(Above) Latest solar images, from various telescopes and spacecraft. Click on them for more detail.

Added 1999 December 20:

• Total Lunar eclipse, January 20/21. We set up telescopes at Crawford Science Tower and observed it, it was great, although a bit darker than I was expecting.

Basic astrophysics computing resources:

An article by me on web resources,


Web Power Tools, for Amateur Astronomy, from Professional Astronomy.

It's been accepted for publication in Astronomy magazine.

The article describes many of the following resources:

The astro-ph Preprint Server.
You can get advance copies of the latest scientific papers here. You should put copies of your papers here as soon as they are accepted for publication.

AstroWeb: Astronomy/Astrophysics on the Internet.
This is an Internet search engine specifically for astronomy.

The NASA Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service (ADS).
This archive of scientific papers can be searched for authors, titles, keywords, and even words in the texts.

Interactive access to SIMBAD.
SIMBAD is a database of primarily stellar data, although galactic and extragalactic objects of all types are included.

Image Reduction and Analysis Facility (IRAF) is free image-processing software distributed by NOAO.

IRAF has been installed on machines in the Harris lab on the 2nd floor of Crawford; go in and

ask for an account there. IRAF runs under LINUX, a free version of UNIX you can install on a PC.

Here are two links to get you started with IRAF:
IRAF Tutorials and Exercises
CCD Photometry using IRAF

For a quick guide to UNIX, see: http://www.astro.fit.edu/ringwald/essent.txt. Two things I need that I've never worked out (and so are good projects, or parts of projects) are (1) how to do color processing, and (2) how to display images from IRAF remotely on a PC, with preferably free software.

Skycalc astronomical almanac calculator.
This computes rise/set times, observability, and many things astronomers need to know at the telescope.

SkyView: The Internet's Virtual Telescope.
Invaluable for making finding charts, and can work across the spectrum.

U. S. Naval Observatory Data Services.
Accurate time, and positional astronomy and navigation services of all kinds.

XEphem planetarium program which runs under UNIX.
It simulates what the sky looks like, at a given place and time.




Dr. Ringwald's Big Page of Links


There are over 1000. To use effectively, use your browser's "Find" function.

Other astrophysics computing resources:

HEASARC Tools.
Utilities for converting JD to calendar date, galactic to equatorial coordinates, energy units, etc.

Heavens Above satellite tracking software, set for Melbourne, FL

Solar Data Analysis Center Home Page including current solar images from many observatories

Your Sky planetarium program which runs over the Internet, slowly.

Astrometry (precise position measurement):

Astrometrica Shareware

The Hipparcos Space Astrometry Mission

Astrophysics/Planetary Science Data Archives:

Astronomical Data Center, which lists astronomical catalogs in electronic form

Astrophysics Data Facility

The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC), including archival space datasets

WISARD (Searching Archival Data)

Across the spectrum:

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory

We are now entering the golden age of X-ray astronomy:

High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC)

Chandra X-ray Observatory (launched 1999 July)

ESA's X-ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM) (launched 1999 December)

Japan's Astro-E spacecraft (to be launched, early 2000)

The ASCA Mission

Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and its All-Sky Monitor

The ROSAT Mission 1990-1999 archive

The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) satellite

The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) satellite (launched 1999 June)

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) 1978-1996 archive

Hubble Space Telescope

Many ground-based optical/near-infrared observatories, including the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) and Florida Tech's SARA Observatory.

Two important surveys: the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the 2MASS Survey (see also SkyView).

Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), including the IRAS, ISO, and SIRTF missions.

National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)

SETI at home: What a concept! Let them run their software on your computer, as a screen-saver. It searches radio data they take, to look for signals from Extraterrestrial Intelligence. You get a very small chance of sharing the Nobel prize. Their software runs on just about anything, too.