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Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Featured Online Resource: The Astronomical Almanac
If you are an astronomy scholar or even a serious fan, you may wish to explore the Astronomical Almanac Online. The Almanac is a joint publication of the United States and United Kindom through the United States Naval Observatory, Her Majesty's Nautical Almanac Office, and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office.
The glossary can be a helpful resource to those lest familiar with Astronomical terms. The almanac compiles data on phenomena such as eclipses. It also has sections covering the sun, moon, planets, and more.
The site also allows you to download iCalendar files of a diary of astronomical phenomena. This can be downloaded and imported into calendars in iCalendar 2.0 format such as Outlook, Google, and iCal,
You might notice that some types of information are not available online. This data can be found in the print version of the Astronomical Almanac. Newer copies can be found in the Library's Reference section, at call number: QB 9 .U55. Older copies are in the government documents section at D 213.8. (Just ask for help if you need assistance finding them!)
A list of additional links to helpful information in all three agencies is also available here.
The almanac assumes that viewers have some background in understanding of the data. If you are less familiar, and would just like to learn a bit more about astronomy, you might want to monitor NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day web site. With each photo, a professional astronomer provides a brief explanation of what you are seeing!
The Ort Library regularly brings you a new and outstanding resource from the Web or from one of the library's databases. To get an archive of all FOR entries, click here. Also, you can suggest a website that provides well-organized access to useful info