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The
Solar System: Introductory Astronomy Textbook by Irina
Mullins |
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Copyright Notice: Copyright © 2008 by Irina Mullins. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval, without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Users are not permitted to mount this textbook on any network servers. For more information send email to info@introductoryastronomy.com |
Chapter 1. Introduction and Overview of the
Universe
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1.16. The Universe and the Big Bang
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Astronomy and Internet
The traditional image of an astronomer is that of a person
sitting next to a telescope. This image is very outdated. Today’s telescopes
are computer-controlled. Many telescopes are operated remotely. From their offices, astronomers can access
remote controlled telescopes over the Internet. Professional astronomers work with remote controlled
telescopes to conduct observations and analyze data while being located
thousands of miles away from the telescopes. Astronomers also work with
space images delivered from observatories (or Hubble Space Telescope) via
Internet. With invention of Internet, tremendous amount of
information about the Solar System and the Universe has become available to
those interested in Astronomy. Information about the current research and latest
discoveries in Astronomy is readily available from many web sites, including
NASA, JPL, the Hubble Space Telescope, European Space Agency, American
Astronomical Society, etc. Example: NASA web site. Go to http://www.nasa.gov/missions/index.html and read about NASA missions. Example: JPL web site. Go to http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/history/index_looking.htm
and view video ‘Beyond the Planets’
about JPL mission. Example: Exploration of Mars. Go to http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/history/index_looking.htm
and view video Rough Guide to Mars
about exploration of Mars. Example: The International Space Station. Go to http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/history/station/index.html
and read about the International
Space Station. Go to http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/tracking/
to find out the current location
of International Space Station. Example: The Hubble Space Telescope. Go to http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/hubble_essentials/
and read about the Hubble Space
Telescope. Go to http://hubblesite.org/gallery/
and view a collection of Hubble
images. Go to http://hubblesite.org/the_telescope/where.a.s_hubble_now/
to find out the current location
of the Hubble Space Telescope. Example: The James Webb Space Telescope. Go to http://webbtelescope.org/webb_telescope/
and read about the James Webb Space
Telescope. Example: The European Space Agency. Go to and view videos about the European
Space Agency. Go to http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?mission=Mars+Express&type=V
and view the ESA videos about Mars. Go to http://www.esa.int/esa-mmg/mmg.pl?topic=&subtopic=&keyword=Titan&subm2=GO
and watch video ‘Moons’. NASA Astrobiology Institute web site http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/missions/
provides information about NASA missions dealing with the search for life in
the Universe. General public and amateur astronomers are also invited
to join astronomers via Internet in their search for the signals from
extraterrestrial civilizations. The SETI program uses internet-connected
computers hosted at the SETI@home project http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
searches for radio signals from extraterrestrial civilizations. The project
uses observational data from the |
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Copyright©2008 by Irina Mullins.
All Rights Reserved. |