Recommended Web Sites for Physics, Astronomy, and Astrophysics

There are many trustworthy web sites with information about physics, astronomy, and astrophysics. This page is a selected list. Many of the pages cited below provide their own lists of links. 

For Physical, Chemical, Material, and Astronomical Data and Properties, please go to

• General Information, including jobs
• Journal Articles, Preprints, E-prints, and Grey Literature
• Images
• Observatories, University Groups, Libraries 
• Societies, Institutes, Organizations
• History

General Information

Astronomy Now -- A general magazine about astronomy, sold in the United Kingdom.

Physics Web -- This is an online companion to the magazine Physics World (QC1 .P588, C Level). It includes news, conference lists, book reviews, and directories, and a good search engine. See this page for job information.

PhysNet -- This is a worldwide network that allows you to search for documents on the web servers of university physics departments and physics institutions.

Space Telescope Science Institute list of Astronomy Resources

Journal Articles, Preprints, E-Prints, and Grey Literature

ADS (Astrophysics Data System) -- The NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) is a digital library for astronomy and astrophysics. It also covers other subject areas including electrical engineering, geophysics, physics, and instrumentation. 
     Sources of data and information include journals, books, conference proceedings, observatory reports and newsletters, some NASA reports, and PhD theses. 
     It also includes links to articles from APS (American Physical Society), and APS journals' reference lists link to ADS articles.  
     For scanned journals, coverage goes back to Volume 1. For journals not yet scanned, coverage usually goes back to 1975. 
     For information and usage tips, please see this article:  The CDS and NASA ADS Resources [A&A Supp. 143(1), April 2000, Special Issue]

arXiv.org e-print server -- Hosted by Cornell University, arXiv is a collection of e-prints (electronic preprints) in physics, mathematics, non-linear science, computer science, and quantitative biology. http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/

Astrophysical Journal (ApJ), Papers Submitted -- Papers submitted to and accepted by Astrophysical Journal, Astrophysical Journal Supp, and Astrophysical Journal Letters

CERN Document Server -- Over 800,000 bibliographic records in particle physics and related areas. Includes preprints, articles, books, journals, photographs, and more.

Chemical Propulsion Information Analysis Center (CPIAC) -- CPIAC is the national clearinghouse and technical resource center for data, reports, and analyses related to systems and components for chemical, electrical, and nuclear propulsion for rockets, missiles, and space and gun propulsion systems. CPIAC (formerly CPIA) is part of the JHU Whiting School of Engineering.

Fermilab Information Resources Department, Documents -- Allows you to search Fermlib documents and preprints.

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Newsletter List -- A list of 30 worldwide source for newsletters, most of which have full text. 

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Preprint List -- A list of 15 worldwide sources from where you can get the citations or link to the full text of preprints.
 
SPIRES (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) -- The SPIRES-HEP database references worldwide literature in particle physics. It is run by the library at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and has existed since the late 1960's. 
     A history of the evolution of the database, and the collaboration between librarians and physicists, can be found in "The Virtual Library in Action: Collaborative International Control of High-Energy Physics Pre-Prints."

Images

HubbleSite -- Images from the Hubble Space Telescope

NASA's Image Gallery

Observatories, University Groups, Libraries

Berkeley Cosmology Group -- The BCG is an informal association of cosmology researchers in the California Bay Area, including the UC Berkeley departments of physics and astronomy, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and SLAC.

Caltech Astronomy Department -- Research taking place in the department includes The Cosmic Background Imager (CBI), Cosmic Evolution Survey with HST (COSMOS), the Digitized Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (DPOSS), and the Palomar Quest Sky Survey. 

Canada-Hawaii-France Telescope -- This 3.6-meter telescope is atop Mauna Kea, a dorman Hawaiian volcano 4,200 meters above the Pacific Ocean. Observatory headquarters is located in Waimea (Kamuela), as it has been since 1977.

European Southern Observatory (ESO) libraries -- includes access to local and offsite resources.

National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) -- NRAO is a nonprofit research organization that provides state-of-the-art radio telescope facilities for use by the scientific community. The NRAO staff design, build, operate, and maintain their radio telescopes, which are used to study virtually all types of astronomical objects known. The headquarters is in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Royal Observatory, Edinburgh -- The ROE houses the UK Astronomy Technology Centre, the Institute for Astronomy, and the ROE Visitors' Centre. The Centre belongs to the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC) and focuses its work around technologies for use in the optical, infrared and submillimeter wavebands. The Institute is a group within the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics.

U.S. Naval Observatory Library -- This library is an extraordinary resource at an extraordinary place, the U.S. Naval Observatory. The Observatory is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the country and is the authority in the areas of Precise Time and Astrometry. It distributes Earth Orientation parameters and other data required for accurate navigation and fundamental astronomy. 
     In addition to traditional library materials, the library contains historical photos, images, artwork, and historical objects.

Societies, Institutes, and Organizations 

American Astronomical Society 

American Institute of Physics (AIP)

American Physical Society (APS)

Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Astronomisches Rechen-Institut (English version)

IAU: Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams -- A non-profit organization that disseminates information on transient astronomical events.  The mission of the IAU is to "promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation." The IAU is the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations to celeestial bodies and surface features.  
     The well-known IAU telegrams (IAU Circulars) are available online as of December 2002 (they're now called Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams, or CBETs).

Institute of Physics (IoP) 

Lunar and Planetary Institute -- LPI research centers on the evolution and current state of the solar system. It has a computing center, extensive collections of lunar and planetary data, an image-processing facility, an extensive library, education and public outreach programs, and other resources. LPI is housed in Houston, Texas, at the USRA Center for Advanced Space Studies (CASS).

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) -- NASA is America's space agency. Its four mission initiatives are Aeronautics, Exploration Systems, Science, and Space Operations. Its excellent web site includes flight schedules, images, data, news, and much more.

Optical Society of America (OSA) -- OSA has a wide variety of information in all areas of optical physics and engineering. It has links to the full text of Optics & Photonics News, their monthly magazine.

Royal Astronomical Society Space Telescope Science Institute  (see also the STSci list of institutes)

History

Great Debates in Astronomy -- a NASA-sponsored site that includes information about debates with Curtis/Shapley, Paczynski/LAMB, Tammann/van den Bergh, and Peebles/turner

The Nobel Foundation -- Contains a searchable database of all Nobel laureates.

Sue Vazakas, Physics/Astronomy Librarian,
svazakas@jhu.edu, 410-516-4153
Last revised:  January 23, 2008