Question: What’s the best way to start researching astronomy?
Whether you're new to astronomy or a seasoned pro, this pathfinder will have you seeing stars. As you probably know, Astronomy is all about observation. Two ways to observe the skies are looking, as in through a telescope, and listening, as in radio astronomy. These resources will focus on looking at the stars and other objects in the night sky.
Getting Started
The Cambridge
Encyclopedia of Amateur Astronomy by Michael E. Bakich is an excellent
introduction to the topic and a well-organized for the amateur astronomer,
or anyone who wants to become one. It has an extensive section on equipment
and offers lots of observing tips.
You're already online, so let's start our search with the library catalog. You can perform a Keyword search for astronomy, but that will pull up over a thousand hits, so a Subject search might be better.
Subject Headings and Call Numbers
If you're at the library and want to browse the section on astronomy
books, head down to the 520 call
number range. At the Central Library reference books in the 520’s are
located on the fourth floor. Books that check out are on the second
floor and can be found in the in the same call number range.
The subject heading Astronomy will pull up hundreds of titles. If you don’t want to sift through all these, here are some more specific subjects that might be helpful.
Astronomy
Observers Manuals
Astronomy
Popular Works
Astronomy
History
Astronomy
Amateurs Manuals
Outer
Space
Astronomy
Experiments
Reference Books
Astronomy & Space: From the Big Bang to the Big Crunch is great if you're looking for detailed but not technical descriptions of astronomical topics. This is a three volume set.
Dictionary of Astronomical Names provides an entertaining look at astronomical names and their origins.
The Great Atlas of the Stars presents beautiful, giant-sized photographs and transparency diagrams that make it easy to identify the 30 most spectacular constellations listed in this unique atlas.
The Cambridge Illustrated History of Astronomy is nice if you want an easy-to-use resource on the history of astronomy.
The Facts on File Dictionary of Astronomy Edited by Valerie Illingworth. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1994. Whether you're in the dark about light years or want to know all the quirks about quarks, this book will help.
So you liked the previous list of books, but you want something you can take home with you, here are some books that you can check out:
Circulating Books
If you see something you like, click on its title. This will take you
to a page that will tell you what location it belongs at, if it's on the
shelf, or if it's checked out. You can also ask for it to be held for you
from this page. Just click the yellow Request button and then enter your
name, library card number (without spaces), and where you'd like to
pick it up.
Nightwatch: A Practical Guide to Viewing the Universe is an excellent book for beginners. If you haven’t bought a telescope or binoculars yet, be sure and take a look at it.
Astronomy for Dummies Nobody’s calling you a dummy, but this book happens to be one of the most highly recommended introductions to astronomy out there. Plus, author Stephen Maran received NASA’s Medal for Exceptional Achievement, so he’s no slouch.
Skywatching features simple constellation charts that you don’t need to be a scientist to understand.
Exploring the Solar System: Other Worlds is a National Geographic publication that takes you on a tour of our solar system. Some of the highlights include detailed computer-generated recreations of planetary surfaces.
Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax" will let you have some fun looking at astronomy-related urban legends, hoaxes, and misconceptions. The chapter called “Bad Astronomy Goes Hollywood” is especially good.
Periodicals/Magazines
If you're looking for a particular periodical or magazine we have a
great online
tool that will indicate if we have the magazine in print and/or available
via one of our online databases.
Under the ‘Search for Journal by Title’ function, enter the title Astronomy and click the Search button. Astronomy magazine is one of the results. Let's say you want to look at it in print – click on the link that reads Tulsa City-County Library Print Holdings and this will tell you not only where Astronomy magazine is located, but which issue is the most recent that the library has. If you'd rather look at an online version of the magazine, you can do that, too. The links below the print holdings sign will take you to online databases that are accessible through TCCL that contain full-text versions of Astronomy. Be sure you have your library card number ready to use the online sources.
If you'd rather look up articles about astronomy instead of browsing the contents of an online magazine, you can also use the online databases that are available through the library.
Here are some sample articles on astronomy that can be found on these databases:
A Big Year for Astronomy, by David J. Eicher, found in Astronomy
Start with Black Hole, Then Add Stars, by Robert Irion, found in Science Now
U.S. Spacecraft Observatory Set to Study Cosmic Bursts, by Mark Carreau, found in The Houston Chronicle
Scoping out the Solar System, found in Discover
The Dazzling Autumn Night Sky, by Noreen Grice, found in Odyssey
NASA's Latest Planetary Discovery is Ringing a Literary Bell, by Dan Vergano, found in USA Today
Okay, now try it on your own.
Go to the Online Reference Sources.
There are a lot of sources listed. Try Academic Search Elite, Electric Library, MasterFile Premier, Middle Search Plus, Newspaper Source, and MAS Ultra - School Edition sometime. In these online databases you can search by keyword or choose an advanced search.
A good online research tool for the subject of astronomy is Electric Library. In Online Reference Sources, click Electric Library and then click the Topics tab. In the Science topic ‘Physical Sciences’ one of the topics you’ll find is Astronomy and it has several sub-categories such as ‘Comet Impacts’ and ‘History of Astronomy.’
Government Resources
The government produces and organizes a lot of information relating
to astronomy. Lots of it is pretty technical, but here are a few good places
to start:
NASA - This site is full of news, events, and information about space and space exploration.
Space Exploration - The Government Printing Office and Oklahoma State University teamed up to put this collection of resources together for you.
National Space Science Data Center - The NSSDC archives space science data. Take a look at their photo gallery.
Web Sites
Some advice seems obvious but is worth repeating. Like, don’t stare
directly into the sun, and don’t believe everything you read (especially
on the Web). Here’s some info on evaluating
web sites that might come in handy, particularly if you’re looking
for resources that look good on a bibliography for a paper.
In the meantime, here are some fun yet reputable sites that offer up content on astronomy.
Astronomy Picture of the Day The archive has a huge collection of previous pictures of the day, each accompanied by an explanation by a professional astronomer.
Cosmic Evolution This site shows how all cosmic phenomena are related to each other. Check out some of the QuickTime movies if you can.
Explore Mars Take an interactive journey from the comfort of your chair.
Sky and Telescope Here you can create simulations of naked eye views of the sky from anywhere on earth at any time of night. You can even pick dates from the years 1600 to 2400.
Videos and DVDs
The library carries a great selection of videos and DVDs. Here are
some selections that cover astronomy.
Videocassettes
The Astronomers This five-volume set provides a look at the work and worlds of leading scientists and astronomers who are helping to unlock the mysteries of the universe.
Cosmic Highway This 26-episode series examines the full spectrum of modern astronomy, traveling around the world, above the world, and to new worlds; solving old mysteries and creating new ones.
Mysteries of the Universe The twin revolutions in physics and astronomy are explored in this episode of Science Odyssey.
DVDs
Astronomy Part 1 The Standard Deviants, a performing arts group, tackle astronomy concepts and much, much more. Topics in Part I include: ancient astronomy, the celestial sphere, zenith, nadir, and meridian, history of astronomy, Aristarchus, Ptolemy, the Copernican Revolution, Kepler's Laws, gravity, telescopes, and more.
Astronomy Part 2 Topics in part 2 include: each planet and their moons, asteroids, cosmic abundance, comets, meteoroids, solar wind, solar flares, layers of the sun and more.
Cosmos This 13-part series, in both videocassettes and DVDs, is based on Carl Sagan’s 1989 television series, Cosmos.
Astronomy Societies, Organizations, and Clubs
By now you may have become an astronomy fan. If you'd like to join
a group of like-minded people, here are links to some good ones:
The local Astronomy Club of Tulsa has been active in Tulsa and its surrounding communities for over fifty years. They are dedicated to providing a public forum for scientific research, informational exchange, and social interaction for individuals interested in the science and hobby of astronomy.
The American Astronomical Society established 1899, is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America. The basic objective of the AAS is to promote the advancement of astronomy and closely related branches of science.
The Planetary Society is a nonprofit, nongovernmental, space advocacy group.
If you have any questions, contact your local library or ask a librarian!