Featured Resources
- Sloan Digital Sky SurveySDSS is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium
Black Holes/Stars
For information on the star known as the sun, see the Sun tab on the Our Solar System page.
- Astrophysics: Fire in the hole! Will an astronaut who falls into a black hole be crushed or burned to a crisp?Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science, Zeeya Merali, 03 April 2013 Corrected: 05 April 2013
- Backreaction of Hawking Radiation on a Gravitationally Collapsing Star I: Black Holes?arXiv.org > hep-th > arXiv:1406.1525
10.1016/j.physletb.2014.09.018
Laura Mersini-Houghton - Back-reaction of the Hawking radiation flux on a gravitationally collapsing star II: Fireworks instead of firewallsarXiv.org > hep-th > arXiv:1409.1837
Laura Mersini-Houghton, Harald P. Pfeiffer - Grey is the new black hole: is Stephen Hawking right?Phys.org, Jan 29, 2014 by Geraint Lewis, The Conversation
- LIGO’s Latest Black-Hole Merger Confirms Einstein, Challenges AstrophysicsScientific American, article by Lee Billings on June 1, 2017
- Magnetic Fields May Be the Key to Black Hole ActivityNASA, Last Updated: Oct. 16, 2018
- Information Preservation and Weather Forecasting for Black HolesPDF arXiv:1401.5761v1 S.W. Hawking
- Astronomy 162: Stars, Galaxies, and CosmologyA Dept. Physics & Astronomy, University of Tennessee resource
- Baby supernova discovery hints at how star explosions are bornBy Charles Q. Choi Space.com Contributor Published February 15, 2017
- Confined Dense Circumstellar Material Surrounding a Regular Type II SupernovaNature Physics, published Feb. 13, 2017
- How Do Stars Form and EvolveA NASA Science Astrophysics resource
- Naming StarsInternational Astronomical Union
- Powerful Megaflare from Small Star Stuns Scientists (Video, Image)Space.com article, by Mike Wall, Senior Writer, October 02, 2014
Planetary Defense
- IAWN (International Asteroid Warning Network)IWAN is "an organization of asteroid observers, orbit computers, physical property specialists, radar astronomers, and other scientists and communication experts that study asteroids, specifically near-Earth objects or NEOs. The IAWN is a United Nations-sanctioned organization." -- website
- JPL Small-Body Database Browser"The JPL Small-Body Database Browser provides data for all known asteroids and many comets. Available data include: orbital elements, orbit diagrams, physical parameters, discovery circumstances. Newly discovered objects and their orbits are added on a daily basis. Discovery circumstances are updated on a roughly monthly interval. Physical parameters, other than magnitude parameters, are updated on a less frequent basis." -- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Planetary Defense Coordination Office"The PDCO is responsible for: Ensuring the early detection of potentially hazardous objects (PHOs) – asteroids and comets whose orbits are predicted to bring them within 0.05 Astronomical Units of Earth; and of a size large enough to reach Earth’s surface – that is, greater than approximately 30 to 50 meters; Tracking and characterizing PHOs and issuing warnings about potential impacts; Providing timely and accurate communications about PHOs; and Leading the coordination of U.S. Government planning for response to an actual impact threat." -- website
Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, Craters
- AirburstsEarthDate, a production of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin.
- An Asteroid Didn't Kill Off the Dinosaurs — a Comet DidDiscover Magazine, By The Physics arXiv Blog, 3/4/2021
- Asteroid fast factsA NASA resource explaining the differences between asteroids, comets, meteoroids, meteors and meteorites.
- AUG 28 2018 Fireball over Missouri on August 27th
American Meteor Society video and reports - Crash! 10 Biggest Impact Craters on EarthLiveScience.com, By Becky Oskin, Senior Writer | April 28, 2014 07:48am ET
- Did a Planetary Society citizen scientist help find one of Earth’s biggest impact craters?Planetary Society blog entry by Jason Davis • June 12, 2017 about the Great Dying
- Did Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Trigger Largest Lava Flows on Earth? [Deccan Traps]Astrobiology Web, Source: University of California, Berkeley, Posted May 1, 2015 10:48 AM
- Did Meteorite Carve Icy Antarctic Crater?By Becky Oskin, Senior Writer, Live Science, January 09, 2015 01:44pm ET
- Earth Impact: Are Comets a Bigger Danger Than Asteroids?Space.com, By Mike Wall 6/18/2014
- Earth Impact Effects ProgramImperial College, London ; Purdue University. Robert Marcus, H. Jay Melosh, and Gareth Collins. An interactive website used for estimating the consequences of an impact on earth.
- Earth is littered with mysterious space-cones, and now we know whyFox News, By Rafi Letzter, LiveScience , 7/2019
- Falkland Islands Basin Shows Signs of Being Among World’s Largest CratersNYU news release, May 4, 2017
- Impact CrateringLunar and Planetary Institute
- Iowa impact crater confirmedEarthmagazine.org
- Meteorite Crater Under Iowa Confirmed in New ImagesLiveScience by Andrea Thompson, 3/6/2013
- Meteorite explosion over Russia injures hundredsA Guardian newspaper article
- Meteorite makes big crater in NicaraguaA CNN article by Amanda Barnett, CNN
updated 10:36 AM EDT, Mon September 8, 2014 - Meteor Showers and Shooting Stars: Formation, Facts and DiscoveryA Space.com resource
- Monster Tsunami May Have Created Madagascar's Giant Sand DunesLiveScience.com, By Charles Q. Choi January 13, 2016. "Sometime in the past 8,000 years, a meteor may have hit the Indian Ocean, triggering a monster tsunami that struck Africa, a new study suggests." -- website
- Near-Earth ObjectsUnited Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)
- Real (not reel) deep impacts: Sandia scientists predict what an asteroid strike would look like, reallyA Sandia National Laboratory resource
- Selected Internet Resources - Meteor ShowersA Library of Congress, Science Reference Services list
- STAR CHASER."The article looks at the collection of meteorites by scientist Doctor Harvey Nininger in the U.S. He was able to obtain information on the Arizona meteorite after posting a bulletin in his museum. Most of his finds can be credited to educating people on meteorite. He cited to museum visitors that meteorites are likely to be heavy and old ones are usually dark brown in color." -- Clark, N. M. (1948). Saturday Evening Post, 220(42), 36–159.
- Terrestrial Impact CratersViews of the Solar System Copyright © 1995-2011 by Calvin J. Hamilton
- The Torino Impact Hazard ScaleA NASA resource
Resources
- Gravitational Lensing in ActionNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- What is Gravitational Lensing?A Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey resource. Author: Emma Grocutt
- Magnifying the UniverseIn this 62 minute Library of Congress webcast, Jane Rigby demonstrated how scientists study parts of the distant universe with the use of natural telescopes (a natural phenomenon known as gravitational lensing) in conjunction with the largest telescopes on or off the Earth. Jane Rigby is a NASA astrophysicist and deputy project scientist for operations for the James Webb Telescope.
- Astrobiology: Life in the UniverseA NASA resource
- NASA Technical Reports ServerFrom the website: " provides access to over 500,000 aerospace-related citations, over 300,000 full-text online documents, and over 500,000 images and videos. The types of information include: conference papers, journal articles, meeting papers, patents, research reports, images, movies, and technical videos – scientific and technical information (STI) created or funded by NASA"
- NASA'S HEARSARCThe primary archive for NASA missions dealing with extremely energetic phenomena, from black holes to the Big Bang.
- AstronomyOnline.orgHighly recommended by Choice Reviews Online.
- Atlas of the UniverseFrom the April 2010 Choice Review: "An Atlas of the Universe, a Web site often recommended by college instructors and librarians, consists of a series of interactive 3-D maps of the universe."
- Basics of Space FlightA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology web resource.
- Cosmic Evolution"This award-winning site is based on Eric Chaisson's Universe: An Evolutionary Approach to Astronomy (1988) and his 2005 book Epic of Evolution: Seven Ages of the Cosmos (CH, Oct'06, 44-0905), as well as on a course he has taught at Harvard for 25 years." -- Choice Reviews, Jan. 2007
- Curious About Astronomy? Ask an AstronomerAsk an Astronomer is hosted by the Astronomy Department at Cornell University.
- DC PhysicsA website by by Doug Craigen, a former university physics professor.
- Handbook of Space Astronomy and AstrophysicsAn online version of Martin V. Zombeck's Handbook of Space Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2nd edition
- Minor Planet Center"The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the single worldwide location for receipt and distribution of positional measurements of minor planets, comets and outer irregular natural satellites of the major planets." -- website
- Nebraska Astronomy Applet ProjectFrom the website: "The Nebraska Astronomy Applet Project provides online laboratories targeting the undergraduate introductory astronomy audience."
- SIMBAD Astronomical DatabaseFrom the website: "The SIMBAD astronomical database provides basic data, cross-identifications, bibliography and measurements for astronomical objects outside the solar system." Choice Reviews online calls this essential.
- SpaceRefHighly recommended by Choice Reviews Online
- Gamma Ray Bursts and Black HolesDr. Neil Gehrels discusses "Gamma-Ray Bursts and the Birth of Black Holes" as part of the Library of Congress series in conjunction with NASA.
- Gamma-Ray Astrophysics at the NSSTCNASA resources
- Gamma Rays (Mission Science)A NASA resource
- The Electromagnetic Spectrum: Gamma RaysA NASA resource
- Imagine the Universe! Gamma-ray AstronomyA NASA resource
High-Energy Radiation from Black Holes by Call Number: EbookISBN: 9780691144085Publication Date: 2009-10-11
Think You've Found a Meteorite? Probably Not: Meteorite Hunting and Identification
- CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Fireball streaks across the Ozarks Sunday afternoonKSPR.com, By Robert Hahn, Posted: Mon 5:42 PM, Aug 12, 2019. Includes a visual of a meteorite fragment example
- Some Meteorite InformationPrepared by: Randy L. Korotev, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis. Partial contents: Self-Test Check-List, Meteorite Realities, What To Do If You Think You've Found a Meteorite, Chemical Composition of Meteorites, Some Meteorite Statistics, Find the Meteorite, Photos of Meteorites in the Washington University Collection
- How to Find a Meteorite in 5 StepsLiveScience.com, By Natalie Wolchover, May 1, 2012
- I want to find a meteorite; what should I look for?Arizona State University, Center for Meteorite Studies
- HAVE YOU FOUND A SPACE ROCK? AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO METEORITE IDENTIFICATIONGeology.com (commercial website) article by Geoffrey Notkin
- A Meteorite Hunter’s Tips for Successfully Detecting Space RocksRaregoldnuggets.com, 7/24/2017
- How to Find Meteorites with Metal Detectors: 7 Tips & TricksTreaser Seekr, 5/19/2020
- MetBase"MetBase is the leading meteorite information database and bibliography of meteorites and planetary sciences." -- metbase.org
- METEORITE TYPES AND CLASSIFICATIONGeology.com, the second in a series of articles by Geoffrey Notkin
- MeteoritesGeology.com
Comets
- Comets: Facts About The ‘Dirty Snowballs’ of SpaceCharles Q. Choi, Space.com Contributor, November 15, 2014
- Comets Are Like Deep Fried Ice Cream, Scientists SayCalla Cofield, Space.com Staff Writer, February 23, 2015
- Comets: Facts About The ‘Dirty Snowballs’ of SpaceCharles Q. Choi, Space.com Contributor, November 15, 2014
- Did a Comet Cause the Great Flood?Discover. Scott Carney, Thursday, November 15, 2007
- First Evidence of Comet Striking Earth Found in EgyptBy Mike Wall, October 09, 2013, Space.com
- What is a Sungrazing Comet?Goddard Media Studios, July 16, 2013
Photography
- How to photograph meteors with a DSLRAn American Meteor Society resource