ASTR 330: Solar System Astronomy

Web Sites Found by Students, Fall 1997

As assignment number two, all students were expected to find a USEFUL web site relevant to the course, i.e., a web site containing information about planetary science and our solar system and which is reasonably authoritative. Here is a list of many of the sites on which students wrote reports, although I have deleted some duplications (lower level pages, mirror sites, etc.) and some that I thought not relevant to this specific course.

The next step is for each student to scan fairly quickly through all the links below and vote. Which link is the most useful for you, as an alumnus of ASTR 330, in getting new information about topics covered in the course? You can send your vote to me via email. You also have the option of replacing one of the monthly reports on popular articles in the newspaper, with a report on your evaluation of these web sites. The basis of evaluation should be whether it would be useful to you, as an alumnus/a of ASTR 330, to look at this site in the future (after you finish the course) to get updated information about subjects covered in the course or to find out details beyond what you needed for the course. You should compare the site you have chosen with other sites from the list. I would prefer to have this assignment handed in on paper, rather than submitted electronically.

General Planetary Science

An overview of planetary science developed by SEDS and maintained at several mirror sites around the world. Try the U.S. site of The Nine Planets.
You might also want to look at the pages of the SEDS chapter at the Lunar and Planetary Lab of the University of Arizona.
The National Space Science Data Center provides an overview of all planetary data collected by NSSDC (as well as astrophysics and space physics data), with a mixture of research-level and public information. Here is their Entry Page.
Another good introductory site is that of the Planetary Society.
Basic parameters of the planets and a selection of pretty pictures were available at U. Penn but this site seems to have vanished in 1999.
A mixture of basic tutorial information (below the level of this course) and relatively recent research was available at NASA Marshall SFC. This site seems to have moved in 1999 but they provide you a way to try to search for the page you want.

Meteors and Meteorites

A part of a much larger set of pages titled The Nine Planets, this page, not obvious from that title, is about Meteors and Meteorites.

Comets and Asteroids

The Lunar and Planetary Lab of the U. of Arizona has many pages about aspects of planetary science. One relevant page describes the Bigelow Sky Survey.
Not any more! The magazine Sky and Telescope maintains a set of web pages covering a variety of topics but they have some particularly good information available about Comet Hale-Bopp.
Not any more! The International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) predicts the occurence of occultations and organizes campaigs to observe them. This page is aimed primarily at enthusiastic amateurs and discusses some lunar occultations but primarily asteroidal occultations. This has moved in 1999 but they will give you the new link.

Mars

Information about Mars Pathfinder is available at the NSSDC but this is a synthesis of information also available more directly from the project itself at JPL.

Galileo

The obvious source for information about Galileo is the home page maintained by the mission staff for the entry probe located at NASA Ames and the one maintained by the flight project at JPL.. The NASA Ames web site has moved in 1999.

Cassini

You can, with a little looking, find out the status of the launch of Cassini on the mission"s set of pages. Here you can find the overall description of the Mission. This entry point is in what I would call the public tutorial area and has real information (although a bit out of date regarding the launch date as of 10/13) but you might find it more convenient to enter those web pages at one level higher, where there is only a top-level index (and which is also up to date regarding the launch).

Others

A broad coverage of all kinds of science is available at the Science Daily.

Get Back

To M. F. A'Hearn's home page.
To Departmental Courses page.

Created: 97/10/14, mfa
Last updated: 97/10/14, mfa;