2002 Sci/Tech Web Awards: ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS

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The Nine Planets: A Comprehensive Tour of the Solar System

You say you need to know about some particular aspect of our solar system: the planets, their satellites, the sun, asteroids or comets? Look no farther. Bill Arnett's site is packed with useful images, facts and historical information about the members of our solar neighborhood.

Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial

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Perhaps there's no "bigger" topic than cosmology, the study of the origin, current state and future of our universe. This comprehensive, yet highly accessible Web site provides useful commentary on many aspects of the field. Of particular interest is the "Cosmological Fads and Fallacies" page.

SkyView: The Internet's Virtual Telescope

Looking at heavenly objects in visible light¿the part of the electromagnetic spectrum seen by human eyes¿only reveals part of the story. To get a more complete picture of an object of study, astronomers also seek images in other wavelengths, where otherwise-hidden features can appear. This NASA site provides a remarkable repository of images of the sky made at all parts of the spectrum, from the longest radio waves to the highest-energy gamma rays.

NASA Watch

NASA critic Keith Cowing runs this useful space Web site, where, he promises, "You might learn something." Indeed. On these pages, he posts all kinds of informative tidbits and illuminating comments on America's often-flawed, but enduringly fascinating space-flight effort.

The Astrobiology Web: Your Online Guide to the Living Universe

Are they out there? While the answer to that question will have to wait, in the meantime you can bone up on the nascent field of astrobiology. This resource-packed site provides a one-stop source for information on our current knowledge of how life arose and managed to survive on Earth¿and perhaps elsewhere in the universe. It provides a compendium of links to articles about the field as well.

Next: BIOLOGY

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