Introduction to Astronomy
ASTR 100 - Fall 2011

Useful Links

• A few notes on the Scientific Method
  • A few necessary assumptions
  • The scientific method
  • The principle of doubt
  • Definition of terms frequently misused in the vernacular.
  • Competing Cosmologies: Geocentric and Heliocentric cosmologies compared and contrasted.

• Ask an astronomer; searchable archive of questions answered by astronomers.
• Astronomy Picture of the Day. This site is updated daily and has a nice archive of pretty astronomy images.
• The Virtual Fossil Museum.
• The time tree of life site, where you can determine how long ago any two species diverged.
• Compelling astronomy related movie featuring the University of Maryland's CARMA array of mm-wave telescopes.
• The Milky Way over Australia. Note that the central bulge of the Milky Way casts a shadow from the two rocks in the water.
• H.S. in epicycles: why simple theories are preferred to complicated ones.
• What's up in the sky? Follow the observing link at Sky & Telescope
• Computerized version of Powers of Ten
• Galileo's leaning tower of Pisa experiment - on the moon: Apollo 15
• Map of the Universe on a logarithmic scale to show it "all."
• Interactive scale of the universe courtesy of Liz Robinson.
• Space games link courtesy of Katie Hylton.
• Astronomy resources for kids courtesy of Amanda from York County, Maine.
• Space games for kids courtesy of Zane Robertson
• Discussion of equinoxes and solstices courtesy of Emma T. from the Bay Minette Girl Scout Troop in Alabama
• Artificial Satellites
  • Predictions for artificial satellites, including
  • Satellite forecasts specific to College Park.
• Computer Programs for use in ASTR100.
  • Astronomical Programs specifically created for this course by Prof. Hamilton. Build your own solar systems, learn about astronomical distances and giant impacts, practice scientific notation and working with equations, and more!
  • JavaLab for the curious. Collide or cannibalize your own galaxies, explore the expansion history of the cosmos, and more!
• Good discussion of the empirical evidence for global warming.

• Build the solar system to any scale you like, compared to any Google map.
• Current Mars Rover missions: Spirit & Opportunity.
• Welcome to the Planets Information about planets and spaceprobes from JPL.
• Deep Impact: Maryland Astronomy's NASA mission to crash into a comet.
• Comet Crash pictures and movies.
• Spacewatch This page contains information about this program which searches for near Earth objects.
• Extrasolar Planets Astronomers have discovered planets around other stars. The list lengthens all the time!

• Light and the Electromagnetic Spectrum Good information about light.
• The Stellar Spectral Sequence. The colors and spectra of stars.
• The 88 Constellations. Suggested by Denise Goodwin's girls' STEM club.
• Pulsars Hear them tick!
• Videos of compact objects, including the expected appearance of things in the vicinity of black holes.
• Answers to questions about black holes
• Introduction to neutron stars

GALAXIES

• Galaxy appearance and classification.
• Movie of stars orbiting the four million solar mass black hole at the center of the Milky Way (credit: Reinhard Genzel et al., Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik)
• Merging Galaxies - Josh Barnes's pedagogical sequence: initial conditions | merger | snapshot of merger in progress.
• The Really Cool Merger Simulation which appeared in the IMAX film Cosmic Voyage (courtesy of Chris Mihos).
• Recent simulation of the formation of a Milky Way like galaxy.