Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Created in 1890, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory has a rich history of space science research. Affiliated with Harvard University, the SAO moved from Washington, DC to Cambridge, MA in 1955. Today, the Observatory employs over 300 scientists working on broad programs of astrophysical research supported by federal appropriations and other funding sources. Its divisions include high energy astrophysics, theoretical astrophysics, and optical and infrared astronomy. First-time visitors might do well to look over the Research area, which contains research statements and detailed project information on the SAO's work on the solar system, galaxies, and stars. The Features area is quite a find and it contains profiles on the third dimensions of Cassiopeia A, the search for other Earths, and dozens of other subjects dating back to 2009. Within Education & Outreach, visitors will find links to curriculum materials and public outreach ideas like "Inside Einstein's Universe" and "Black Holes: Space Warps & Time Twists." Finally, visitors should look over the Opportunities area as it contains information for science researchers and those seeking postdoctoral fellowships.

http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/sao/

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/

 

The Astronomical Journal

Based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Astronomical Journal (AJ) publishes original astronomical research, with "an emphasis on significant scientific results derived from observations, including descriptions of data capture, surveys, analysis techniques, and astronomical interpretation." The publication was founded in 1849 in Cambridge, Massachusetts and since that time it has become highly regarded. Visitors to the site can read past issues for free and they can use the Most Read, Most Cited, and Latest Articles tabs to dive right in. Recent pieces in the AJ have addressed supernovae, infrared scientific measurement devices, and the numerical integration of rotational motion. On the site, visitors can contact the editorial board, learn about submission guidelines, and peruse the AJ's ethics policy. It is a rather wonderful way to learn about the latest research in this field and is a resource that users will want to bookmark for future consideration.

http://iopscience.iop.org/1538-3881 

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/

NASA: Astrophysics Science Division

What goes on in outer space? This is a fascinating question and an ongoing line of human inquiry. The Astrophysics Science Division of NASA conducts a broad program of research in astronomy, astrophysics and fundamental physics, and this site provides access to information on the Division's projects, publications, and research agenda. Visitors can dive right in by looking over the Press Releases & Feature Stories area on the homepage. Here they can learn about upcoming dark energy missions, long duration balloons, and the remarkable work of the James Webb Space Telescope. In the Missions & Projects area, visitors can search through over 40 projects, which include the Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission and the Broad Band X-ray Telescope.

http://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/ 

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2013. https://www.scout.wisc.edu/

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

"Named for American rocketry pioneer Dr. Robert H. Goddard, the center was established in 1959 as NASA's first space flight complex. Goddard and its several facilities are critical in carrying out NASA's missions of space exploration and scientific discovery"

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/home/index.html

Google Sky

Google  has teamed up with astronomers at some of the largest observatories in the world to bring you a new view of the sky. Using Google Maps this tool provides an exciting way to browse and explore the universe. You can find the positions of the planets and constellations on the sky and even watch the birth of distant galaxies as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. The imagery for Google Sky comes from some of the largest ground and space-based astronomical surveys.

The visible data comes from a combination of surveys: the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Digital Sky Survey Consortium,  NASA and ESA's Hubble Space Telescope. Details about these observatories can be found on the Partners page. 

If you are interested in what's happening on the sky tonight or over the next few months then check out the podcasts from Earth and Sky or search for the position of your favorite planet. 

http://www.google.com/sky/

Practical Physics

This website, created by the Nuffield Foundation, contains practical activities designed for use in the classroom with students in high school and college. The activities here are arranged into a dozen topics, including Astronomy, Atoms and nuclei, and Physics applications. The activities here include "Hearing a laser beam," "What's the frequency?," and 75 others that use video clips, interactive graphics, and other visual materials to make these concepts and principles come alive. The Forces and Motion area is one of the best, as it is host to activities that really delve into the concepts of speed, velocity, and acceleration. Visitors can also use the search engine to look for specific items of interest.

http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practical-physics

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012.http://scout.wisc.edu/

The Astronomy Center

This rather fine website is a must-visit for anyone involved in teaching college-level astronomy. The Astronomy Center is sponsored by the American Astronomical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the National Science Foundation, among other distinguished organizations. Visitors can get started by looking over the Recent Additions area, which in the past has included features on the phases of the moon, interactive activities related to fossil stars, and a telescope primer for educators. Moving on, visitors can use the Browse By Topic area to find specific materials on 13 subjects, including galaxies, the solar system, and the Milky Way. Also, visitors can browse by document type, where the headings include Simulations, Projects, and Labs. The Cosmic Time and Distance area is a real delight, as it includes activities that will challenge students to explore the concepts of parallax and aberration of light as they apply to astronomy.

http://www.astronomycenter.org/index.cfm

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Lecture Archives - Environmental Science Institute

The Environmental Science Institute (ESI) at the University of Texas at Austin is dedicated to "fostering environmental research, education, and outreach across disciplines." To this end, the ESI has developed a set of resources for educators, including a nice series of lectures dating back to 1999. This section of the site provides interested parties with access to 77 of these talks, which address topics like fracking, dark energy, the evolution of human vision, and autonomous robots. Visitors can browse through the lectures at their leisure, and will find supplementary materials accompanying most of the talks. Users are encouraged to use these lectures in a variety of ways, and it is easy to imagine that the talks could be used in the classroom or in other informal settings.

http://www.esi.utexas.edu/hot-science-cool-talks/lecture-archives

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2012. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Sloan Digital Sky Survey

"The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is one of the most ambitious and influential surveys in the history of astronomy .... SDSS data have been released to the scientific community and the general public in annual increments, with the final public data release from SDSS-II occurring in October 2008 .... Meanwhile, SDSS is continuing with the Third Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III)..... SDSS-III will continue operating and releasing data through 2014"

http://www.sdss.org/

Extreme Planet Makeover

http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/planetMakeover/planetMakeover.html

This website, from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology provides visitors with the opportunity to make their own planet via a series of customizable bells and whistles. Visitors can use the controls on the site to adjust key planetary attributes such as distance from a star, planet size, and planet age. After making these adjustments, visitors can learn about the planet they have created, and also compare it with other existing planets and outer-space bodies.

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2011. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Astro2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey

Every ten years, the National Research Council (NRC) of The National Academy of Sciences produces a series of surveys related to their areas of
scientific inquiry. The public release of the Astro2010 survey of astronomy and astrophysics took place on August 13, 2010, and visitors to this site
can read the report and also watch the webcast from the release event.  The goal of this publication is to "recommend priorities for the most important
scientific and technical activities of the decade 2010-2020." Drawing on the expertise of scholars at Stanford University, Vassar College, the University
of Chicago, and other institutions, the report is a crucial piece of work on what should be done across the board in these two branches of the physical
sciences.

http://sites.nationalacademies.org/BPA/BPA_049810

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2010.

http://scout.wisc.edu/

NASA news and features

http://www.nasa.gov/news/index.html

The news and features section of the NASA website contains current research information, satellite maps and feature articles relevant to a range of scientific issues.

European Southern Observatory

http://www.eso.org/public/

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is an intergovernmental organization comprised of 14 member countries.
Its headquarters are in Germany, but they have three observatories in Chile as well.  Their website contains many images and
videos as well as general information and virtual tours.

Inside black holes

http://jila.colorado.edu/~ajsh/insidebh/index.html

Andrew Hamilton of the University of Colorado, Boulder, has created this multimedia introduction to black holes and what happens inside them. It includes visualisations created using the author's Black Hole Flight Simulator, images, videos and lists of references. He describes Schwarzschild black holes, Reissner-Nordstrom black holes, black holes as waterfalls of space, the rules of four-dimensional perspective, Penrose diagrams and a journey into a "realistic" black hole.

Copyright 2006-2010

Sixty Symbols - Physics and Astronomy Videos

"Sixty Symbols is a collection of videos about physics and astronomy presented by experts from The University of Nottingham. They aren't lessons or lectures - and this site has never tried to be an online reference book. The films are just fun chats with men and women who love their subject and know a lot about it!"

http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

Astronomy Media Player

From the planets to various interstellar bodies, learning about astronomy can be fun and engaging. One way to learn about such matters is via podcasts, and this website is committed to finding the best astronomy podcasts from various places around the world. Users can get started by looking at one the following sections: "General", "Observing", "Courses", "Your Questions", "Observations", and "Top Ten". Each section contains a host of current (and former) podcasts. Persons looking to find answers to specific astronomy queries will want to look over podcasts like "Ask an Astronomer" and "Brain Bites" in the "Your Questions" area. The "Observatories" area is equally delightful, and it contains links to podcasts such as "Gemini Observatory" and "W.M. Keck Observatory". Of
course, the social media options on the site are quite good, and it's easy to reference such treasures on Facebook, Digg, and so on

http://www.jodcast.net/amp/

From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994-2010. http://scout.wisc.edu/

Geobiology

The material for this course (12.007 Geobiology, Spring 2009) has been made available by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences as part of the OpenCourseWare initiative. "This course introduces parallel evolution of life and the environment. Life processes are influenced by chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and the solid earth. In turn, life can influence chemical and physical processes on our planet. This course introduces the concept of life as a geological agent and examines the interaction between biology and the earth system during the roughly four billion years since life first appeared." The website provides lecture notes, recommended readings and assignments. The notes are available as PDF files.

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Earth--Atmospheric--and-Planetary-Sciences/12-007Spring-2009/CourseHome/index.htm

Copyright 2006-2009

WorldWide Telescope

"The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a Web 2.0 visualization software environment that enables your computer to function as a virtual telescope-bringing together imagery from the best ground and space-based telescopes in the world for a seamless exploration of the universe." Users can follow guided tours or explore on their own. The telescope is provided by Microsoft Research. It can be downloaded to a PC or viewed on a Mac or a PC using a Web client and Microsoft Silverlight. A high specification PC is needed, particularly for the downloaded version.

http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/Home.aspx

Copyright 2006-2009

Portal to the universe

"Keeping up-to-date with cutting-edge astronomy and space science breakthroughs has just become that much easier, thanks to the Portal To The Universe, the latest Cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). As a high-tech website embracing Web 2.0 technologies, the Portal To The Universe aims to become a one-stop-shop for astronomy news."

http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/

Hubblesite

"HubbleSite is the home of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the renowned orbiting telescope whose discoveries have forever altered our knowledge of the universe."

http://hubblesite.org/