchus

Eratosthenes

Hipparchus

Claudius Ptolemy

Nicolaus Copernicus

Johannes Kepler

Tycho Brahe

Galileo Galilei

Isaac Newton

Albert Einstein

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8.  Planets Around Other Stars

• Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia Up-to-date summary of information on extrasolar planets.
• California and Carnegie Planet Search Website describing Geoff Marcy and Paul Butler's fabulously successful program to find and study extrasolar planets using a Doppler shift technique.
• STARE A groundbased program searching for planetary transits.
• Terrestrial Planet Finder The Grand Daddy of all NASA projects: a spacecraft that could take spectra of terrestrial planets around other stars.
• First Direct Measurements of an Exoplanet Atmosphere Press release from the Space Telescope Science Institute describing the first direct detection of the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a star outside our solar system. Nice animation.

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9.  The Sun

• SOHO: The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory A satellite dedicated to observing the sun. Many interesting pictures and movies of solar activity.
• GONG: Global Oscillation Network Group A group of six telescopes around the world that observe the Sun for the purpose of doing helioseismology.

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10.  Thinking Skeptically

• Skeptical Studies in Astrology Article published in Nature that shows, once and for all, that astrologers have no ability to predict the course of a person's life.
• James Randi Education Foundation An educational resource on the paranormal, the pseudoscientific and the supernatural.
• The Committee for the Scientific Examination of Claims of the Paranormal Website for the committee which publishes the Skeptical Inquirer
• Skeptic.Com An organization with the mission "to serve as an educational tool for those seeking clarification and viewpoints on those controversial ideas and claims".
• Unmasking the Face on Mars A higher resolution look at the infamous "face".

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11.  Global Warming

• EPA Global Warming Site Website about global warming run by the Environmental Protection Agency.
• Union of Concerned Scientists Homepage of a not-for-profit organization that collects and analyses data on the evolution of our environment.
• A Closer Look at Global Warming A critical look at the issue of global warming from the National Academy of Science.
• Physics Applets Some excellent (and fun) applets related to the Greenhouse Effect, Weather, Global Warming, and Population Growth.

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