Frequently Asked Questions for sci.astro [Astronomy] (original) (raw)

Frequently Asked Questions in Astronomy

Introduction

sci.astro is a newsgroup devoted to the discussion of all aspects 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 (the FAQ) attempts to summarize answers to these questions.

Table of Contents

Introduction to sci.astro

Expanded Table of Contents

  1. The Internet and Other Information Sources
  2. General Information
  3. Time, Calendars, and Terrestrial Phenomena
  4. Astrophysics
  5. Sun, Moon, and Planets
  6. Extraterrestrial Life
  7. Stars
  8. Galaxies, Clusters, and Quasars
  9. Cosmology (this section of the FAQ is derived from Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial and the associated discussion of the errors in alternative cosmologies)

Comments and questions, as well as volunteers to write additional sections(!), are always welcome.

Mirrors

I maintain a partial list of mirrors,both ftp and Web ones. Typical file sizes are 20--50 kB. If you're from overseas or having problems accessing this site, you may want to try one of these.

Awards

SmartComputing Top Site Journey through your universe at astronomylinks.com

Universe Today---Space news from around the Internet, updated every weekday

Credit

Much thanks is due Steve Willner who started the entire process of producing an FAQ for sci.astro.

Thanks to astronomy.net for hosting the FAQ.

The images at the top of this document show the sky at the extremes of the electromagnetic spectrum. On the left is the gamma-ray sky (< 100 MeV; EGRET); on the right is the radio (408 MHz; Jodrell Bank, Effelsberg and Parkes). Almost all of our information about the Universe comes to us from electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between these two extremes. The images were obtained from SkyView.

This document, as a collection, is Copyright 1995--2000 by T. Joseph W. Lazio <jlazio@patriot.net>. The individual articles are copyright by the individual authors listed. All rights are reserved. Permission to use, copy and distribute this unmodified document by any means and for any purpose except profit purposes is hereby granted, provided that both the above Copyright notice and this permission notice appear in all copies of the FAQ itself. Reproducing this FAQ by any means, included, but not limited to, printing, copying existing prints, publishing by electronic or other means, implies full agreement to the above non-profit-use clause, unless upon prior written permission of the authors.

This FAQ is provided by the authors "as is," with all its faults. Any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, any implied warranties of merchantability, accuracy, or fitness for any particular purpose, are disclaimed. If you use the information in this document, in any way, you do so at your own risk.

T. Joseph W. Lazio
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