Astronomy

Welcome to the Department of Astronomy!

This is a relatively new Department at Wikiversity, and its growth depends on the participation of everyone who seeks to learn about astronomy. The basic philosophy of Wikiversity is to learn by doing. This is reflected in the content of lessons and activities. However, "learning by doing" means more than just reading a lesson and following the directions; hopefully you will participate in the process of creating lessons and sharing your experiences.

To get started try the lesson on Stellar evolution or the activity on Observational astronomy.

For a glimpse of some of the topics that we hope to cover in the future see the Topic:Astronomy/Courses.

If you have any questions about astronomy or requests for topics that you would like to learn, post them to the astronomy help desk.

Improvement drive

These pages are in need of expansion and improvement:

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Divisions

The majestic spiral galaxy NGC 4414 was imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale

• Astronomy
• Astrobiology - The study of the advent and evolution of biological systems in the universe.
• Astrometry - The study of the position of objects in the sky and their changes of position. Defines the system of coordinates used and the kinematics of objects in our galaxy.
• Astrophysics - The study of physics of the universe, including the physical properties (luminosity, density, temperature, chemical composition) of astronomical objects.
• Cosmology - The study of the origin of the universe and its evolution. The study of cosmology is theoretical astrophysics at its largest scale.
• Galactic astronomy - The study of the structure and components of our galaxy and of other galaxies.
• Extragalactic astronomy - The study of objects (mainly galaxies) outside our galaxy.
• Stellar astronomy - The study of the stars.
• Planetary sciences - the study of the planets of the Solar System.
• Archaeoastronomy
• Astrochemistry
• Astrosociobiology
• Astrophilosophy
• Astromedicine
• Astronautics
• Backyard Astronomy - Also called 'amateur astronomy' this is the study of objects in space by amateurs. It could also be called a 'hobby', although amateur observations can provide useful data for professionals (ie Citizen scientists).

Courses

Basic courses The visible sky The motions of the solar system Eclipses of the sun and moon Prehistoric astronomy Advanced courses Astronomical Universe Elementary Astronomy Astronomical Methods Astrophysics Atomic Structure and Spectra Radiative Processes in Astrophysics Radiation Measurements in Astrophysics

Stellar Astronomy Stellar Dynamics Astronomical Techniques Big Bang Black Hole Life in the Universe Extragalactic Studies Dynamics Relativistic Astrophysics Cosmology Computational Astrophysics Solar System Astronomy of Distant Universe Observational Astronomy

Interstellar Matter History of Astronomy Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics Galactic Astronomy Distant Galaxies Star Clusters High-Energy Astronomy Radio Astronomy Planetary Science Astrophysical Jets Early Universe Cosmology Plasma Astrophysics Accretion Disks High Resolution Imaging

More

Level 1 Solar System and Stellar Astronomy Stellar evolution Galactic and Extragalactic Astronomy Cosmic Evolution Introduction to the Planets Observational astronomy Light and Optics Backyard Astronomy The visible sky The motions of the sun The motions of the moon The motion of the planets Eclipses of the sun and moon Prehistoric astronomy Level 2 Introduction to Astrophysics Scientific model

Level 3 Stellar evolution High Energy Astrophysics Introduction to General Relativity Cosmology Galactic Astronomy The Interstellar Medium Binary and Variable Stars Galaxies Beyond the Milky Way Directed Readings in Current Literature Stellar Astrophysics Radiation in Planetary Atmospheres Astronomical Instrumentation and Techniques Clusters of Galaxies Astrophysical Dynamics Computational Methods Astrophysical Hydrodynamics Time

Research projects

• Learning project: Astronomy Project - students access public astronomy databases and explore outer space.
• Astrophysics Source Code Library = ASCL
• BoomCode - GPL Type II supernova collapse code

Creating content

Get to work writing courses! Simply make a link to the name of the course and start writing!

See: Wikiversity:Naming conventions

School news

• August 17, 2006 - School founded!

Things to do

Here are some things you can do at this department...

• Cleanup all astronomy related pages and organize them
• Link to information about supernova/asteroid online searches
  • Portal:Asteroid Surveys
• Link to data sources
• Link to amateur astronomers societies (and get amateur astronomers to this page)
• Load in the astrophysics source code library
• Create links at Wikipedia to related pages here

Active participants

The histories of Wikiversity pages indicate who the active participants are. If you are an active participant in this school, you can list your name here (this can help small schools grow and the participants communicate better; for large schools it is not needed).

• User:Roadrunner
• User:Suto
• User:Mu301
• User:Glenneth
• User:John Dough
• Muhammad - EEE, IUT, Bangladesh
• Dr Xavier del
• User:Jolie

Are you interested in Astronomy? Would you like to create instruction material and help out with people studying this topic? Then be bold and start doing so! Play around; others will try not to bite. Sign up to be a participant by adding your username to this list, or just start editing Wikiversity anyway.

Resources

File:Exoplanet Discoveries by Year 2008.png

Know any good resources for scholars of this topic? Add them here!

• Image:Astronomy Student Mini-Outline.pdf

Wikiresources

• Topic:Astronomy/Wikiresources
• Wikipedia: Hubble Ultra Deep Field

See also

• Commons:Category:Astronomical images
• STS-107

External links

Mira A is a red giant variable star in the constellation Cetus. This ultraviolet-wavelength image mosaic, taken by NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer, shows a comet-like "tail" stretching 13 Light-years across space

• Microlensing targets - exoplanet searches
• The status of warp drive (faster than light travel)
• Mars Simulation Project
• NASA Astrobiology Institute
• Journal article database
• Preprints database
• Astrophysics source code library
• Dick McCray's Astronomy Hypertext
• Introduction to General Astronomy, Webcast from Berkeley
• Amateur Astronomy - wiki journal
• Google Sky Online
• Help NASA categorize pictures taken of Mars

Careers

• Astrophysics job rumor mill
• AAS Job Register
• AAS Non-Academic Astronomy Network

Papers

• 'Formation and Detectability of Terrestrial Planets around (Alpha) Centauri B'

Related news

• June 2008 Arecibo Joins Global Network to Create 6,000-Mile Telescope
• March 2008 Alpha Centauri May Have Earth-like, Habitable Planets
• September 2007 Scientists model hypothetical extrasolar planets
• April 2007 - Mexico may get its own space agency...
• April 2007 - Researchers find another potentially habitable planet...
• March 2007 - EU plans to explore Mercury.
• March 2007 - New study produces mathematical rules of galaxy formation.
• February 2007 - Astronomers are finally able to analyze the atmosphere of exoplanets