LINKS

Observational Databases

• USNO Tables – Sun/moon rise times and twilight times
• arcsecond.io – A web app that brings the observing activities of astronomers to the cloud.
• Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) – download digitized images of any part of the sky; great for creating finder charts of targets
• ViZier – provides access to published astronomical catalogues; you can search for all objects with catalogued magnitudes, spectra, proper motions, parallaxes, etc. within some coordinate range
• Goddard Astronomical Data Center – NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive, NASA’s archive for space science mission data
• SIMBAD Astronomical Database – provides information on astronomical objects of interest which have been studied in scientific articles.
• Schlegel Dust Maps – This service gives the Galactic dust reddening for a line of sight, returning a reddening map, the corresponding 100 micron intensity, and dust temperature, along with statistics for each.
• SDSS DR9 Finding Chart Tool – Sloan digital sky survey (optical) images of the sky
• GALEXView – GALEX ultraviolet (UV) images of the sky
• NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database – NED is a comprehensive database of multi-wavelength data for extragalactic objects, providing a systematic, ongoing fusion of information integrated from hundreds of large sky surveys and tens of thousands of research publications. 

Publication Archives/Resources

• NASA/ADS – collection of online abstracts and publications in astronomy and astrophysics
• Astro-ph arXiv – archive of papers, abstracts, etc., in astronomy & astrophysics; updated daily M-F; Warning: many of the papers uploaded to the arXiv have not been refereed
• Machine-Readable Table Creator – Create AAS Journal machine-readable (MR) tables that can be included in peer-reviewed publications.

SOAR/Goodman

• Goodman Focus Values – typical camera focus values for photometry & spectroscopy
• SOAR Cameras – cameras showing sky conditions at Cerro Pachon
• Goodman Spectrograph – basic information about the Goodman Spectrograph
• Instrumental Setup Form – this form should be filled out a month in advance of your observing run
• NOIRLab Telescope Schedules – observing schedules for CTIO and KPNO telescopes

UNC Links

• RAMSeS – system for developing and managing research grant proposals and awards
• Class Search – search for course offerings
• University Catalog – contains full course catalog, UNC policies & procedure, and other resources
• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS – confidential individual and group sessions to meet mental health needs – a resource for students and post-docs

Miscellaneous

• Heliocentric Julian Date Converter – Convert UT/JD to HJD
• Julian Date Converter – Convert calendar date to JD
• TESS – description of TESS observations, scheduling, sector descriptions, etc.
• Spyder Python IDE – Spyder is the Scientific PYthon Development EnviRonment: a powerful interactive development environment for the Python language. UNC has a great beginner’s Spyde/Pythong tutorial here and others here.
• ImageTOOLSca – package for viewing/processing FITS images in Windows
• Greg Laughlin’s systemic console – console package for characterizing exoplanets, fitting orbits to RV curves, etc.

Educational Resources

• Guide to Using Python for Data Analysis – a short, interactive guide to using Python for data analysis in experimental physics, written by Nathanael Fortune (Smith College)
• Wheeler’s Rules of Writing – Rules of (scientific) writing
• AstroBetter’s Success in Grad School – tips on applying to, visiting, and choosing a graduate program in astronomy
• Tips for Applying to Graduate School in Astronomy – a Q&A page from UT Austin focused on applying to graduate school in astronomy
• Astronomy REU Sites – list of REU sites in the astronomical sciences
• Khan Academy – Need a little extra help understanding a particular topic, whether in physics, astronomy, economics, or some other field of study? More than likely, you’ll find a video at Khan Academy that will explain just the topic you’re looking for.

For Fun

• Heavens Above – great resource for amateur observing; contains star charts, asteroid/planet/comet ephemerides, satellite passes, etc.
• Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) – new astronomy-related image posted every day; can sync to desktop background
• Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) – like APOD, but focusing on our own planet
• Space Weather – overview of current space weather conditions, including sunspots, auroral activity, solar wind data, etc.
• The Astronomy Cafe – an astronomer’s point-of-view on matters of space, space travel, general science and consciousness