Last revised: July 2009
Astronomy
This guide was created to help students and faculty find information in the field of astronomy. Email the subject area specialist Bob Kackley at rkackley(@umd.edu) or call 301-405-9155 for more information.
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Table of Contents
FINDING BOOKS
At UM Libraries
To locate books on a specific topic, search the online catalog. To start with, try a subject beginning with ... search using phrases such as Astronomical instruments, Galactic clusters, or Astronomical photometry. This search will return books classified under those subject headings. For example, a subject search for Stars evolution, would return the following:
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To narrow your results down to a particular focus, use the catalog's advanced search and limit your search by publication year, location, or by adding additional keywords.
A word/s anywhere search will locate terms and phrases that appear in the title, subject headings, or notes of a catalog record. Examples of some common terms and phrases used to locate books on astronomy include:
astronomers
"astronomical models"
"astronomical observatories"
"astronomical photography"
"astronomical spectroscopy"
astronomy
"astronomy observations"
astrophysics
"black holes"
cosmology
"dark matter"
galaxies
"spherical astronomy"
stars
supernovae
telescopes
Books dealing with similar subjects are likely to be grouped together on the shelves. Thus, another way to locate books on a particular topic is to shelf-browse. The following are some call number ranges where you can find books about or related to astronomy:
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QB 1 - 991 QB 1 - 139 QB 140 - 237 QB 275 - 343 QB 349 - 421 QB 455 - 456 QB 460 - 466 QB 468 - 480 QB 495 - 903 QB 500.5 - 785 QB 799 - 903 QB 980 - 991 |
Astronomy General Practical and spherical astronomy Geodesy Theoretical astronomy and celestial mechanics Astrogeology Astrophysics Non-optical methods of astronomy Descriptive astronomy Solar system Stars Cosmogony. Cosmology |
At Other Libraries
The best tool for locating books and journals beyond holdings of the University of Maryland and its consortium libraries is WorldCat. WorldCat contains records for materials found in research libraries worldwide. However, in order to obtain materials found outside the university system you will need to request an interlibrary loan.
REFERENCE WORKS
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
- Angelo, Joseph A. Encyclopedia of Space and Astronomy. New York: Facts On File, c2006.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB136.A55 2006 - Bakich, Michael E. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Amateur Astronomy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB64.B36 2003 - Daintith, John and William Gould. The Facts on File Dictionary of Astronomy. New York: Facts on File, c2006.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.F3 2006 - Darling, David J. The Universal Book of Astronomy: From the Andromeda Galaxy to the Zone of Avoidance. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley, c2004.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.D37 2004 - Heck, André. StarBriefs Plus: a Dictionary of Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Symbols in Astronomy and Related Space Sciences. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, c2004.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.S743 2004 - Illingworth, Valerie and John Clark. Collins Dictionary Astronomy. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2000.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.C65 2000 - Ince, Martin. Dictionary of Astronomy. London : Peter Collin Publishing, 2001.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.I53 2001 - Kitchin, Christopher R. Illustrated Dictionary of Practical Astronomy. London: Springer, c2002.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.K58 2002 - Matzner, Richard A. Dictionary of Geophysics, Astrophysics, and Astronomy. Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, c2001.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.D53 2001 - Mitton, Jacqueline. Cambridge Dictionary of Astronomy. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.M55 2001 - Moore, Patrick. Philip’s Astronomy Encyclopedia. New York: Oxford, 2002.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.P45 2002 - Murdin, Paul. Encyclopedia of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Bristol; Philadelphia: Institute of Physics Pub.; London; New York: Nature Pub. Group, 2001.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.E534 2001 - Parker, Sybil P. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Astronomy. New York: McGraw-Hill, c1997.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.M36 1997 - Ridpath, Ian. A Dictionary of Astronomy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB14.D52 2003 - Ruggles, Clive L. N. Ancient Astronomy: an Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c2005.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB16.R84 2005 - Williamson, Mark. The Cambridge Dictionary of Space Technology. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: TL788.W54 2001
Handbooks & Manuals
- AIP physics desk reference. New York: Springer, c2003.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QC61.P49 2003 - Bakich, Michael E. The Cambridge Guide to the Constellations. Cambridge; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB802.B35 1995 - Burillier, Hervé and Christophe Lehénaff. Hands-on Astronomy : a Cambridge Guide to Equipment and Accessories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, c2002.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB86.B8713 2002 - Dunlop, Storm. Atlas of the night sky. New York: Harper Collins, 2005.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB65.D865 2005 - Glass, Ian S. Handbook of Infrared Astronomy. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB47 .G53 1999 - Kerrod, Robin. The Star Guide: Learn How to Read the Night Sky Star by Star. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley, c2005.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB63.K45 2005 - Moore, Patrick. The Data Book of Astronomy. Bristol, UK; Philadelphia: Institute of Physics Pub., c2000.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB64.M623 2000 - Ridpath, Ian. Norton's Star Atlas and Reference Handbook. New York: Pi Press, c2004.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB64.R43 2004
Directories
- American Physical Society. Directory of Physics, Astronomy & Geophysics Staff. College Park, MD.: American Institute of Physics, c1997.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QC47.N75D57 1997 - Innovations in Astronomy. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c1999.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB43.2.I56 1999 - StarGuides 2001 : a World-wide Directory of Organizations in Astronomy, Related Space Sciences, and Other Related Fields. Boston : Kluwer Academic Publishers, c2001.
LOCATION: EPSL Reference
CALL NUMBER: QB1.S775 2001
Core Databases
AIAA Meeting PapersFull text access to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) meeting papers from 1988-2004 as well as journal articles from 1996-2004.
Aerospace Database
Indexes journals, conference papers, reports, including those published by AIAA, IEEE, ASME, and more.
Encyclopedia of Space Science
This reference outlines what astronomers know about the sun, planets, galaxy, and universe as well as the effect of the space environment on human and other biological systems. The Encyclopedia also provides an in-depth summary of the engineering involved in launching a rocket or satellite and the control systems involved on the ground, in orbit, or in deep space. Manufacturing in space from planetary and other resources is also discussed.
NTIS
http://www.ntis.gov/search/index.aspx
Abstracts of government-sponsored research and reports from federal agencies. (Coverage: 1964-present)
Science Citation Index (Web of Science)
A multidisciplinary index covering the journal literature of the sciences. It indexes more than 5,700 major journals across 164 scientific disciplines. The best database for finding what papers have cited other papers. Cited references can be traced forward in time.
ScienceDirect
Provides abstracts and indexing for more than 1800 journals. Full text of more than 800 journals is available to USMAI institutions. Some articles are in languages other than English.
Scitopia.org
Scitopia.org is a free federated search portal of 15 leading science and technology societies; it includes abstracts of peer-reviewed journal content, patents and technical conference papers.
Multidisciplinary Databases
Academic Search PremierProvides abstracts and indexing for over 7,000 journals. Full text of articles for over 4,000 scholarly publications, including more than 3,100 peer-reviewed publications.
Conference PapersConference Papers provides citations to papers and poster sessions presented at major scientific meetings around the world. Records include complete ordering information to obtain preprints, abstracts, proceedings and other publications derived from the conference, together with title and author information needed to track the specific papers.
Digital DissertationsThis database is the authoritative source for information about and full text of doctoral dissertations and master's theses. The database represents the work of authors from over 1,000 graduate schools and universities.
netLibraryA collection of E-texts covering topics specifically chosen by Maryland Academic Libraries.
WorldCatCatalog of books, serial publications, media, visual materials, musical scores, and archival materials in libraries worldwide.
Periodicals
To find journals conduct a Journal Search in the UM catalog or browse E-Journals in Research Port. Click here for a select list of astronomy journals.
WEB RESOURCESGeneral
Astrowebhttp://www.cv.nrao.edu/fits/www/astronomy.html
"A collection of pointers to astronomy-related information available on the Internet." On this website, you can search the Astroweb database, or browse through the various divisions of astronomical information. Resources are divided into the following categories: Observing resources, data resources, publication-related resources, people-related resources, organizations, software resources, research areas of astronomy, lists of astronomy resources, astronomical imagery, and miscellaneous resources.
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
http://space.mit.edu/astro_resources.html
This page is a list of astronomy web resources compiled by MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. The links are organized into the following divisions: Space News Services, Space Missions and Experiments, Observatories, Societies and Papers, Other Institutions, Astronomical Software and Data, Astronomical Imagery, Educational, General Astronomy, and Astronomy & Science Publications.
The Nine Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System
http://www.nineplanets.org/
"This website is an overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of the planets, moons and other objects in our solar system. "
Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)
http://www.stsci.edu/resources/
This page of astronomical resources includes links to Science Initiatives, Catalogs & Surveys, Special Programs, Education, Hubble Images, Talks & Meetings, Software, Hardware, and Publications.
Space.com
http://space.com/
A commercial site which focuses on news and multimedia relevant to the field of Astronomy.
WebStars: Astrophysics in Cyberspace
http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/www_info/webstars.html
Provides links to general astronomy resources. The table of contents includes current news topics, Exploring Mars, Astrobiology, Space Exploration Programs, Astronomy Magazines, History of Astronomy, and much more.
Web Databases
arXivhttp://arxiv.org/
"arXiv is an e-print service in the fields of physics, mathematics, non-linear science, computer science, and quantitative biology." This Cornell University database includes electronic journal preprints in Astronomy.
HyperLeda
http://leda.univ-lyon1.fr/
"HyperLeda is an information system for astronomy: It consists in a database and tools to process that data according to the user's requirements...At present the database contains over 3 million objects, out of them 1.5 million are certainly galaxies (with a high level of confidence)."
NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED)
http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/
NED "is built around a master list of extragalactic objects for which cross-identifications of names have been established, accurate positions and redshifts entered to the extent possible, and some basic data collected. Bibliographic references relevant to individual objects have been compiled, and abstracts of extragalactic interest are kept on line. Detailed and referenced photometry, position, and redshift data, have been taken from large compilations and from the literature. NED also includes images from 2MASS, from the literature, and from the Digitized Sky Survey. NED's data and references are being continually updated, with revised versions being put on-line every 2-3 months."
SIMBAD Astronomical Database
http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/
"The SIMBAD astronomical database provides basic data, cross-identifications, bibliography and measurements for astronomical objects outside the solar system."
The Smithsonian / NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
http://adswww.harvard.edu/
"The Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a NASA-funded project which maintains three bibliographic databases containing more than 5.1 million records: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics, and ArXiv e-prints. The main body of data in the ADS consists of bibliographic records, which are searchable through our Abstract Service query forms, and full-text scans of much of the astronomical literature which can be browsed though our Browse interface. Integrated in its databases, the ADS provides access and pointers to a wealth of external resources, including electronic articles, data catalogs and archives."
Online Journals
- Astronomischer Jahresbericht
http://www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/publikationen/ajb/ - Astronomy and Astrophysics Abstracts
http://www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/publikationen/aaa/ - Astronomy Education Review
http://aer.noao.edu/cgi-bin/new.pl - Astrophysics and Space Sciences Transactions (ASTRA)
http://www.astrophysics-and-space-sciences-transactions.net/index.html - Information Bulletin on Variable Stars
http://www.konkoly.hu/ibvs/ - Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy
http://www.ias.ac.in/jaa/ - MARS: The International Journal of Mars Science and Exploration
http://www.marsjournal.org/
Scientific Data Analysis Guides
This section provides links to online instruction manuals, tutorials, and other aids for using astronomical software.
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IRAF (Image Reduction and Analysis Facility)
- From the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), this page offers FAQ and other general information on AIPS
- AIPS++ User Reference Manual
IRAF is "a general purpose software system for the reduction and analysis of astronomical data."
PyRAF
"PyRAF, based on the Python scripting language, is a command language for IRAF that can be used in place of the existing IRAF CL."
AIPS
"The NRAO Astronomical Image Processing System (AIPS) is a software package for interactive (and, optionally, batch) calibration and editing of radio interferometric data and for the calibration, construction, display and analysis of astronomical images made from those data using Fourier synthesis methods."
SAS
"The Science Analysis Software (SAS) is an extensive suite of software tools developed to process the data collected by the XMM-Newton Observatory."
Professional Associations
- American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
http://www.aavso.org/ - American Astronomical Society (AAS)
http://www.aas.org/ - Astronomical Society of Australia (ASA)
http://asa.astronomy.org.au/asa.html - Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP)
http://www.astrosociety.org/ - Astronomische Gesellschaft (AG)
http://www.astro.rub.de/ag/ - Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)
http://www.aura-astronomy.org/ - International Astronomical Union (IAU)
http://www.iau.org/ - The Planetary Society (TPS)
http://www.planetary.org/
