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What is Astrophysics? popular

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysics

10 out of 10 stars (123 votes)

Information and resources on Alternative Astronomy, Astronomers, Cosmology, Eclipses, Occultations, Extrasolar Planets, Galaxies, Interstellar Medium, Observatories, Planetariums, Research Groups and Centers, Solar System, Star Clusters, Stars, etc.\ Astrophysics (Greek: Astro - meaning "star", and Greek: physis – φύσις - meaning "nature") is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior. Among the objects studied are galaxies, stars, planets, exoplanets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Their emissions are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. The study of cosmology addresses questions of astrophysics at scales much larger than the size of particular gravitationally-bound objects in the universe. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists typically apply many disciplines of physics, including mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics. In practice, modern astronomical research involves a substantial amount of physics. The name of a university's department ("astrophysics" or "astronomy") often has to do more with the department's history than with the contents of the programs. Astrophysics can be studied at the bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. levels in aerospace engineering, physics, or astronomy departments at many universities. Although astronomy is as ancient as recorded history itself, it was long separated from the study of physics. In the Aristotelian worldview, the celestial world tended towards perfection—bodies in the sky seemed to be perfect spheres moving in perfectly circular orbits—while the earthly world seemed destined to imperfection; these two realms were not seen as related. Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310–250 BC) first put forward the notion that the motions of the celestial bodies could be explained by assuming that the Earth and all the other planets in the Solar System orbited the Sun. Unfortunately, in the geocentric world of the time, Aristarchus' heliocentric theory was deemed outlandish and heretical. For centuries, the apparently common-sense view that the Sun and other planets went round the Earth nearly went unquestioned until the development of Copernican heliocentrism in the 16th century AD. This was due to the dominance of the geocentric model developed by Ptolemy (c. 83-161 AD), a Hellenized astronomer from Roman Egypt, in his Almagest treatise.

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You Be the Astrophysicist popular

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/YBA/yba-intro.html

Interactive site for learning about astronomy and astrophysics.

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Virtual Institute of Astrophysics popular

http://www.cosmovia.org/

VIA provides lectures and forums where scientists from around the world can communicate and discuss problems and ideas in astroparticle physics.

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University of Surrey - Department of Physics (Research) popular

http://www.ph.surrey.ac.uk/astrophysics/index.html

University of Surrey abridged version of the book "Astrophysics" , with many links to relevant material on astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology.

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Tuneable Heterodyne Infrared Spectrometer - THIS popular

http://www.ph1.uni-koeln.de/node/304

Instrument pages for the transportable receiver designed for atmospheric and astrophysical observations in the mid infrared spectral region (7-28 m). Developed by the University of Cologne.

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The Titius-Bode Number Sequence Deciphered popular

http://bellsouthpwp.net/j/o/josephconklin/jw/tb/titius.html

Compares earth orbit to other planets using the Astronomical Unit as a measurement.

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The NASA Astrophysics Data System popular

http://adswww.harvard.edu/

The Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a NASA-funded project which maintains four bibliographic databases containing more than 4.0 million records: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Instrumentation, Physics and Geophysics, and preprints in Astronomy.

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The Electric Universe popular

http://www.the-electric-universe.info/

Physics knows four forces; 20th-century scientists were convinced that one of those, the electric force, played no macroscopic role in the Universe; site explains why that is incorrect.

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The Astrophysics Spectator popular

http://www.astrophysicsspectator.com/

Articles published on this site cover current research in astronomy and astrophysics, describe our current understanding of astronomical phenomena, and comment on issues related to astronomical research.

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The Astrophysical Journal popular

http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/apj

Devoted to recent developments, discoveries, and theories in astronomy and astrophysics.

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Temporal Annex popular

http://temporal_science.tripod.com/

Information mostly on the fourth dimension and theoretical physics.

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Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory popular

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

A research institute of the Smithsonian Institution headquartered in Cambridge, MA, where it is joined with the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) to form the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

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SIMBAD Astronomical Database popular

http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/Simbad

The SIMBAD astronomical database provides basic data, cross-identifications and bibliography for astronomical objects outside the solar system. SIMBAD can be queried by object name, coordinates, other criteria (filters), and lists of objects.

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Red Shift by Photon Decay popular

http://members.chello.nl/~n.benschop

Author explains how Hubble's red shift of starlight spectra results from photon decay, proportional to traveled distance.

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Physics Topics - Teaching Notes popular

http://orca.phys.uvic.ca/~tatum/

Teaching notes on celestial mechanics, classical mechanics, and stellar atmospheres.

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Olber's Paradox popular

http://www.ronaldkoster.net/olber.html

A well know problem from astrophysics, Olber's paradox (Why is the night sky dark?), solved. As well as Newton's related Gravity paradox.

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Nuclear Astrophysics Data popular

http://t2.lanl.gov/data/astro/astro.html

An area for providing nuclear data for astrophysics calculations, such as nucleosynthesis, stellar evolution, the Big Bang, and super-nova dynamics.

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Network Generator popular

http://www-astro.ulb.ac.be/Netgen/form.html

Generates astrophysical reaction rates online using an extended database.

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Living Reviews in Solar Physics popular

http://solarphysics.livingreviews.org/

A peer-refereed, solely online journal publishing invited reviews covering all areas of solar and heliospheric physics research. Published by the Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany.

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Hands-On Astrophysics popular

http://hoa.aavso.org/

Offers educational products that help students understand basic astronomy concepts.

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Encyclopedia of Astrophysics popular

http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Encyclopedia_of_astrophysics

A free peer-reviewed online publication written by scholars from around the world.

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