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From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: sci.astro,sci.astro.seti
Subject: [sci.astro] Resources (Astronomy Frequently Asked Questions) (1/9)
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Summary: This posting addresses frequently asked questions about        astronomy resources, both on- and off-line.
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Archive-name: astronomy/faq/part1
Last-modified: $Date: 1999/11/04 01:57:00 $
Version: $Revision: 3.4 $
URL: http://sciastro.astronomy.net/

------------------------------

Subject: Introduction

sci.astro is a newsgroup devoted to the discussion of the science 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 attempts to summarize answers to these questions.

This document is posted on the first and third Wednesdays of each
month to the newsgroup sci.astro.  It is available via anonymous ftp
from <URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/astronomy/faq/>,
and it is on the World Wide Web at
<URL:http://sciastro.astronomy.net/> and
<URL:http://www.faqs.org/faqs/astronomy/faq/>.  A partial list of
worldwide mirrors (both ftp and Web) is maintained at
<URL:http://sciastro.astronomy.net/mirrors.html>.  (As a general note,
many other FAQs are also available from
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/>.)

Questions/comments/flames should be directed to the FAQ maintainer,
Joseph Lazio ([email protected]).

------------------------------

Subject: Copyright

This document, as a collection, is Copyright 1995--2000 by T. Joseph
W. Lazio ([email protected]).  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.

------------------------------

Subject: A.00 The Internet and other information sources

[Dates in brackets are last edit.]

   A.01 What are the sci.astro* newsgroups about? [99-11-03]
   A.02 How do I subscribe to sci.astro*? [98-02-28]
   A.03 What are the guidelines for posting on astronomy (sci.astro*)
        newsgroups? [98-08-05]
   A.04 What should I do if I see an article that doesn't follow
        these guidelines?  (What about cranks?) [97-02-03]
   A.05 Can I get help on my homework from the Net? [95-07-26]
   A.06 What are good Net sites for astronomy info and
        images? [00-01-01]
   A.07 How can I find contact addresses for
        astronomers/observatories? [96-12-04]
   A.08 Which observatories offer tours or public viewing? [95-09-17]
   A.09 Is there a list of astro jokes? [99-12-15]
   A.10 What are good books on astronomy (especially for beginners)?
        [95-06-27]
   A.11 Are there other sources of information? [96-01-24]
   A.12 How can I find an astronomy club? [96-01-24]
   A.13 Where can I find out about public lectures or star parties? [95-09-17]


------------------------------

Subject: A.01 What are the sci.astro* newsgroups about?
Author: Philippe Brieu <philippeumich.edu>,
       Walter I. Nissen, Jr. CDP <[email protected]>,
       Steven Willner <[email protected]>

There are eight groups in the sci.astro hierarchy:

sci.astro               Astronomy discussions and information.
sci.astro.amateur       Amateur astronomy equipment, techniques, info,
                       etc.
sci.astro.seti          The Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI)
sci.astro.fits          Issues related to the Flexible Image Transport System.
sci.astro.hubble        Processing Hubble Space Telescope data. (Moderated)
sci.astro.planetarium   Discussion of planetaria.
sci.astro.research      Forum in astronomy/astrophysics research. (Moderated)
sci.astro.satellites.visual-observe
                       Visual observing of artificial satellites

Each group except sci.astro has a charter that defines appropriate
postings.  You can get the full charters via anonymous ftp from
ftp.uu.net in "/pub/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/sci/sci.astro.*".

By default, everything that is related to astronomy/astrophysics and
is NOT covered by one of the other sci.astro.* groups is acceptable
for posting in sci.astro.  If something belongs in one of those
groups, then it does NOT belong in sci.astro and should NOT be
(cross)posted there.  In particular, this includes all amateur
observations, hardware, software, and trade (see sci.astro.amateur).

The sci.astro hierarchy is NOT the appropriate forum for metaphysical
discussions.  There are other groups for that (e.g. alt.paranet.
metaphysics).  Neither is it the right group to discuss astrology
(alt.astrology is), which has nothing to do with astronomy, or topics
such as creationism (talk.origins for that).  This is a science group,
not one for religion, sociology, or philosophy (even of science).

In addition, a number of topics related to astrophysics are better
suited for other groups.  For instance, elementary particle physics
should be discussed in sci.physics.particle (but discussions of
astronomical consequences are welcome in astro groups).  Likewise for
photons and the speed of light (sci.physics).  Finally, all space
related issues (e.g. spacecraft and faster than light/time travel) have
a home in the sci.space.* hierarchy (but astronomical results from space
missions are welcome).

------------------------------

Subject:  A.02 How do I subscribe to sci.astro*?
Author: Joseph Lazio <[email protected]>

(I've answered this question offline enough times that I thought it
would be worthwhile to include it here.  The FAQ is distributed widely
enough that people may happen upon it through non-Usenet channels.)

In order to access sci.astro, you need an internet service provider
(ISP).  This could be a large commercial provider, like AOL or Prodigy
in the U.S., or a more local one (check your phonebook under "Computer
Networks" or "Internet").  If you're enrolled at a college or
university in the U.S. (or overseas?), talk to your computer center;
many colleges and universities are now providing free Internet access
to students.  If you don't have an ISP, you'll have to choose one.  If
you're interested in reading the sci.astro groups, as you search for
an ISP, you'll want to ask the various contenders if they provide
access to Usenet and specifically to the sci. hierarchy.  If they
don't, or can't tell you, that's a bad sign.

If you already have an ISP, you'll have to read their documentation
or talk to their tech help.  Some ISPs provide Usenet access through a
Web browser (like Mosaic, Netscape, or Internet Explorer), others
provide access through a dedicated news reading program like tin, rn,
or GNUS.  There are many different possibilities.

------------------------------

Subject: A.03 What are the guidelines for posting on astronomy
       (sci.astro*) newsgroups?
Author: Philippe Brieu <philippeumich.edu>,
       Walter I. Nissen, Jr. CDP <[email protected]>,
       Steven Willner <[email protected]>

If you will follow this group for a month or so before posting here,
you will greatly reduce the likelihood that you will participate in
making the newsgroup less productive and friendly and then end up
regretting it.  If you are new here, it is likely that any question
you have has already been asked.  If so, its answer is probably in one
of the FAQ files.  Check out the newsgroups news.answers, sci.answers,
and news.announce.newusers, or ask your local help file or
administrator to point you toward the FAQs.  Also, please check an
Usenet archive like DejaNews, <URL:http://www.dejanews.com/>, to see
if somebody has posted a comment or query similar to yours recently.
If you become really frustrated, pick on one of the more helpful
posters here and send e-mail (not a post) politely asking for some
help.  Conversely, if your question is novel and not in a FAQ, readers
will likely be intensely interested in considering it.

Certain topics repeatedly come up and lead to lengthy, loud-mouthed
discussions that never lead anywhere interesting.  Often these topics
have extremely little to do with the science of astronomy.  Experience
also shows that when messages are cross-posted to other groups,
followups very seldom are appropriate in sci.astro.  It would also help
if you would ask yourself a few simple questions before posting:

       Is this post about the science of astronomy?  Will many of
       the thousands and thousands of readers here, people
       interested in the science of astronomy, find it of personal
       benefit?  Is it unique or has something similar been posted
       recently?

If you do ask a question, please consider writing up the answer for a
FAQ file.  New entries to the FAQ are always welcome!

Moreover, there are a number of common rules for all newsgroups.  The
following types of posts are NOT acceptable (see the newsgroup
news.announce.newusers and its FAQs,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.announce.newusers/> for more
details):

- advertising (other than announcement of availability of products of
 direct use to people interested in astronomy without any kind of hype);

- late breaking news (e.g., "CNN just announced that..."), although
 questions about recent announcements are acceptable;

- questions answered in the FAQ: always check the appropriate FAQ
 before asking a question;

- answers to questions covered by these or other FAQ's or posts
 saying that the answer is in the FAQ.  Instead send email to the
 poster with a pointer to the relevant FAQ.  If you have a better
 answer to a FAQ, by all means contact the maintainer!

- personal messages (e.g., "Looking for..."), especially if it is because
 you cannot reach your party by e-mail;

- test messages (there are dedicated groups for that);

- corrections to your own posts (if they are minor and likely to be
 evident to the reader), especially if it is just a missing signature;

- "me too" messages: if someone posts a request for something you would like
 to get and asks for a reply by e-mail, do NOT post an article to say you
 want it too (instead send e-mail to the person who posted the request and
 ask to have the information forwarded to you by e-mail).

Also, please try to follow the following USENET guidelines when posting:

- keep your text under 72 columns wide and make sure lines have a newline
 character at the end; do not insert any control character; do not use
 all upper or all lower cases (mix them);

- post the same message only ONCE (it may not appear immediately on your
 news server, but that does not mean that the rest of the world has not
 received it yet)---only if your news software tells you it could not
 post the article should you try to post it again (but make sure you
 cancel previous posts);

- unless you have something to say that is of interest to all/most readers,
 reply to the poster by e-mail instead of following up on the group (think
 carefully about this);

- keep in mind that private e-mail is copyrighted by law, and that you may
 not post it (in whole or in part) without the author's permission;

- before following up, check all other articles in the group for potential
 followups that might make what you were going to say useless to say;

- when following up, check the headers (especially newsgroups) and edit
 appropriately (especially the subject line if you are changing topics);

- do not quote the entire post you are following up (trim to the minimum
 amount of text needed to make your message understood, and eliminate
 signatures and useless headers);

- avoid posting the same message to more than one group; crosspost ONLY if
 the subject is CLEARLY of EQUAL interest to several groups (check the FAQs
 and charters for all groups in the hierarchy to decide where to post);

- never "spam."

------------------------------

Subject: A.04 What should I do if I see an article that doesn't follow
       these guidelines?  (What about cranks?)
Author: Philippe Brieu <philippeumich.edu>,
       Walter I. Nissen, Jr. CDP <[email protected]>,
       Steven Willner <[email protected]>

You may come to this newsgroup in search of information and productive
discussion.  Others may have different motives.  Their posts are often
pretty sophisticated in that they have been designed and tested to be
effective in pushing your hot buttons.  And please bear in mind that
some of these people will come into possession of new identities and will
post something that sure looks like it comes from a hapless newbie.

>>> DO *NOT* POST A FOLLOWUP UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. <<<

To reemphasize, you should NOT post anything in response to an
inappropriate post in sci.astro.  Other readers are probably as
annoyed as you are by that post, and the last thing they/you want is
to waste their/your time/disk space by adding more useless articles
and fueling a useless discussion.

What should you do then?  Ignore people you consider crackpots
(sometimes a.k.a. cranks) altogether: do not send them e-mail, do not
refer to their posts or even name in your messages.  Just pretend they
do not exist and they will go away!  Why?  Because attention and an
opportunity to argue is all they are looking for.  Ignoring them is the
ONLY way to deal with them.

One particularly easy way to ignore people is to use a KILL file.
KILL files allow you to specify that you do not want to see any
articles on a certain topic or by a certain person.  If used, they can
increase your enjoyment of sci.astro considerably.  The creation and
maintenance depends upon the particular newsreader you use, but you
may want to consult the KILL file FAQ,
<URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/killfile-faq>
or <URL:
http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/killfile-faq/faq.html>.

What about spams?  Spams are the posting of a totally irrelevant
(often commercial) message to several (often many) groups by people
who are just trying to reach as many USENET readers as possible,
indiscriminately.  They do not target you personally, but rather all
of USENET.  The ONLY appropriate action is to send a message to their
news administrator (usenet or postmaster @ their.site) complaining
about it and asking for their account to be closed (be sure to
include the full spam message with all headers).  You can send a copy
of your message to the posters so that they end up being "mailbombed"
by readers (but do NOT mailbomb them by yourself!)  There is no point
in posting to the group because the spammers do NOT read it anyway!

If the post you read is inappropriate in another way, chances are it
is not intentional.  The poster was probably unaware of netiquette or
rules for this particular hierarchy/group.  Be understanding: do not
flame them on the group.  Instead, tell them politely what to do by
private e-mail, and refer them to this FAQ.  Of course, if it is a
repeat offender, feel free to flame, but only by e-mail.

------------------------------

Subject: A.05 Can I get help on my homework from the Net?
Author: Philippe Brieu <philippeumich.edu>,
       Steven Willner <[email protected]>

A recurring subject of discussion is the posting of homework
problems.  Students should NOT ask readers to solve their homework
problems in detail in this group because they are supposed to do it
themselves in the first place, and readers are unlikely to be
sympathetic to a lazy attitude.  More importantly, answers are not
guaranteed to be correct (far from that!), and instead of getting an
answer, you may initiate a long and useless discussion on factors of
two.  Do not try to disguise homework: long time readers (there are
many) will detect it and you will get flamed!

However, if there is a concept you do not understand in a problem and
would like some guidance or some help getting started (not the
solution), then feel free to ask.  Or if you find conflicting
sources, it's fine to ask about that.  Basically, think of the net as
a group of friends.  You wouldn't ask your friends to do your
homework for you, but you might well ask for help in the
circumstances described.  Of course it's up to you to evaluate the
answers you get!

Please keep in mind that articles take anywhere from one hour to several
days to propagate to other sites.  Therefore, it is hopeless to get an
answer for an assignment you have to turn in the next day, or after the
weekend...  USENET is NOT a last minute solution!

------------------------------

Subject: A.06 What are good Net sites for astronomy info and images?

This list is an attempt to compile the locations of the biggest sites
and those with extensive cross-references. Please let me know other
sites that fall into these categories or categories not included. The
FAQ can't list everybody's favorite site, but it should list sites
that cross-reference most people's favorites.

Indices

  AstroWeb: Astronomy/Astrophysics on the Internet
     [these are mirror sites]
     <URL:http://fits.cv.nrao.edu/www/astronomy.html>
     <URL:http://www.stsci.edu/net-resources.html>
     <URL:http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/astroweb.html>
     <URL:http://ecf.hq.eso.org/astroweb/yp_astro_resources.html>
     <URL:http://www.vilspa.esa.es/astroweb/astronomy.html>
     <URL:
     http://www.w3.org/hypertext/DataSources/bySubject/astro/>
     <URL:http://msowww.anu.edu.au/~anton/astroweb/>

  Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS)
     (Images, Info, and Software Archive)
     <URL:http://www.seds.org/>
     <URL:ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/>
     <URL:ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/faq/astroftp.txt>
     <URL:ftp://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/faq/astroftp.html>

  Galaxy
     <URL:http://galaxy.einet.net/galaxy/Science/Astronomy.html>

  Deja News
     <URL:http://www.dejanews.com/>

Data Archives and Catalogs

  JPL Solar System Dynamics ("information [about] all known bodies in
     orbit around the Sun.")
     <URL:http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/>

  Astronomical Data Center Strasbourg (includes SIMBAD)
     <URL:http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/>

  NSSDC Astrophysics Data (space missions and catalog data)
     <URL:http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/astro/astro_home.html>

  Astronomical Data System (professional journals, conference
     proceedings, data)
     <URL:http://adswww.harvard.edu/>

  APS Catalog of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey
     <URL:http://isis.spa.umn.edu/>

Images & Simulations

  Astronomy Picture of the Day
     <URL:http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html>

  SkyView (digitized images of any sky coordinates, multi-wavelength)
     <URL:http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov>

  JPL image/information archives (planetary and other images)
     <URL:http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures>
     <URL:http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/information>

  Planetary Picture List
     <URL:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/picturelist.html>

  NASA JSC Digital Image Collection (mostly Earth and spacecraft)
     <URL:http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/html/home.htm>

  U.S. Geological Survey
     <URL:
     http://www-pdsimage.wr.usgs.gov/PDS/public/mapmaker/mapmkr.htm>

  The Web Nebulae
     <URL:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/twn/>


     <URL:ftp://phobos.sscl.uwo.ca/pub/Space>

  Messier Database
     <URL:http://www.seds.org/messier/>

  Solar System Live
     <URL:http://www.fourmilab.ch/solar/solar.html>

Societies, Institutions, Publishers

  NASA Information Services
     <URL:http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/NASA_homepage.html>

  Space Telescope Electronic Information Service
     <URL:http://www.stsci.edu/top.html>

  American Astronomical Society
     <URL:http://www.aas.org/>

  Royal Astronomical Society
     <URL:http://www.ras.org.uk/ras/>

  American Association of Variable Star Observers
     <URL:http://www.aavso.org/>

  Sky & Telescope
     <URL:http://www.skypub.com/>

  U.S. Geological Survey
     <URL:http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/USGSFlag/Space/>

Related Usenet newsgroups (see also A.01)

  Physical laws, properties, etc.
     <URL:news:sci.physics>

  Particle physics discussions
     <URL:news:sci.physics.particle>

  Discussions of space policy, travel, technology, etc.
     <URL:news:sci.space.*>

Related FAQs

  Many related newsgroups have FAQ's. Most can be obtained by ftp
from <URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/>.

  FAQ for sci.physics
     maintained by Michael Weiss, available via ftp from
     <URL:
     ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/answers/physics-faq>
     and on the Web from (for North American sites)
     <URL:http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/faq.html>
     <URL:
     http://www.public.iastate.edu/~physics/sci.physics/faq/faq.html>
     <URL:
     http://www-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/mirrors/physicsfaq/faq.html>
     (European sites)
     <URL:http://www.desy.de/user/projects/Physics/faq.html>
     (Australia)
     <URL:http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/physoc/physics_faq/faq.html>

  FAQ for sci.space
     maintained by Jon Leech, available via
     <URL:
     ftp//rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/space/science>

  FAQ for sci.astro.planetarium
     maintained by Mark Petersen
     <URL:http://www.lochness.com/sapfaq.html>
     <URL:http://www.lochness.com/sapfaq.txt>

  Astro/Space Frequently Seen Acronyms
     maintained by Mark Bradford, available via
     <URL:
     ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/space/science>

  FAQ for sci.skeptic
     maintained by Paul Johnson, available via
     <URL:ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/sci/skeptic>

  FAQ for relativity
     <URL:http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/relativity.html>

  FAQ for black holes
     <URL:http://cfpa.berkeley.edu/BHfaq.html>

  FAQ for calendars
     <URL:http://www.pip.dknet.dk/~pip10160/calendar.html>

Lecture notes, essays, compilations, etc.

  The Nine Planets
     <URL:http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/billa/tnp/>

  Nick Strobel's Lecture Notes
     <URL:http://www.bc.cc.ca.us/programs/sea/astronomy/book.htm>

  The Constellations and Their Stars
     <URL:http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/>

  General Relativity Tutorial (by John Baez)
     <URL:http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/gr/gr.html>

  Review of Astrophysics & Cosmology
     <URL:http://pdg.lbl.gov/~smoot/rac.html>

  The Astronomy Cafe
     <URL:http://www2.ari.net/home/odenwald/cafe.html>

  Virtual Trips to black holes and neutron stars
     <URL:http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/rjn_bht.html>

  Bad Astronomy
     <URL:http://www.badastronomy.com/>

Miscellaneous/Related Subjects

  Clocks and Time
     <URL:http://www.rice.iit.edu/~clocks/clocks/clocks.html>

------------------------------

Subject: A.08 How can I find contact addresses for astronomers/observatories?
Author: Ralph Martin <[email protected]>,
       Luisa Rebull <[email protected]>

A list of persons, places, and postal mailing addresses is available
from <URL:ftp://ftp.ast.cam.ac.uk/guide/>.  The files are

astropersons.lis   1.04 MBytes (Jul 10 07:57)
astroplaces.lis    0.19        (Jul  3 15:31)
astropostal.lis    0.07        (Jul  9 08:25)

In a change from previous practice these files are being updated as
new information becomes available, rather than waiting for an annual
update.  We (RM and Chris Benn) thank the hundreds of network and site
managers who contribute to the production of the information.

Volker Ossenkopf has written a search engine which searches the above
files.  Installed versions are at
<URL:http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/astrosearch.html> and
<URL:http://www.astro.uni-jena.de/Often_used/astrosearch.html>.  The
program may be obtained from
<URL:ftp://georg.astro.uni-jena.de/sources/ossk/astrosearch/astrosearch.tar>.
The archive contains an appropriate WWW form, the cgi-script and a
README file describing the installation.

A web-based search engine is also available at the Star*s family of
Astronomy resources, <URL:http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/~heck/sf.htm>.
This is part of the AstroWeb Consortium (see A.05), and the component data
bases are:
StarWorlds
       organizations, institutions, associations, companies, and so on:
       about 6,000 entries from about 100 countries with all practical
       details available and *active* URLs
StarBits
       abbreviations, acronyms, contractions, symbols, and so on: more
       than 100,000 entries
StarHeads
       personal WWW pages of individuals: more than 1,500 entries

------------------------------

Subject: A.08 Which observatories offer tours or public viewing?
Author: Joseph Lazio <[email protected]>

Many larger observatories do offer tours.  If the observatory of
interest has a Web page, that should provide a way to contact somebody
at the observatory, see the FAQ "What are good Net sites for astronomy
info and images?"

For observatories in North America, check Sky & Telescope.  They print
a list of observatories with information on whom to contact.  This
list is also available online at
<URL:http://www.skypub.com/astrodir/astrodir.html>.

Outside North America, Sky & Telescope indicates (as of this writing)
that they are interested in expanding their directory to world-wide
coverage, so it may be worth checking their pages.

------------------------------

Subject: A.09 Is there a list of astro jokes?

Of course! Astronomy is not an entirely sirius subject.  Rather than
try to explain how many astronomers change light bulbs, please see

<URL:http://www.xs4all.nl/~jcdverha/scijokes/>

<URL:http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Humor/By_Topic/Science/>

------------------------------

Subject: A.10 What are good books on astronomy (especially for beginners)?
Author: Hartmut Frommert <[email protected]>

       [Observing guides and images]

Kenneth Glyn Jones. Messier's Nebulae and Star Clusters. Sky Publishing
 1968, 2nd ed 19XX. 427p.  A great handbook and resource!  Contains
 introduction to historical and astronomical background together with
 data, historic and newer descriptions with a finder chart, drawing,
 and photo (in appendix) for each object, plus biographical and
 historical material on Messier and the other discoverers and early
 researchers of the Messier objects.
John Mallas and Everitt Kreimer. The Messier Album. Sky Publishing 1978,
 248p.  Messier biography (by Owen Gingerich), reprint of Messier's
 original catalog (in French), descriptions for each object (but M102)
 with finder chart, drawing (from 4") and b/w photo (12 1/2"). Messier
 object chart of the Heavens, check list, color photos of some, 248 p.
Hans Vehrenberg. Atlas of Deep Sky Splendors. Vehrenberg+Sky Publishing
 1st ed 196X, 4th edition 198X, 242p.  Original title: `Mein
 Messier-Buch' (My Messier Book).  Schmidt photo charts of all Messier
 and many other Deep Sky objects, partially color, descriptions, some
 with photos from observatories.
Don Machholz. Messier Marathon Observer's Guide -- Handbook and Atlas.
 Make Wood Products, P.O.Box 1716, Colfax, CA 95713 (USA). Interesting
 stuff on Charles Messier, his comets, his catalog including discussion
 of "nebulous" (missing, stellar, and the star cloud) and "add-on"
 objects, a catalog, finder charts, plus proposed Marathon.

------------------------------

Subject: A.11 Are there other sources of information?
Author: Hartmut Frommert <[email protected]>,
       Joseph Lazio <[email protected]>

In general, do not underestimate your local library.  It likely
contains encyclopediae and other reference sources to answer many
questions.

Pictures and/or other astronomical information:

 The Armagh Planetarium,
 College Hill,
 Armagh BT61 9DB, Northern Ireland, U.K.
 Fax: +44 (0)861 52 6187

 Astronomical Society of the Pacific
 390 Ashton Avenue
 San Francisco, CA 94112, USA
 e-mail: [email protected] (customer correspondence)
 Phone: +1 (415) 337 2624, Toll free (U.S. only): 800 335 2624
 Fax:   +1 (415) 337 5205

 The Hansen Planetarium
 1845 South 300 West,#A
 Salt Lake City, Utah 84115, USA
 Phone: +1 (801) 483 5400, Toll free (USA only): 800 321 2369
 Fax:   +1 (801) 483 5484

 Holiday Film Corporation
 P.O.Box 619
 12607 E. Philadelphia St.
 Whittier, CA 90608, USA


 List of Great Observatories making Astronomical Photographs publicly
   available [Version 1.0]
 Hartmut Frommert
 University of Constance
 Dept. of Physics
 P.O.Box 5560 M 678
 D-78464 Konstanz, Germany
 Phone: +49 7531-88-3789
 E-Mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
 http://www.seds.org/~spider/obs-ims.txt
 http://www.seds.org/pub/info/obs-ims.txt
 ftp://www.seds.org/pub/info/obs-ims.txt


------------------------------

Subject: A.12 How can I find an astronomy club?
Author: Joseph Lazio <[email protected]>,
       Steve Willner <[email protected]>

There are a few different ways to find astronomy clubs (listed in no
particular order):

 * Check Sky & Telescope's annual listing of astronomy clubs and
   societies.  This list is also available online at
   <URL:http://www.skypub.com/astrodir/astrodir.html>.

 * Check Video on Line's listing of astronomy associations.  This list
   is available at <URL:
   http://www.vol.it/UK/EN/SCIENCE/ASTRO/assoc_in.htm >.

 * Contact a local university or college (if there is one near you).
   Often times if there's a department of physics and/or astronomy,
   somebody within it may know of a local club.

 * Contact local science museums, planetaria, or other similar
   organizations.

 * Check the AstroWeb listing, see the FAQ "What are good Net sites
   for astronomy info and images?"

------------------------------

Subject: A.13 Where can I find out about public lectures or star parties?
Author: Joseph Lazio <[email protected]>

Very often public lectures and star parties are hosted by astronomy
clubs.  The list of ways to find astronomy clubs, given in the FAQ
"How can I find an astronomy club?", can be exploited to find lectures
and parties as well.

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