Astronomy

Online Resources

Foothill Campus Sites

1. Foothill Astronomy Instructor Andrew Fraknoi has a Facebook page for astronomy news called "Andrew Fraknoi (The AstroProf)": http://www.Facebook.com/Fraknoi
2. Podcasts of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures can be found at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html
3. Andrew Fraknoi's list of science fiction stories with good astronomy can be seen at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/scifi.html

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Bay Area Information

1. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific, with headquarters in San Francisco, has many programs of interest to those with an interest in astronomy. Learn more at: http://www.astrosociety.org
2. The SETI Institute is a scientific and educational organization devoted to the search for life in the universe: http://www.seti.org
3. NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View (which offers internships for Foothill students) has many programs for teachers and the public: http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/index.html
4. The DeAnza College Planetarium (star theater): http://www.planetarium.deanza.edu/
5. The Astronomical Association of Northern California has a nice list of local astronomy institutions and clubs: http://sites.google.com/site/aancsite/calendar/resourceguide
6. For science events in the Bay Area, see: http://www.bayareascience.org

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A Few Sites for Really Beautiful Astronomy Images

1. Astronomy Picture of the Day: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html (Two space scientists scour the internet and select one "sexy" astronomy image to feature each day.)
2. Hubble Space Telescope Images: http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/browse/images/ (You can select among hundreds of Hubble pictures by subject or by date.)
3. National Optical Astronomy Observatories Image Gallery: http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/ (This growing archive shows images taken with the many telescopes that are part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories.)
4. Planetary Photojournal: http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html (This site features thousands of images from planetary exploration, with captions of varied length.)

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A Few General Astronomy Sites

1. "Seeing in the Dark" (A PBS television program about the joys of amateur astronomy, with good introductory resources for new hobbyists): http://www.pbs.org/seeinginthedark/
2. "Science @ NASA" (Dr. Tony Phillips explains new NASA discoveries in everyday language): http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/
3. Sky & Telescope Magazine: http://skyandtelescope.com (a magazine for astronomy hobbyists, with many good articles and primers at their site)
4. "Windows to the Universe": http://www.windows2universe.org/ (a rich site for younger readers and beginners, full of space and earth science information)
5. The Planetary Society: http://www.planetary.org (this national organization supporting the exploration of the planets has a colorful site with good background information about the solar system)

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Asking Astronomy Questions

1. Ask an Astronomer at Lick Observatory: http://www.ucolick.org/~mountain/AAA/
2. Ask an Astronomer for Kids: http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_kids/AskKids/index.shtml
3. Ask the Experts at PhysLink: http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/index.cfm
4. Curious about Astronomy: http://curious.astro.cornell.edu
5. Ask a High-Energy Astronomer: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/ask_an_astronomer.html
6. Ask an Astrobiologist: http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/
7. Ask Mr. Sunspot: http://eo.nso.edu/MrSunspot/

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For Those Worried about Doomsday, UFO's, and Astronomical Conspiracies

1. Andrew Fraknoi's Resources for Debunking Astronomical Pseudoscience: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/pseudobib.html
2. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (a national group of skeptics with wonderfully rational information): http://www.csicop.org/
3. The Skeptic's Dictionary: http://skepdic.com/
4. Why You Don't Need to Worry about 2012: http://www.astrosociety.org/2012
5. Andrew Fraknoi's "An Astronomer Looks at Astrology": http://www.astrosociety.org/astrology.pdf