Astrophysics

Where physics and astronomy merge.

Resources in this category:

Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere
http://www-spof.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/Intro.html

"Brief tour of magnetosphere, a space region dominated by the Earth's magnetic field. Includes a quick overview of the relevant physical sciences - magnetism, ions and electrons, plasmas etc. - and also includes tidbits of history, accessible by a "history button" at the ends of many sections."

Hubble Heritage Project
http://heritage.stsci.edu/

"The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a research tool dedicated to scientific studies of nature. Enroute to illuminating the forces shaping our cosmos, HST has accumulated a cosmic zoo. The Hubble Heritage Project sees this instrument also as a tool for extending human vision, one that is capable of building a bridge between the endeavors of scientists and the public. By emphasizing compelling HST images distilled from scientific data, we hope to pique curiosity about our astrophysical understanding of the universe we all inhabit." Look at images and learn the history of the universe.

Hyperphysics
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hph.html

Hyperphysics presents the interrelationships between various fields of physics with explanations of key concepts. The site has been designed to be highly interactive, providing numerous visual and textual hyperlinks. Links to helpful tools are provided. Developed at Georgia State University.

Imagine the Universe
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/

"This site is dedicated to a discussion about our Universe... what we know about it, how it is evolving, and the kinds of objects and phenomena it contains. Just as importantly, we also discuss how scientists know what we know, what mysteries remain, and how we might one day find the answers to these questions." Features include an "Ask a NASA Scientist" question service, scientific information on what is known about the universe, annotated links to web and print resources, teacher resources, and a dictionary of astronomy terms. Searchable.

NASA Astrophysics Data System
http://adswww.harvard.edu/

"The Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a NASA-funded project whose main resource is an Abstract Service, which includes four sets of abstracts: 1) astronomy and astrophysics, containing 631,639 abstracts; 2) instrumentation, containing 593,378 abstracts; 3) physics and geophysics, containing 936,261 abstracts; and 4) Los Alamos preprint server, containing 3,782 abstracts. Each dataset can be searched by author, object name (astronomy only), title, or abstract text words.
"In addition, we have extended the abstract service to include links to the full text of articles appearing in most of the major astronomical journals... In addition to the Abstract and Article Services, the ADS provides access or pointers to astronomical data catalogs and data archives, thereby making data collected by NASA space missions available to astronomers."

PhysLINK: Physics & Astronomy
http://www.physlink.com/

Comprehensive education and reference guide to physics-related Internet resources covering: reference, departments and grad school, societies, journals, history, images, news, jobs, software, new theories, quotations, and fun. Browse by type of resource or use the search function. See the Ask the Experts area for answers to common questions.

Powers of Ten
http://microcosm.web.cern.ch/microcosm/P10/english/welcome.h...

Illustrates the concept of logarithmic scales by presenting a series of images, each encompassing ten times the range of the previous image. Provides a vivid understanding of the scale of size of objects in physics and astronomy.

Powers of Ten (Eames Office)
http://www.powersof10.com/

The Powers of Ten Exhibition, from the Eames Office. Explore scales and sizes of the physical world and the universe. Provides numerous pictures, demonstrations, and links.

SETI Institute
http://www.seti.org/

The mission of the SETI Institute is to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe. The SETI Institute is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to scientific research, education and public outreach. Includes a bibliography and a FAQ.

Space Physics Text Book
http://www.oulu.fi/~spaceweb/textbook/

Comprehensive hypertext-book of space physics, a multidisplinary field which blends theoretical plasma physics and space research. Phenomena studied in the field (about which comprehensive information is provided) include solar winds, solar storms, and auroras such as the northern lights. Links to encyclopedia-type information about the sun, earth, and solar system, with images, are also provided.

Spacetime Wrinkles
http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/NumRel/NumRelHome.html

Information about Einstein's General and Special theories of relativity and how they relate to space-time. Includes an extensive glossary.

Stephen Hawking's Universe
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/hawking/html/home.html

This Web site, based on the PBS television series, presents the concepts behind the area of science where astronomy, relativity, and quantum mechanics merge in a way that's accessable to the layperson. Topics covered include Antimatter, the Big Bang, Black Holes, Cosmic Rays, Dark Matter, Imaginary Time, Quarks, Quasars, Radioactivity, Schrödinger's Cat, Singularitiers, Superstrings, and Wormholes. Site also includes a historical look at various models of the Universe, a bibliography, an annotated Webliography, a teacher's guide, and the opportunity to ask questions of prominent cosmologists.

Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center
http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/

The Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center (CDS) is a data center dedicated to the collection and worldwide distribution of astronomical data and related information. It is located at the Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory, France. The CDS provides access to several useful astronomical databases for data and research, as well as timely information on software, meetings, and conferences. Many astronomy images, atlases, and data sets are available.

Time Service Department
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/

TIme service Department of the US Naval Observatory maintains the official time for the US. The site has information on leap years, the millenium, and various time devices.

Eric Weisstein's World of Physics
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/physics/

An electronic encyclopedia of physics topics, including numerous links, explanations, equations. Topics are searchable, or users can browse links.

Yahoo! News Full Coverage: High-Energy and Particle Physics
http://news.yahoo.com/fc/science/high_energy_and_particle_ph...

Features current news stories related to high energy physics and astrophysics. Also links to news sources, opinions & editorials, magazine articles, video sources, and related Web sites.