Clockwise from top left: 1) Numerical simulation of gravitational waves generated by a black hole, 2) supernova 1987A, 3) Tarantula Nebula, 4) Whirlpool Galaxy M51, 5) Hourglass Planetary Nebula, 6) Cat's Eye Nebula, 7) supernova remnant M1, 8) supernova remnant Cas A.

Astronomy & Graduate Studies

• Eric's Treasure Trove of Astronomy
• Davison Soper: Determining properties of stars
• Webstars: Astrophysics in Cyberspace
• Nick Strobel Galaxy Lecture Notes
• The Astronomy Cafe
• Dr. Odenwald's ASK THE ASTRONOMER : FAQ page
• WWW Astronomy Virtual Library is an excellent resource for people interested in astronomy.
• Satellite-based instruments
• NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) home page has links to tons of great info in their Education and Outreach section, including their own Introduction to Cosmology page.
• NASA's Cosmic Background Explorer satellite home page.
• On the instrumentation side of astronomy, the Hubble Space Telescope, despite its well-publicized initial problems, is probably the single most important telescope in existence.
• Reports
• Careers in Science and Engineering: A Student Planning Guide to Graduate School and Beyond (1996) by the National Academy of Sciences helps to demystify the prospect of pursuing a Masters or PhD.  Search for this book on their website to find other relevant publications.
• National Optical Astronomy Observatories' (NOAO) FAQ About Being an Astronomer is also helpful.
• Careers in Astronomy, Graduate Education in Astronomy, and a page of useful Astronomy Education links from the American Astronomical Society.
• A New Science Strategy for Space Astronomy and Astrophysics by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences' Task Group on Space Astronomy and Astrophysics (TGSAA) outlines "the most important scientific questions for researchers in space astronomy and astrophysics," giving cosmic microwave background measurements top priority.
• Radio Astronomy: Visions for the 21st Century by the Canadian National Research Council is based on a 1994 workshop attended by almost 90 Canadian scientists.
• The Canadian Astronomical Society (CASCA) and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
• The American Institute of Physics (AIP) and the American Physical Society (APS).
• The list of astronomy departments and professors I used to decide where to go to grad school:
• U of Calgary is one university I am considering for graduate studies in some branch of astronomy, e.g. radio astronomy, x-ray astronomy, or infrared astronomy.
• U of Calgary faculty and research interests:
1. Sun Kwok.
2. Denis Leahy.
3. Gene Milone.
4. Russ Taylor.
5. Kevin Volk.
• UBC is another university I'm considering.
• UBC Astronomy faculty research interests:
1. Jason Auman - theoretical, stellar atmospheres.
2. Gregory Fahlman - observational, globular clusters.
3. Phil Gregory - radio astronomy, galactic centres.
4. Mark Halpern - experimental cosmology (CMB).
5. Paul Hickson - observational, compact groups of galaxies, liquid mirrors.
6. Bill McCutcheon - observational, interstellar medium.
7. Jaymie Matthews - observational stellar seismology, variability in stars.
8. Harvey Richer - observational stellar astronomy.
9. Douglas Scott - theoretical CMB.
10. Gordon Walker - planets, stellar variability.
• UVic is another possibility.
• UVic Astronomy faculty (7 members).
1. Arif Babul - galaxy formation, galactic clusters.
2. Ann Gower - quasars, radiogalaxies, VLA.
3. David Hartwick - galaxy formation, dark matter, space distribution of quasars.
4. Colin Scarfe - binary stars.
5. Jeremy Tatum - asteroids, comets.
6. Don Vandenberg - theoretical galactic globular clusters.
• At this point, so is McMaster (5 faculty members in Astrophysics).