Lew & Karen's Home Page
What is IAAC?
What is "Deep-Sky"? (+ links)
Email Access to IAAC
History of IAAC
Find a Deep-Sky Object...
The Observation Archive...
The DISCUSSION Archive...
Enter Your Own Observation!
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscribing to the List!
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NetAstroCatalog -
a mailing list for "deep sky" observers of all levels
What is the Internet Amateur Astronomers Catalog (IAAC)?
The Internet Amateur Astronomers Catalog (IAAC or 'netastrocatalog'
for short) is a forum for amateur astronomers at all levels to share
their observations of Deep-Sky objects. (The 'deep-sky' includes all
objects which are NOT members of our solar system: other galaxies,
star clusters, gaseous nebulae, doubles, and variable stars are all
deep-sky objects). Note that the netastrocatalog is a *catalog of
amateur observations*, not a sales catalog of any kind!
If you'd like to submit your OWN observation of any astronomical
object, please fill out the following Web form with your observation:
http://www.visualdeepsky.org/enter-log.html
Or, if you use one of the wonderful observation-planning applications
out there, such as Jeff Bondono's
dObjects or DeepSky2000,
you may simply be able to submit your observations to the IAAC via a
menu item in your application. Ask your software author about this!
Once you submit your observation to netastrocatalog, it will appear on
the World Wide Web along with countless other amateurs' efforts,
within a week or so. In addition, all 'netastrocatalog' subscribers
will see your submission immediately! The whole (LARGE) archive of
previous logs is available at:
http://www.visualdeepsky.org/netastrocatalog/maillist.html
Or you may search for observations of a particular object at:
http://www.visualdeepsky.org/search.html
Finally, there is a mechanism for searching observations via
email, using the 'retrieve' command in MajorDomo. If you would like to
find out more about this, email the list administrator.
Last but not least, if you submit your logs to any of the deep-sky
observing societies, then you may simply "Cc:" your observation
posting to their respective email addresses as well! The Webb Society for instance, has
indicated that our format is acceptable to them.
NOTE: In addition to the main 'netastrocatalog' list (which is only
intended for observations by amateur astronomers), all participants
are also automatically subscribed to a mailing list for
DISCUSSIONS and ANNOUNCEMENTS relating to the IAAC, called netastrocatalog-announce. Again,
by subscribing to either of these two lists, you are actually
automatically subscribing to BOTH. Similarly, unsubscribing from
either automatically unsubscribes you from both.
Clear skies!
What are "Deep-Sky Objects" anyway?
For those interested in learning more quickly, here are three sites with excellent explanations of the soul and the substance of amateur deep-sky observing: esporte net
NDSOS's "What is Deep-Sky Observing?"
Mark & Carolyn's DeepSky homepage
Sky & Telescope Secrets of Deep-Sky Observing apostas online
Every passion has its object, and the object of amateur astronomy is the visible Universe! casino portugal online But the Universe is a vast and complex place, so that even amateur astronomers have to classify the various things they see "Out There" based on observable characteristics: After all, casino online there are MANY different types of objects visible in our night (and daytime) skies. And each type of object may require its own distinct tools and skills to be well observed by us lucky amateurs. cassino online
Perhaps the most natural dividing line in all of astronomy is that between objects which are gravitationally bound to Earth's Sun on the one hand カジノジャパン (the so-called "Solar System objects"), and everything which isn't on the other. We know many objects to be our fellow-travellers in orbit around the Sun: scommesse online these include eight known planets (excluding Earth), all of their moons (including our own Luna), dizzying numbers and types of asteroids, migliori casino online long- and short-period comets, "meteoroids" (the specks of dust that cause shooting stars), "zodiacal dust" - and of course the Sun and Earth themselves! casino online
Beyond the gravitational grasp of Sol however, lies a vast well of emptiness, reaching all the way to the nearest stars, south africa online casino and then far, far beyond. Inhabiting this daunting vastness are a whole unearthly menagerie of different objects - essentially all of which can be seen with your own eyes, if you have a little knowledge and skill!
Here are some of the basic types of objects which we amateurs love to observe in the Deep Sky, along with links to more info about each!
Lew Gramer
<dedalus@alum.mit.edu>
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