Useful external links
Organizations and Societies
If you've come here looking for a local (UK) amateur astronomy society, try the BBC's guide to astronomical societies in the UK, or the Federation of Astronomical Societies.Observatories are generally listed separately, as are details of groups and organizations affiliated to the RAS.
Listing here does not imply any endorsement by the RAS of the aims or policies of the societies and organizations listed.
RAS: the Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society, founded in 1820, is the UK's professional body for astronomers and geophysicists.
AAS: the American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society is the major professional organization in North America for astronomers, and includes a monthly Job Register, as well as a searchable membership directory. Publishes a number of journals, including the Astrophysical Journal and the Astronomical Journal American Geophysical Union (AGU) The Americal Geophysical Union is the major professional organization in North America for geophysicists.
Association for Astronomy Education (AAE) The AAE promotes public education in Astronomy, and supports the teaching of Astronomy to students at all levels of education.
BAA: the British Astronomical Association British Astronomical Association, a UK amateur astronomy organization, with its own Journal
BNSC The British National Space Centre.
CaSE The Campaign for Science and Engineering, a pressure group aiming to improve the scientific health of the UK. (Formally Save British Science)
CDS The Center de Donnees astronomiques de Strasbourg -- a major source of astronomical bibliograpic and database services, including Simbad.
CHARA The Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy.
CCP7 Collaborative Computational Project no. 7, concerned with the calculation of theoretical models suitable for the interpretation of stellar and interstellar spectra.
COSPAR The Committee On Space Research
CNES Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (the French space agency)
CSA Canadian Space Agency
CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (supporting the Australia Telescope National Facility).
DLR Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (German Aerospace Center)
ESA European Space Agency, including Space Science Division and Launch information
ESO: the European Southern Observatory ESO maintains optical/IR telescopes in Chile, at La Silla and at Paranal, home of the Very Large Telescope (VLT)
Federation of Astronomical Societies. (FAS) Federation of UK amateur-astronomy societies.
HM National Almanac Office HMNAO is responsible for producing the annual Astronomical Almanac and a variety of other data.
IAU The International Astronomical Union, promotes international cooperation and collaboration in astronomy. The RAS is the UK adhering body to the IAU.
ICSU The International Council for Scientific Unions. Astronomy interests are represented on ICSU through the IAU
IKI IKI is the Russian Space Research Institute.
ISAS The Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (see also NASDA).
The Mars Society The Mars Society
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASDA National Space Development Agency of Japan (see also ISAS).
NOAA The US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration pages, including the Space Environment Center, which offers near-real-time 'space weather' information (solar imagery, auroral activity, etc.).
NOAO The US National Optical Astronomy Observatories
The National Space Centre The National Space Centre in Leicester makes a strong claim to be the UK's largest attraction dedicated to space science and astronomy
PPARC The UK's Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, includes information on Astronomy Programme (AstroNews etc.)
The Planetary Society The Planetary Society.
The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada caters for both professional and amateur members.
Royal Observatory Edinburgh Includes outreach material from the vistor centre.
Royal Observatory Greenwich The Royal Observatory Greewich, home of zero longitude
The Royal Society Royal Society, the independent UK academy promoting natural and applied sciences
SEDS 'Students for the Exploration and Development of Space' (also UKSEDS), an independent, student-based organization which promotes the exploration and development of space - includes lots of useful links.
The Society for the History of Astronomy Promoting academic, educational and popular interest in the history of the science of astronomy and related subjects.
Society for Popular Astronomy (SPA) The Society for Popular Astronomy has over 2500 members of all ages and all astronomical abilities, and especially welcomes those beginning an interest in astronomy. The Web site lists what's in the night sky, and all the latest amateur astronomy news.
SpaceWeather.Com Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment.
Starlink Starlink provides and distributes a wide range of astronomical software.
Application Programmers' Pages An index of web pages maintained by the Starlink Application Programmers.
ST-ECF: the Space Telescope European Co-ordinating Facility The ECF co-ordinates and supports European activities in connection with the Space Telescope (see also the Space Telescope Science Institute and the UK Support Facility in Cambridge.)
STScI: the Space Telescope Science Institute Among other functions, the STScI operates the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). (See also the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility in Garching and the UK Support Facility in Cambridge.)
UK SPACE The UK space industry web site
URSI The International Union of Radio Science (Union Radio-Scientifique Internationale).
Please notify dead links, or suggestions for additional links, to mailto:www.ras.org.uk