List of astronomy acronyms

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a compilation of acronyms commonly used in astronomy. Most of the acronyms are drawn from professional astronomy and are used quite frequently in scientific publications. However, a few of these acronyms are frequently used by the general public or by amateur astronomers.

Contents
0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Top of page — See also — References

The acronyms listed below were placed into one or more of these categories:

Astrophysics terminology - a general category for physics-related acronyms
Catalog - a category for collections of tabulated scientific data
Communications network - a category that includes any network that functions primarily to communicate with spacecraft rather than performing astronomy
Data - a general category for astrophysical data not associated with any single catalog or observing program
Celestial object - a category that contains acronyms for natural objects in space and for adjectives applied to objects in space
Instrumentation - a category for telescope and other spacecraft equipment, particularly detectors such as imagers and spectrometers
Meeting - a category for acronyms used to describe meetings that are not named after organizations
Observing program - an astronomical program, often a survey, performed by one or more individuals; may also refer to the group that performs the survey
Organization - a category for any large private organization, government organization, or company
Person - a category form terms that refer to individual people
Publication - a category for acronyms used for magazines, scientific journals, and similar astronomy-related publications
Software - a cateogry for all software except cataloged data (which is listed under "catalog") and scientific images
Spacecraft - a category that includes all spacecraft except space telescopes
Telescope - a category that includes both ground-based and space telescopes; organizations that operate telescopes (for example, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO)) are listed under "organization"

[edit] 0-9

1RXH - (catalog) 1st ROSAT X-ray HRI, a catalog of sources detected by ROSAT in pointed observations with its High Resolution Imager
1RXS - (catalog) 1ROSAT X-ray Survey, a catalog of sources detected by ROSAT in an all-sky survey
2MASP - (catalog) Two-Micron All Sky Survey Prototype, an early version of the 2MASS catalog
2MASS - (observing program/catalog) Two-Micron All Sky Survey, an all-sky survey in the near-infrared; also used to describe the catalog of sources from the survey
2MASSI - (catalog) Two-Micron All Sky Survey, Incremental release, one of the versions of the 2MASS catalog
2MASSW - (catalog) Two-Micron All Sky Survey, Working database, one of the versions of the 2MASS catalog

[edit] A

A&A - (publication) Astronomy & Astrophysics, a European scientific journal
AAO - (telescope) Anglo-Australian Observatory
AAS - (organization) American Astronomical Society
AAVSO - (organization) American Association of Variable Star Observers
ABRIXAS - (observing program) A BRoadband Imaging X-ray All-sky Survey
AC - (catalog) Catalogue Astrographique
ACE - (spacecraft) Advanced Composition Explorer
ACIS - (instrumentation) Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer, an instrument on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
ACM - (meeting) Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors
ACS - (instrumentation) Advanced Camera for Surveys, an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope
ACV - (celestial object) Alpha Canes Venatici, a class of rotating variable stars with strong magnetic fields named after Alpha Canum Venaticorum (Cor Caroli), the archetype for the class
ACYG - (celestial object) Alpha CYGni, a class of rotating variable stars named after Alpha Cygni (Deneb), the archetype for the class
ADAF - (astrophysics terminology) Advection Dominated Accretion Flow, a mechanism by which matter is slowly accreted onto a black hole
ADC - (organization) Astronomical Data Center
ADEC - (organization) Astrophysics Data Centers Executive Council, an organization that provides oversight for the Astrophysics Data and Information Services
ADF - (organization) Astrophysics Data Facility
ADS - (catalog) Aitken Double Stars
ADIS - (organization) Astrophysics Data and Information Services
ADS - (organization) Astrophysics Data Service, an organization that maintains an online database of scientific articles
AFGL - (organization) Air Force Geophysics Laboratory
AFOEV - (organization) Association Francaise des Observateurs d'Etoiles Variables
AG - (organization) Astronomische Gesellschaft
AGAPE - (observing program) Andromeda Galaxy and Amplified Pixels Experiment, a search for microlenses in front of the Andromeda Galaxy
AGB - (celestial object) Asymptotic Giant Branch, a description for a type of red giant star
AGK - (catalog) Astronomische Gesellschaft Katalog
AGN - (celestial object) Active Galactic Nucleus
AGU - (organization) American Geophysical Union
AIPS - (software) Astronomical Image Processing System
AJ - (publication) Astronomical Journal
ALEXIS - (instrumentation) Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors
ALPO - (organization) Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers
ALMA - (telescope) Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array
AMANDA - (telescope) Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array, a neutrino telescope
AMASE - (software) Astrophysics Multi-spectral Archive Search Engine
AMS - (organization) American Meteor Society
AN - (publication) Astronomische Nachrichten, a German scientific journal
ANS - (telescope) Astronomical Netherlands Satellite
ANS - (organization) Astro News Service
ANSI - (organization) American National Standards Institute
AO - (instrumentation) Adaptive Optics
AOR - (instrumentation) Astronomical Observation Request
ApJ - (publication) Astrophysical Journal
- ApJL - (publication) Astrophysical Journal Letters
- ApJS - (publication) Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
APM - (instrumentation/catalog), Automatic Plate Measuring machine, describes both a machine for making measurements from photographic plates and a catalog based on measurements by the machine
APOD - (data) Astronomy Picture of the Day
APT - (telescope) Automated Patrol Telescope
ARC - (organization) Ames Research Center
ARC - (organization) Astrophysical Research Consortium
ASA - (organization) Astronomical Society of the Atlantic
ASI - (organization) Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
ASIAA - (organization) Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics
ASP - (organization) Astronomical Society of the Pacific
ATCA - (telescope) Australia Telescope Compact Array
AU - (measurement) Astronomical Unit, the distance between the Earth and the Sun
AUASS - (organization) Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences
AURA - (organization) Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
AWCA - (meeting) American Workshop on Cometary Astronomy, an older name for the International Workshop on Cometary Astronomy
AXP - (celestial object) Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar
AXAF - (telescope) Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, an older name for the Chandra X-ray Observatory

[edit] B

B - (catalog) Barnard catalog
BAA - (organizagtion) British Astronomical Association
BAAS - (publication) Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
BAC - (catalog) Bordeaux Astrographic Catalog
BAO - (organization) Beijing Astronomical Observatory
BASIS - (observing program) Burst and All Sky Imaging Survey
BAT - (instrumentation) Burst Alert Telescope, an instrument on SWIFT
BATC - (observing program) Beijing-Arizona-Taiwan-Connecticut, the name of a multiwavelenght sky survey
BATSE - (instrument) Burst and Transient Source Experiment, an instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory
BATTeRS - (telescope) Bisei Asteroid Tracking Telescopes for Rapid Survey
BB - (astrophysics terminology) Black Body
BBXRT - (telescope) Broad Band X-Ray Telescope
BCD - (celestial object) Blue Compact Dwarf
BCD - (software) Basic Calibrated Data, data produced after basic processing
BCEP - (celestial object) Beta CEPhei, a class of pulsating variable stars for which Beta Cephei is the archetypal object
- also BCE
BCG - (celestial object) Blue Compact Galaxy, another name for a blue compact dwarf
BCVS - (catalog) Bibliographic Catalogue of Variable Stars
BD - (catalog) Bonner Durchmusterung
BD - (celestial object) Brown Dwarf
BEN - (catalog) Jack Bennett catalog, a catalog of deep-sky objects for amateur astronomers
BF - (astrophysics terminology) Broadening Function
BH - (celestial object) Black Hole
BHB - (celestial object) Blue Horizontal Branch, a description for a type of luminous star
BHC - (celestial object) Black Hole Candidate
BHXRT - (celestial object) Black Hole X-Ray Transient
- also BHXT
BIMA - (telescope) Berkeley Illinois Maryland Array, a microwave telescope
BIS - (organization) British Interplanetary Society
BLLAC - (celestial object) BL LACertae, a class of active galaxies for which BL Lacertae is the archetypal object
- also BLL
BNSC - (organization) British National Space Centre
BPM - (catalog) Bruce Proper Motion
BSG - (celestial object) Blue Super Giant
BSS - (celestial object) Blue Straggler Star
- also BS
BSS - (observing program) Bigelow Sky Survey
BY - (celestial object) BY Draconis, a class of rotating variable stars for which BY Draconis is the archetypal object

[edit] C

CADC - (organization) Canadian Astronomy Data Centre
CAPS - (instrumentation) CAssini Plasma Spectrometer, an instrument on the Cassini spacecraft
CARA - (organization) California Association for Research in Astronomy
CARA - (organization) Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica
CASS - (organization) Center for Advanced Space Studies
CBR - (celestial object) Cosmic Background Radiation
CC - (celestial object) Candidate Companion, a newly detected observed object that initially appears to orbit another celestial object
CCD - (instrumentation) Charge Coupled Device
CCDM - (catalog) Catalog of Components of Double and Multiple Stars
CCO - (catalog) Catalogue of Cometary Orbits
CCO - (celestial object) Central Compact Object, a compact star in the center of a planetary nebulae
CCS - (celestial object) Cool Carbon Star
CD - (catalog) Cordoba Durchmusterung
CDIMP - (catalog) Catalogue of Discoveries and Identifications of Minor Planets
CDM - (astrophysics terminology) Cold Dark Matter, used to describe models for structure formation in the universe that include "cold" particles such as WIMPs as dark matter
CDS - (organization) Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg
CEP - (celestial object) CEPheid, a type of pulsating variable star
CEPS - (organization) Center for Earth and Planetary Studies
CfA - (organization) Center for Astrophysics
CFHT - (telescope) Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
CFRS - (observing program), Canada-France Redshift Survey
CG - (astrophysics terminology) Center of Gravity
CG - (celestial object) Cometary Globule, a Bok globule that show signs of a tail-like extension
CG - (celestial object) Compact Galaxy
CGCS - (celestial object) Cool Galactic Carbon Star
CGRO - (telescope) Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
CGSS - (catalog) Catalogue of Galactic S Stars
CHARA - (organization) Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy
CIAO - (software) Chandra Interactive Analaysis of Observations, software for processing Chandra X-ray Observatory data
CIAO - (instrumentation) Coronagraphic Imager with Adaptive Optics, an instrument for the Subaru Telescope
CIBR - (celestial object) Cosmic Infrared Background Radiation
- also CIB
CIDA - (instrumentation) Cometary Interplanetary Dust Analyzer, an instrument on the Stardust spacecraft
CINEOS - (observing program) Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey
CIO - (catalog) Catalog of Infrared Observations
CISCO - (instrumentation) Cooled Infrared Spectrograph and Camera for OHS, an instrument for the Subaru Telescope
CM - (astrophysics terminology) Center of Mass
CMBR - (celestial object) Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
- also CMB, CBR, MBR
CMC - (catalog) Carlsberg Meridian Catalogue
CMD - (astrophysics terminology) Color-Magnitude Diagram, commonly used to describe the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram or similar diagrams
- also CM
CNB - (celestial object) Cosmic Neutrino Background
CNES - (organization) Centre Nationale d'Etudes Spatiales
CNO - (astrophysics terminology) Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen, a sequence of nuclear fusion processes
CNR - (organization) Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
CNSR - (spacecraft) Comet Nucleus Sample Return
COBE - (telescope) Cosmic Background Explorer, a space telescope used to study the cosmic microwave background radiation
COHSI - (instrumentation) Cambridge OH-Suppression Instrument
Col - (catalog) Collinder
COMICS - (instrumentation) COoled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer, an instrument for the Subaru Telescope
CGRO - (telescope) COMPton TELescope, another name for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
COROT - (telescope) COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits, a space telescope for detecting extrasolar planets
COSPAR - (organization) COmmittee on SPAce Research
COSTAR - (instrumentation) Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement, corrective optics for the Hubble Space Telescope
CP - (astrophysics terminology) Chemically Peculiar, a description for stars withpeculiar chemical compositions
CPD - (catalog) Cape Photographic Durchmusterung
CRAF - (spacecraft) Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby
CSA - (organization) Canadian Space Agency
CSBN - (organization) Committee for Small-Body Nomenclature
CSE - (celestial object) Circumstellar Envelope, structural descriptions of a planetary nebula
CSI - (catalog) Catalog of Stellar Identification, a compilation of the catalogs, BD, CD, and CPD
CSO - (telescope) Caltech Submillimeter Observatory
CSPN - (celestial object) Central Star of Planetary Nebula
- also CSPNe (plural form of CSPN)
CSS - (observing program) Catalina Sky Survey
CST - (astrophysics terminology) ConStanT, used to describe non-variable stars
CSV - (catalog) Catalog of Suspected Variables
CTIO - (telescope/organization) Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory
CTTS - (celestial object) Classical T-Tauri Star
CV - (celestial object) Cataclysmic Variable, a type of variable binary star system that contains a white dwarf and a companion star that changes
CW - (celestial object) Cepheid W Virginis, a class of Cepheids named after W Virginis, the archetype for the class
- CWA - (celestial object) Cepheid W Virginis A, a subclass of CW stars that that vary in brightness on timescales of less than 8 days
- CWB - (celestial object) Cepheid W Virginis B, a subclass of CW stars that vary in brightness on timescales greater than 8 days
CXBR - (celestial object) Cosmic X-ray Background Radiation
CXO - (catalog) Chandra X-ray Observation, a catalog based from the Chandra space telescope

[edit] D

DAO - (organization) Dominion Astrophysical Observatory
DCEP - (celestial object) Delta CEPhei, a class of Cepheids named after Delta Cephei, the archetype for the class
DENIS - (observing program/catalog) DEep Near Infrared Survey
DENIS-P - (catalog) DEep Near Infrared Survey, Provisory designation
DES - (observing program) Deep Ecliptic Survey
DIB - (celestial object) Diffuse Instellar Band, an absorption feature in stellar spectra with an interstellar origin
DN - (celestial object) Dwarf Nova
DNS - (celestial object) Double Neutron Star, another name for a binary neutron star system
DPOSS - (data) Digitized Palomar Observatory Sky Survey
DS - (celestial object) Dwarf Star
DSCT - Delta SCuTi, a class of pulsating variable stars named after Delta Scuti, the archetype for the class
DSN - (communications network) Deep Space Network, a network of radio antennae used for communicating to spacecraft
DSS - (data) Digitized Sky Survey

[edit] E

E - (celestial object) Eclipsing, used to describe a binary star system with variable brightness in which the stars eclipse each other
- EA - (celestial object) Eclipsing Algol, a class of eclisping binary stars named after Algol, the archetype for the class
- EB - (celestial object) Eclipsing Beta Lyrae, a class of eclisping binary stars named after Beta Lyrae, the archetype for the class
- EW - (celestial object) Eclipsing W Ursa Majoris, a class of eclisping binary stars named after W Ursa Majoris, the archetype for the class
ECA - (celestial object) Earth Crossing Asteroid
EGG - (celestial object) Evaporating Gaseous Globule
EGGR - (catalog) Eggen & Greenstein, a catalog of mostly white dwarfs
EGP - (celestial object) Extrasolar Giant Planet
EGRET - (telescope) Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope, another name for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
EHB - (celestial object) Extreme Horizontal Branch, the escription for a type of hot, evolved star
EJASA - (publication) Electronic Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic
EKBO - (celestial object) Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt Object, an alternative name for Kuiper Belt Objects
ELIAS - (observing program) European Large Area ISO Survey, a survey of high redshift galaxies performed with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)
EMP - (catalog) Ephemerides of Minor Planets
ENACS - (observing program) ESO Nearby Abell Cluster Survey, a survey of galaxy clusters
ERO - (celestial object) Extremely Red Object, a name applied to galaxies with red spectra
ESA - (organization) European Space Agency
ESO - (organization) European Southern Observatory
ESTEC - (organization) European Space research and TEchnology Centre
EUV - (astrophyics terminology) Extreme UltraViolet
EUVE - (telescope) Extreme UltraViolet Explorer, an ultraviolet space telescope
EVN - (organization) European VLBI Network

[edit] F

FAME - (telescope) Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer
FASTT - (telescope) Flagstaff Astrometric Scanning Transit Telescope
FCC - (catalog) Fornax Cluster Catalog, a catalog of galaxies in the Fornax Cluster
FGS - (instrumentation) Fine Guidance Sensors, an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope
FHST - (instrumentation) Fixed Head Star Trackers, an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope
FIR - (astrophysics terminology) Far InfraRed
FIRST - (observing program) Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters, a radio survey of the sky with the Very Large Array
FIRST - (telescope) Far InfraRed and Submillimeter Space Telescope, an older name for the Herschel Space Observatory
FITS - (software) Flexible Image Transport System, the format commonly used for scientific astronomy images
FLOAT - (telescope) Fibre-Linked Optical Array Telescope
FLWO - (telescope) Fred L. Whipple Observatory
FMO - (cenestial object) Fast Moving Object, a description for asteroids so close to the Earth that they appear to be moving very fast
FOC - (instrumentation) Faint Object Camera, a camera formerly on the Hubble Space Telescope
FOCAS - (instrumentation) Faint Object Camera And Spectrograph, an instrument for the Subaru Telescope
FOS - (instrumentation) Faint Object Spectrograph, a spectrometer formerly on the Hubble Space Telescope
FOV - (instrumentation) Field Of View
FRED - (astrophysics terminology) Fast Rise Exponential Decay, used to describe the variations in the luminosity of gamma ray bursts over time
FSC - (catalog) Faint Source Catalogue, one of the catalogs produced using Infrared Astronomical Satellite data
FTL - (astrophysics terminology) Faster Than Light
FUOR - (celestial object) FU Orionis objects, a class of variable pre-main sequence stars named after FU Orionis, the archetype for the class
- also FU
FUSE - (telescope) Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, an ultraviolet space telescope
FUVITA - (instrumentation) Far UltraViolet Imaging Telescope Array, an ultraviolet imager for the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma mission
FWHM - (instrumentation) Full Width at Half Maximum, used to describe telescopes' resolution
FWZI - (instrumentation) Full Width at Zero Intensity, used to describe telescopes' resolution

[edit] G

G - (catalog) Giclas, a catalog of nearby stars
GAIA - (telescope) Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics, a planned space telescope that will be used to make high-precision measurements of stars
GALEX - (telescope) Galaxy Evolution Explorer, an ultraviolet space telescope
GASP - (software) Guide star Astrometric Support Package
GAT - (catalog) AO (Gatewood+), catalog of G. Gatewood's observations
GBT - (telescope) Green Bank Telescope
GC - (catalog) General Catalog, a catalog of clusters, nebulae, and galaxies created by John Herschel and now superseded by the New Galactic Catalogue
GCAS - (celestial object) Gamma CASsiopeiae, a class of eruptive variable stars named after Gamma Cassiopeiae, the archetype for the class
GCN - (organization) GRB Coordinates Network
GCR - (astrophysics terminology) Galactic Cosmic Rays
GCVS - (catalog) the General Catalog of Variable Stars
GD - (catalog) Giclas Dwarf, a catalog of white dwarf
GEM - (observing program) Galactic Emission Mapping
GEM - (observing program) Galileo Europa Mission, the description for the science observation program of Europa performed by the Galileo spacecraft
GEM - (observing program) Giotto Extended Mission, the description for the extended operations of the Giotto spacecraft
GDS - (celestial object) Great Dark Spot, a transient feature in the clouds of Neptune
GEODDS - (telescope) Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance, a network of telescopes used in a United States Air Force program for observing space junk
GH - (catalog) Giclas Hyades, a catalog of stars in the Hyades cluster
GHRS - (instrumentation) Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph, a spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope
- also HRS
GIA - (organization) Gruppo Italiano Astrometristi
GIMI - (instrumentation) Global Imaging Monitor of the Ionosphere, an ultraviolet imager on the Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite
GJ - (catalog) Gliese & Jahreiß/Jahreiss catalog
GL - (catalog) Gliese catalog
GLAST - (telescope) Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope
GMC - (celestial object) Giant molecular Cloud
GMF - (celestial object) Galactic Magnetic Field
GMRT - (telescope) Giant Meter Radio Telescope
GONG - (organization) Global Oscillation Network Group, an organization that monitors oscillations in the Sun
GP - (astrophysics terminology) Giant Pulses, a description for a type of observed pulse emission from pulsars
GPS - (astrophysics teminology) GHz-Peaked Spectrum, a description for the radio or microwave spectra of some galaxies
GR - (astrophysics terminology) General Relativity
GR - (catalog) Giclas Red dwarf, a catalog of red dwarfs
GRB - (celestial object) Gamma Ray Burst
GRO - (telescope) Gamma Ray Observatory, another name for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
GROSCE - (telescope) Gamma Ray Burst Optical Counterparts Search Experiment, an automated telescope used to detect the optical counterparts to gamma ray bursts
GRS - (instrumentation) Gamma Ray Spectrometer, an instrument on the Mars Observer
GRS - (celestial object) Great Red Spot, a feature in the clouds of Jupiter
GSC - (catalog) Guide Star Catalog, a catalog of stars used for pointing the Hubble Space Telescope
GSC2 - (catalog) Guide Star Catalog version 2, a catalog of stars used for pointing the Hubble Space Telescope
- also GSC II
GSFC - (organization) Goddard Space Flight Center, a NASA institution
GSPC - (catalog) Guide Star Photometric Catalog, a catalog of stars with precisely-measured fluxes used to calibrate the Guide Star Catalog

[edit] H

HAeBe - (celestial object) Herbig AeBe star, a type of pre-main sequence star with strong spectral emission lines
- HAe - (celestial object) Herbig Ae star
- HBe - (celestial object) Herbig Be star
HALCA - (telescope) Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communications and Astronomy, a satellite that is part of the VLBI Space Observatory Program, a Japanese radio astronomy project
HAO - (organization) High Altitude Observatory
HB - (celestial object) Horizontal Branch, a description for a type of evolved red giant star in which helium is burned in the core and hydrogen is burned in a shell around the core
HBV - (catalog) Hamburg-Bergedorf Variables, a catalog of variable stars
HBMM - (astrophysics terminology) Hydrogen Burning Minimum Mass
HCO - (organization) Harvard College Observatory
HCS - (celestial object) Heliospheric Current Sheet, the boundary where the polarity of the Sun's magnetic field changes direction
HD - (catalog) Henry Draper, a catalog of stars
HDE - (catalog) Henry Draper Extension, a catalog of stars
HDF - (data/celestial object) Hubble Deep Field, an area of the sky with little foreground obscuration that was observed deeply with the Hubble Space Telescope; also the name for the data product itself
HDM - (astrophysics terminology) Hot Dark Matter, a description for cosmological models treating neutrinos as dark matter
HDS - (instrumentation) High Dispersion Spectrograph, a spectrograph on the Subaru Telescope
HE - (catalog) Hamburg/ESO Survey
HEAO - (telescope) High Energy Astronomical Observatory, a series of X-ray and gamma ray space telescopes
HEASARC - (organization) High Energy Astrophysics Science Archival Research Center, a NASA organization that deals with X-ray and gamma ray telescope data
HESS - (telescope) High Energy Stereoscopic System, a telescope for detecting cosmic rays
HETE - (telescope) High Energy Transient Explorer, a space telescope that performs multiwavelength observations of gamma ray bursts
HF - (astrophysics terminology) High Frequency
HGA - (instrumentation) High Gain Antenna
HH - (celestial object) Herbig-Haro object, objects formed when the ejecta from new stars collides with the interstellar medium
- also HHO
HIC - (catalog) HIPPARCOS Input Catalog, a catalog of data for the first target stars selected for observation by the Hipparcos
HIP - (catalog) HIPPARCOS, the catalog of data produced by Hipparcos
HIPASS - (catalog) HI Parkes All-Sky Survey, a catalog of galaxies with bright radio emission from hydrogen
HIPPARCOS - (telescope) HIgh Precision PARallax COllecting Satellite, a space telescope specifically designed to measure distances to stars using parallax
HISA - (astrophysical terminology) HI Self-Absorption region
HLIRG - (celestial oject) HyperLuminous Infrared Galaxy, a galaxy that is brighter than 10¹³ solar luminosities in the infrared
HMC - (instrumentation) Halley Multicolor Camera, an instrument on the Giotto spacecraft
HMPO - (celestial object) High-Mass Proto-stellar Object
HMXB - (celestial object) High-Mass X-Ray Binary, an X-ray-luminous binary system consisting of a compact star and a massive star
HPMS - (celestial object) High Proper Motion Star, a star with high proper motion
HR - (catalog) Hoffleit Bright Star
HR - (astrophysics terminology) Hertzsprung-Russell, a description for a diagram that compares stars' colors to their luminosities
HRC-I - (instrumentation) High Resolution Camera, an instrument on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
HRD - (instrumentation) High Rate Detector, an instrument on the Cassini spacecraft
HRMS - (observing program) High Resolution Microwave Survey, a survey for microwave signals from extraterrestrial intelligence
HRI - (instrumentation) High Resolution Imager, an instrument on the ROSAT telescope
HSP - (instrumentation) High Speed Photometer, an instrument formerly on the Hubble Space Telescope
HST - (telescope) Hubble Space Telescope
HUT - (telescope) Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, an ultraviolet telescope that operated from the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle
HVC - (celestial object) High Velocity Cloud, an interstellar cloud with a velocity that is too high to be explained by galactic rotation
HXD - (instrumentation) Hard X-ray Detector, an instrument on the on the Suzaku space telescope
HVS - (celestial object) Hypervelocity Star or High Velocity Star

[edit] I

IAC - (organization) Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
IAPPP - (organization) International Amateur/Professional Photoelectric Photometry
IAS - (organization) Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale
IASY - (observing program) International Active Sun Year, the name given to a series of coordinated Sun-related observational programs performed in 1969 and 1971
IAU - (organization) International Astronomical Union
IAUC - (publication) IAU Circular
IAYC - (meeting) International Astronomical Youth Camp
IBVS - (publication) Information Bulletin on Variable Stars
IC - (catalog) Index Catalog
IC - (celestial object) Intracluster, a general term to describe either the regions between stars in star clusters or the region between galaxies in galaxy clusters
ICE - (spacecraft) International Comet Explorer
ICM - (celestial object) Intracluster Medium, is the superheated gas present at the center of a galaxy cluster
ICQ - (publication) International Comet Quarterly
ICRF - (astrophysics terminology) International Celestial Reference Frame, a coordinate system based on radio sources used to define the locations of objects in the sky
ICRS - (astrophysics terminology) International Celestial Reference System, a coordinate system based on Hipparcos observations used to define the locations of objects in the sky
IDA - (organization) International Dark-Sky Association, an organization that seeks to control light pollution
IDP - (celestial object) Interplanetary Dust Particle, dust particles around planets or planetary bodies
IDS - (catalog) Index catalog of Double Stars
IEO - (astrophysics terminology) Inner-Earth Object, used to describe the orbits of asteroids
IERS - (organization) International Earth Rotation geophysical Service or International Earth rotation and Reference systems Service, an organization that monitors the Earth's orientation with respect to the radio sources used to define the ICRF
IfA - (organization) Institute for Astronomy, the astronomy research division of the University of Hawaii
IGM - (celestial object) InterGalactic Medium
IGR - (catalog) Integral Gamma-Ray source, a catalog based on observations by the INTEGRAL telescope
IGY - (observing program) International Geophysical Year, the name given to a series of coordinated geophysical and astronomical observation programs performed in 1957 and 1958
IHW - (organization) International Halley Watch, an organization created to coordinate observations of Halley's Comet in 1986
ILOM - (spacecraft) In-situ Lunar Orientation Measurement, a mission to measure variations in the orientation of the Moon fromk the Moon's surface
IMBH - (celestial object) Intermediate Mass Black Hole
IMF - (astrophysics terminology) Initial Mass Function, used to describe the relative numbers of stars of different masses that form during star formation
IMO - (organization) International Meteor Organization
IMPACT - (meeting) International Monitoring Programs for Asteroid and Comet Threat
IMPS - (observing program) IRAS Minor Planet Survey
INAG - (organization) Institut National d'Astronomie et de Geophysique
ING - (organization) Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
INS - (celestial object) Isolated Neutron Star
INT - (telescope) Isaac Newton Telescope
INTEGRAL - (telescope) INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, a gamma-ray space telescope
IoA - (organization) Institute of Astronomy, an astronomy research department at Cambridge University
IOTA - (telescope) Infrared-Optical Telescope Array
IOTA - (organization) International Occultation Timing Association, an organization for monitoring occultations
IPAC - (organization) Infrared Processing & Analysis Center
IPMO - (celestial object) Isolated Planetary Mass Objects, another name for isolated planemos or sub-brown dwarfs
IQSY - (observing program) International Quiet Sun Year, the name given to a series of coordinated Sun-related observational programs performed in 1964 and 1965
IR - (astrophysics terminology) InfraRed
IRAC - (instrumentation) Infrared Array Camera, a mid-infrared imager on the Spitzer Space Telescope
IRAF - (software) Image Reduction and Analisys Facility, a general-purpose professional data-processing package
IRAM - (organization) Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimetrique
IRAS - (telecope/catalog) InfraRed Astronomical Satellite, an infrared space telescope; also used to describe the catalog produced using the telescope's data
IRCS - (instrumentation) InfraRed Camera and Spectrograph, an instrument on the Subaru Telescope
IRDC - (celestial object) Infrared Dark Cloud
IRTF - (telescope) InfraRed Telescope Facility
IRSA - (organization) Infrared Science Archive
ISAS - (organization) Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
ISEE - (spacecraft) International Sun Earth Explorer, a series of spacecraft designed to study the effects of the Sun on the Earth's space environment and magnetosphere
ISM - (celestial object) InterStellar Medium
ISN - (organization) International Supernovae Network
ISO - (telescope) Infrared Space Observatory
ISPM - (spacecraft) International Solar Polar Mission, another name for the Ulysses spacecraft
ISSA - (data) Infrared Sky Survey Atlas, an atlas compiled from Infrared Astronomical Satellite data
ISTeC - (organization) International Small Telescope Cooperative
ISY - (observing program/meeting) International Space Year, the name given to a celebration of space exploration as well as a series of coordinated astronomical observations and a series of meetings to plan future astronomy research efforts
ITA - (organization) Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, one of three organizations that was combined to form the Institute of Astronomy
IUE - (telescope) International Ultraviolet Explorer, an ultraviolet space telescope
IUEDAC - (organization) IUE satellite Data Analysis Center
IWCA - (meeting) International Workshop on Cometary Astronomy

[edit] J

JAC - (publication) Japan Astronomical Circular
JAC - (organization) Joint Astronomy Centre, the organization that operates the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
JAPOA - (organization) Japan Amateur Photoelectric Observers Association
JAXA - (organization) Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency
JCMT - (telescope) James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
JD - (astrophysics terminology) Julian Date, an alternative time commonly used in astronomy
JET-X - (telescope) Joint European Telescope for X-ray astronomy
JGR - (publication) Journal of Geophysical Research
JILA - (organization) Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics
JKT - (telescope) Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope
JPL - (organization) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a research center associated with NASA
JSGA - (telescope/organization) Japan SpaceGuard Association, a Japanese telescope used to track near-Earth asteroids and space junk
JWST - (telescope) James Webb Space Telescope, a planned space telescope that will supersede the Hubble Space Telescope

[edit] K

KAIT - (telescope) Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope
KAO - (telescope) Kuiper Airborne Observatory
KBO - (celestial object) Kuiper Belt Object
KCAO - (organization) Kumamoto Civil Astronomical Observatory
KIC - (catalog) Kepler Input Catalog, a catalog of stars with potential extrasolar planets to be observed by the Kepler Mission
KPNO - (organization) Kitt Peak National Observatory

[edit] L

L - (astrophysics terminology) Lagrange, used to describe Lagrange points
L - (catalog) Luyten, a catalog of proper motion measurements of stars
LAEFF - (organization) Laboratorio de Astrofisica Espacial y Fisica Fundamental, a Spanish astronomy research organization
LAL - (catalog) LALande, a historical catalog of stars
LANL - (organization) Los Alamos National Laboratory
LASCO - (instrumentation) Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph, an instrument on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
LASER - (instrumentation) Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
LBN - (catalog) Lynds Bright Nebula, a catalog of bright nebulae
LBNL - (organization) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
LBT - (telescope) Large Binocular Telescope
LBV - (celestial object) Luminous Blue Variable, a type of very bright variable star
LCDM - (astrophysics terminology) Lambda Cold Dark Matter, used to describe models for structure formation in the universe that include dark energy
- also ΛCDM
LCRS - (observing program) Las Campanas Redshift Survey
LDN - (catalog) Lynds Dark Nebula, a catalog of dark nebulae
LDS - (catalog) Luyten Double Star
LEO - (astrophysics terminology) Low Earth Orbit
LEST - (telescope) Large Earth-based Solar Telescope
LETGS - (instrumentation) Low Energy Transmission Gratings Spectrometer, an instrument on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
- also LETG
LF - (astrophysics terminology) Luminosity Function, used to describe the spatial density of objects such as star clusters and galaxies as a function of their luminosity
LFT - (catalog) Luyten Five-Tenths, a catalog of stars with proper motions exceeding 0.5"
LGA - (instrumentation) Low Gain Antenna
LGM - (celestial object) Little Green Men, a humorous name applied to pulsars soon after their discovery
LHEA - (organization) Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics
LHS - (catalog) Luyten Half-Second, a catalog of stars with proper motions exceeding 0.5"
LIC - (celestial object) Local Interstellar Cloud, the cloud in the interstellar medium through which the solar system is currently moving
LIGO - (telescope) Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, an instrument for detecting gravitational waves
LINEAR - (observing program) Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research
LINER - (celestial object) Low Ionization Nuclear Emission Region, a galactic nucleus that is characterized by spectral line emission from weakly-ionized gas
LIRG - (celestial object) Luminous Infrared Galaxy, a galaxy that is between 10¹¹ and 10¹² solar luminosities in the infrared
LISA - (telescope) Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, a series of spacecraft that can be used to detect gravitational waves
LLAGN - (celestial object) Low Luminosity Active Galactic Nucleus, an active galactic nucleus with a low luminosity
LLNL - (organization) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
LMC - (celestial object) Large Magellanic Cloud, an irregular galaxy near the Milky Way
LMS - (celestial object) Lower Main Sequence star, used to describe the less massive hydrogen-burning main sequence stars
LMXB - (celestial object) Low-Mass X-Ray Binary, an X-ray-luminous binary star system in which one of the stars is a neutron star or black hole that is stripping material away from the other star in the system
LN2 - (instrumentation) Liquid Nitrogen
LONEOS - (observing program) Lowell Observatory Near-Earth Object Search
LOSS - (observing program) Lick Observatory Supernova Search
LOTIS - (telescope) Livermore Optical Transient Imaging System, a telescope designed to find the optical counterparts of gamma ray bursts
LOTOSS - (observing program) Lick Observatory and Tenagra Observatory Supernova Searches
LP - (catalog) Luyten Palomar, a catalog of proper motion measurements of stars
LPL - (organization) Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, the planetary science department of the University of Arizona
LPO - (organization) La Palma Observatory
LPV - (celestial object) Long Period Variable, a type of variable star that changes in brightness slowly over time
LRG - (celestial object) Luminous Red Galaxy, generally refers to a dataset of galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that were selected on the basis of their red colors
LSR - (astrophysics terminology) Local Standard of Rest, used to describe the frame of reference with a velocity equal to the average velocity of all the stars in the solar neighborhood, including the Sun
LST - (astrophysics terminology) Local Sidereal Time, the right ascension that is currently at the zenith
LTE - (astrophysics terminology) Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium, refers to a state where variations in temperature, pressure, etc. do not vary on small scales
LTP - (astrophysics terminology) Lunar Transient Phenomenon, used to describe an observed event (such as a flash of light) on the surface of the Moon
LTT - (catalog) Luyten Two-Tenths, a catalog of proper motion measurements for stars

[edit] M

M - (catalog) Messier
M - (celestial object) Mira, a class of long period pulsating variable stars named after Mira, the archetype for the class
MAC - (observing program) Multi instrument Aircraft Campaign, a program to study the cometary dust from the Leonids meteor showers
MACHO - (celestial object/observing program/catalog) MAssive Compact Halo Object, an object in the Milky Way's halo thought to comprise part of the galaxy's dark matter; also used to refer to a survey to detect these sources through gravitational lensing and the catalog of sources detected by the survey
MAP - (telescope) Microwave-background Anisotropy Probe, an older name for the Wilkinson Microwave-background Anisotropy Probe
MASER - (astrophysics terminology) Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, microwave emission that is similar to the optical emission from a laser
MBA - (celestial object) Main Belt Asteroid
MBH - (celestial object) Massive Black Hole
MCG - (catalog) Morphological Catalogue of Galaxies
MCO - (spacecraft) Mars Climate Orbiter
MDS - (observing program) Medium Deep Survey, a survey of high-redshift galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope
MECO - (celestial object) Magnetospheric Eternally Collapsing Object, a type of object proposed as an alternative to supermassive black holes as the central compact source within active galactic nuclei
MEPCO - (meeting) Meeting of European Planetary and Cometary Observers
MER - (spacecraft) Mars Exploration Rover
MGS - (spacecraft) Mars Global Surveyor
MHD - (astrophysics terminology) MagnetoHydroDynamic
MICO - (software) Multiyear Interactive Computer Almanac, astronomy almanac software created by the United States Naval Observatory
MIPS - (instrumentation) Multiband Imaging Photometer, an instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope
MJD - (astrophysics terminology) Modified Julian Date, the Julian date minus 2400000.5
MMR - (astrophysics terminology) Mean-Motion Resonance
MMT - (telescope) Multiple Mirror Telescope
MNRAS - (publication) Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
MO - (spacecraft) Mars Observer
MOA - (observing program) Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics, a survey searching for gravitational lenses
MOC - (instrumentation) Mars Observer Camera, an instrument on the Mars Observer
MOID - (astrophysics terminology) Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance, the minimum distance between two objects' orbital paths
MOLA - (instrumentation) Mars Observer Laser Altimeter, an instrument on the Mars Observer used to study Mars's topology
MOND - (astrophysics terminology) Modified Newtonian Dynamics
MOST - (telelcope) Microvariability and Oscillations of STars, a space telescope designed to detect oscillations in the atmospheres of stars and extrasolar planetss in orbit around other stars
MOST - (telescope) Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope, an Australian radio telescope
MOTIF - (telescope) Maui Optical Tracking and Identification Facility
MOXE - (instrumentation) Monitoring X-ray Experiment, an X-ray all-sky monitor designed for the Spectrum-X-Gamma satellite
MPC - (publication) Minor Planet Circulars (also called Minor Planets and Comets)
MPEC - (publication) Minor Planet Electronic Circulars
MPF - (spacecraft) Mars PathFinder
MPL - (spacecraft) Mars Polar Lander
MPP - (instrumentation) Multi-Pinned-Phase, CCD technology that reduces dark current noise
MPCS - (publication) Minor Planet circulars Supplement
MPS - (observing project) Microlensing Planet Search, a program designed that detect extrasolar planets using a gravitational lensing technique
MRO - (spacecraft) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
MSP - (celestial object) MilliSecond Pulsar
MSSS - (organization) Maui Space Surveillance Site
MSX - (telescope) Midcourse Space EXperiment, an infrared space telescope
MSSSO - (organization) Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories
MUSES - (spacecraft) MU Space Engineering Spacecraft, used to describe a Japanese science-related spacecraft launched in a Mu rocket
MW - (celestial object) Milky Way
MWD - (celestial object) Magnetic White Dwarf
MYSO - (celestial object) Massive Young Stellar Object

[edit] N

N - (celestial object) Nova
NACA - (organization) National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, the older name for NASA
NAMN - (organization) North American Meteor Network
NAOJ - (organization) National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
NAS - (organization) Norsk Astronomisk Selskap, the Norwegian name for the Norweigan Astronomical Society
NASA - (organization) National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASDA - (organization) NAtional Space Development Agency
NBS - (organization) National Bureau of Standards, an older name for the National Institute of Standards and Technology
NEAP - (spacecraft) Near Earth Asteroid Prospector, a space probe used to study a near-Earth asteroid
NEAR - (spacecraft) Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, a space probe used to study a near-Earth asteroid
NEAT - (observing program) Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking
NED - (software) NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database
NEO - (celestial object) Near-Earth Object
- also NEA - (celestial object) Near-Earth Asteroid
NEODyS - (organization) Near Earth Objects Dynamic Site, an Italian web-based service that provides information on near-Earth asteroids
NEOIC - (organization) Near Earth Object Information Center, a United Kingdom organization that provides information on near-Earth asteroids
NESS - (telescope) Near Earth Space Surveillance, a telescope for observing near-Earth asteroids
NESSI - (organization) Near Earth Space Surveillance Initiative, a collaboration planning to use a ground-based telescope to observe near-Earth asteroids
NGC - (catalog) New General Catalogue
NGST - (telescope) Next Generation Space Telescope, an older name for the James Webb Space Telescope
NHICAT - (catalog) Northern HIPASS CATalog, the northern extension of the HIPASS catalogue
NICMOS - (instrumentation) Near Infrared Camera / Multi Object Spectrometer, an infrared instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope
NIMS - (instrumentation) Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, an instrument on the Galileo spacecraft
NIR - (astrophysics terminology) Near-InfraRed
NIST - (organization) National Institute of Standards and Technology
NLTE - (astrophysics terminology) Non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium, used to describe situations where the temperature, pressure, etc of a system are not in equilibrium
NLTT - (catalog) New Luyten Two-Tenths, a catalog of stars with high proper motions
NOAA - (organization) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAO - (organization) National Optical Astronomy Observatories
NODO - (telescope) NASA Orbital Debris Observatory, a now-defunct telescope used to observe space junk and other objects
NOT - (telescope) NOrdic Telescope
NPS - (celestial object) North Polar Sequence, a series of stars near the North Celestial Pole once used as standards for measuring magnitudes
NRAO - (organization) National Radio Astronomy Observatory
NRL - (organization) Naval Research Laboratory
NS - (celestial object) Neutron Star
NSF - (organization) National Science Foundation
NSO - (organization) National Solar Observatory
NSSDC - (organization) National Space Science Data Center
NSV - (catalog) New Suspected Variable, a catalog of variable stars
NT - (astrophysics terminology) Non-Thermal, used to describe radiation that is not related to the emission source's temperature (such as synchrotron radiation)
NTT - (telescope) New Technology Telescope, a telescope operated by the European Southern Observatory

[edit] O

OAO - (telescope) Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, a series of satellites with astronomical instruements that operated in the 1970's
OC - (celestial object) Open Cluster, a cluster of stars
OCA - (organization) Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur
OCO - (celestial object) Oort Cloud Object, an object (usually a comet) in the Oort cloud
OGLE - (observing program/catalog) Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment, an observing program to survey the sky for microlensing events; also refers to the catalog of sources produced by the project
- BLG - (catalog) BuLGe, used to desginate a source detected in the direction of the bulge of the Milky Way
- TR - (catalog) TRansit, used to designate a potential observation of a microlensing event casued by a transiting star
OPAG - (organization) Outer Planets Assessment Group, a group established by NASA that provides advice on solar system exploration
ORFEUS - (telescope) Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer, an ultraviolet space telescope that could be released and later retrieved by the Space Shuttle
OSSE - (instrumentation) Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment, an instrument on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
OTA - (instrumentation) Optical Telescope Assembly, used to describe the optics of the Hubble Space Telescope
OWL - (telescope) Orbiting Wide-angle Light-collectors, two satellites that will work together to observe cosmic rays hitting the Earth's atmosphere
OWL - (telescope) OverWhelmingly Large Telescope, a proposed telescope with a primary mirror with a width of 100 m

[edit] P

P60 - (telescope) Palomar 60-inch telescope
PA - (astrophysics terminology) Position Angle
PAMELA - (telescope) Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-Nuclei Astrophysics, a space telescope used to study cosmic rays
Pan-STARRS - (telescope) Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System
PASJ - (publication) Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan
PASP - (publication) Publications of the Astronomical Society of Pacific
PCA - (instrumentation) Proportional Counter Array, an X-ray detector on the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer
PCAS - (observing program) Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey
PDBI - (telescope) Plateau de Bure Interferometer, a radio telescope
PEP - (instrumentation) PhotoElectric Photometry, used to describe an observing technique using photometers
PEPE - (instrumentation) Plasma Experiment for Planetary Exploration, an instrument on Deep Space 1
PHA - (celestial object) Potentially Hazardous Asteroid
PI - (person) Principal Investigator, the person who leads a scientific project
PK - (catalog) Perek-Kohoutek, a catalog of planetary nebulae
Planemo - (celestial object) Planetary Mass Object
PLANET - (observing program) Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork, a program to search for microlensing events
PLS - (observing program) Palomar-Leiden Survey, a program to search for asteroids
PMS - (celestial object) Pre-Main Sequence, used to describe young stars that are still in the process of formation
- also pre-MS
PMT - (instrumentation) PhotoMultiplier Tube
PN - (celestial object) Planetary Nebula
- also PNe (plural form of Planetary Nebula)
PNG - (catalog) Galactic Planetary Nebula
PNLF - (astrophysics terminology) Planetary Nebula Luminosity Function, used to describe the density of planetary nebulae as a function of their luminosity
PNN - (celestial object) Planetary Nebula Nucleus, the central star in a planetary nebula
PNNV - (celestial object) Planetary Nebula Nucleus Variable, a variable star in the center of a planetary nebula
POSS - (observing program) Palomar Observatory Sky Survey
PPARC - (organization) Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, a major government-sponsored science agency in the United Kingdom
PPM - (catalog) Positions and Proper Motions, a catalog of the positions and proper motions of stars
PPN - (celestial object) Proto-Planetary Nebula, an object that has partially evolved from a red giant to a planetary nebula
Proplyd - (celestial object) Protoplanetary Disk
PSC - (catalog) Point Source Catalog, a catalog of point-like infrared sources detected with the Infrared Astronomy Satellite
PSF - (instrumentation) Point Spread Function, a function that describes the blurring of a point source that is caused by the optics of the telescope and instrument (as well as other effects)
PSI - (organization) Planetary Science Institute
PSR - (celestial object) Pulsar
PVTEL - (celestial object) PV TELescopii, a calss of pulsating variable stars named after PV Telescopii, the archetype for the class
PVO - (spacecraft) Pioneer Venus Orbiter
PWD - (celestial object) Pre-White Dwarf, a star that no longer creates energy through fusion that will eventually evolve into a white dwarf
PZT - (telescope) Photographic Zenith Tube, a general name for any telescope designed to observe objects passing at the zenith
PWN - (celestial object) Pulsar Wind Nebula

[edit] Q

QBO - (astrophysics terminology) Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, a type of season variation in the Earth's atmosphere
QE - (instrumentation) Quantum Efficiency, used to describe the sensitivity of CCDs
QPO - (astrophysics terminology) Quasi-Periodic Oscillation
QSO - (celestial object) Quasi-Stellar Object
Quasar - (celestial object) QUASi-stellAR radio source

[edit] R

RA - (astrophysics terminology) Right Ascension
RAS - (organization) Royal Astronomical Society
RASC - (organization) Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
RASS - (observing program/catalog) ROSAT All-Sky Survey, used as both a name for a survey with ROSAT and the catalogs produced from the survey
RC - (celestial object) Red Clump, used to describe a type of metal-rich red giant star
- also RCG - Red Clump Giant
RC - (catalog) Reference Catalogue, a catalog of nearby galaxies
- RC2 - Reference Catalogue, 2nd edition
- RC3 - Reference Catalogue, 3rd edition
RC - (organization/telescope) Ritchey Chretien, a manufacturer of amateur and professional telescope equipment; also refers to the telescopes themselves
RCB - (celestial object) R Coronae Borealis, a class of eruptive variable stars named after R Coronae Borealis, the archetype for the class
RDI - (astrophysics terminology) Radiation Driven Implosion
RECONS - (organization) Research Consortium on Nearby Stars, a survey of nearby stars
RGB - (celestial object) Red-Giant Branch, used to describe a star that is evolving from a main sequence star into a red giant
RGO - (organization) Royal Greenwich Observatory
RLOF - (astrophysics terminology) Roche Lobe Overflow, used to describe the result of when an object in a binary system is larger than its roche lobe (i.e. when an object in a binary system expands to a radius where tidal forces become stronger than gravitational forces)
RLQ - (celestial object) Radio Loud Quasar, a quasar that produces strong radio emission
RNGC - (catalog) Revised New General Catalogue
RORF - (astrophysics terminology) Radio/Optical Reference Frame, an inertial reference frame based on extragalactic radio sources
ROSAT - (telescope) ROentgen SATellite, an X-ray space telescope
ROTSE - (observing program/telescope) Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment, an observing program for detecting the optical counterparts of gamma ray bursts; also used to describe the telescopes used in this program
RQQ - (celestial object) Radio Quiet Quasar a quasar that produces weak radio emission
RRAT - (celestial object) Rotating Radio Transient, a population of rotating neutron stars that produce periodic bursts of emission that are separated by intervals of minutes or hours
RRL - (celestial object) RR Lyrae, a class of pulsating variable stars named after RR Lyrae, the archetype of the class
- also RR
RSA - (catalog) Revised Shapley Ames, a catalog of nearby galaxies
RSA - (organization) Russian Space Agency
RSG - (celestial object) Red Super Giant
RSN - (celestial object) Radio SuperNova
RTG - (instrumentation) Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, a type of power generator used in spacecraft that travel far from the Sun
RV - (astrophysics terminology) Radial Velocity, the velocity along the line of sight
RX - (catalog) ROSAT X-ray, a catalog of sources detected by ROSAT
RXTE - (telescope) Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer, a space telescope designed to observe variability in X-ray emission

[edit] S

S&T - (publication) Sky & Telescope
SAAO - (organization) South African Astronomical Observatory
SALT - (telescope) Southern African Large Telescope
SAO - (organization/catalog) Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, the name of astrophysics research organization associated with Harvard University; also refers to a catalog of stars
SARA - (organization) Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers
SAS - (software) Science Analysis Software, a software package used for processing data from the XMM-Newton Observatory
SAT - (telescope) Synthetic Aperture Telescope
SB - (astrophyics terminology) Surface Brightness
SBIG - (organization/instrumentation) Santa Barbara Instrument Group, the name of both a company that manufactures telescope equipment and the company's products
SBNC - (organization) Small Bodies Names Committee, an older name for the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature
SCP - (observing program) Supernova Cosmology Project, a project to measure the expansion of the universe using supernovae at high redshifts
SCR - (observing program) SuperCOSMOS-RECONS, a survey that measured the proper motions of stars
SCT - (telescope) Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope, a general name for a type of compact telescope that uses both lenses and mirrors
SCUBA - (instrumentation) Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array, a submillimeter imager formerly at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
SCUBA-2 - (instrumentation) Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array 2, a submillimeter imager that will replace SCUBA
sd - (celestial object) subdwarf, used to describe stars fainter than main sequence stars with the same colors; often used as a prefix to a star's spectral type
SDO - (celestial object) Scattered Disk Object, Kuiper Belt objects with highly eccentric, highly inclined orbits
- also SKBO - Scattered Kuiper Belt Object
SDOR - (celestial object) S DORadus, a class of eruptive varaiable stars named after S Doradus, the archetype for the class
SDSS - (observing program/catalog) Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a large imaging and spectroscopic survey; also used to describe the catalog of sources from the survey
SDSSp - (catalog) Sloan Digital Sky Survey provisory
SED - (astrophyics terminology) Spectral Energy Distribution
SEDS - (organization) Students for the Exploration and Development of Space
SERC - (organization) Science and Engineering Research Council
SEST - (telescope) Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope
SETI - (observing program) Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence
SF - (astrophysics terminology) Star Formation
SFR - (astrophyics terminology) Star Formation Rate
SGF - (organization) SpaceGuard Foundation, an organization that tracks near-Earth asteroids
SGR - (celestial object) Soft Gamma Repeater, a type of neutron star with strong magnetic fields that produces very large bursts of energy
SID - (astrophysics terminology) Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance, a disturbance in the Earth's ionosphere caused by the Sun
SIDC - (organization) Sunspot Index Data Center
SIM - (telescope) Space Interferometry Mission, a planned optical space telescope that will be used to measure distances to stars
SIMBAD - (software) Set of Identifications, Measurements, and Bibliography for Astronomical Data, a website that provides catalog data on astronomical objects
SINGS - (observing program) Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey
SIPS - (observing program/catalog) Southern Infrared Proper Motion Survey, a program to identify stars with high proper motions at infrared wavelengths
SIRTF - (telescope) Space InfraRed Telescope Facility or Shuttle InfraRed Telescope Facility, older names for the Spitzer Space Telescope
SL - (catalog) Shoemaker-Levy, used to refer to the comets discovered by Shoemaker and Levy, particularly Shoemaker-Levy 9
SL - (spacecraft) SpaceLab
SMA - (telescope) Submillimeter Array
SMART - (spacecraft) Small Missions for Advanced Research in Technology
SMBH - (celestial object) Super Massive Black Hole
SMC - (celestial object) Small Magellanic Cloud
SME - (spacecraft) Solar Mesosphere Explorer, a spacecraft used to study the Earth's ozone layer
SMEX - (spacecraft) SMall EXplorers, the name of a series of small astronomical spacecraft; also used to describe the program to develop the spacecraft
SMM - (telescope) Solar Maximum Mission, a solar space telescope
SN - (instrumentation) Signal-to-Noise, used to describe the ratio between the signal from an object and the noise from the detector that measured the signal
- also SNR - Signal-to-Nosie Ratio
SN - (celestial object) SuperNova
- also SNe (plural form of SN)
SNR - (celestial object) SuperNova Remnant
SNU - (astrophysics terminology) Solar Neutrino Units
SOARD - (software) Steward Observatory Asteroid Relational Database
SOFIA - (telescope) Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, an infrared telescope currently under construction that will fly inside a modified Boeing 747 aircraft
SOHO - (telescope) SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory, a solar space telescope
SPARTAN - (telescope) Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for AstroNomy, an ultraviolet space telescope that can be released and retrieved by the Space Shuttle
SPIRIT - (instrument) SPace InfraRed Imaging Telescope, an infrared instrument on the Midcourse Space Experiment spacecraft
SPS - (spacecraft) Solar Power Satellite, a general name for proposed satellites that would convert solar power into energy and then beam the energy to the surface of a planet (such as Earth in the form of microwaves
SQIID - (instrumentation) Simultaneous Quad Infrared Imaging Device
SQM - (celestial object) Strange Quark Matter
SR - (astrophysics terminology) Special Relativity
SRON - (organization) Space Research Organization of the Netherlands
SS - (celestial object) Symbiotic Star, a type of binary star system containing a red giant and a hot dwarf star that generate a cone-shaped nebula
SSI - (instrumentation) Solid-State Imager, an instrument on the Galileo spacecraft
SSI - (organization) Space Studies Institute
SSS - (observing program) SuperCOSMOS Sky Surveys
SSSPM - (catalog) SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey Proper Motion
SST - (telescope) Spectroscopic Survey Telescope
SST - (telescope) Spitzer Space Telescope, a space telescope
STIS - (instrumentation) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope
STS - (vehicle) Shuttle Transport System or Space Transportation System
STScI - (organization) Space Telescope Science Institute
STSDAS - (software) Space Telescope Science Data Analysis System
SUPRIME - (instrumentation) SUbaru PRIME focus CAMera, an instrument on the Subaru Telescope
SWAN - (instrumentation) Solar Wind ANisotropy, an instrument on SOHO
SWAS - (telescope) Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite, a submillimeter space telescope
SwRI - (organization) Southwest Research Institute
SXARI - (celestial object) SX ARIetis, a class of rotating variable stars named after SX Arietis, the archetype for the class
SXPHE - (celestial object) SX PhoEnicis, a class of pulsating variable stars named after SX Phoenicis, the archetype for the class

[edit] T

TAC - (organization) Time Allocation Committee or Telescope Allocation Committee, a general name for a committee that awards telescope observing time
TAC - (catalog) Twin Astrograph Catalog
TAI - (astrophysics terminology) International Atomic Time
TAMS - (astronpysics terminology) Terminal-Age Main Sequence, used to describe stars at the point in their lifetimes where they have finished burning hydrogen in their cores
TAROT - (telescope) Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires
TASS - (observing program) The Amateur Sky Survey
TAU - (spacecraft) Thousand Astronomical Unit, a spacecraft mission proposed in the 1980's that would reach 1000 AU in 50 years
TCB - (astrophysics terminology) Barycentric Coordinate Time
TCG - (astrophysics terminology) Geocentric Coordinate Time
TDB - (astrophysics terminology) Barycentric Dynamical Time
TDRSS - (communications network) Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, an array of satellites used by NASA to communicate with many spacecraft in low Earth orbit
TES - (instrumentation) Thermal Emission Spectrometer, a spectrometer on the Mars Observer
THEMIS - (instrumentation) Thermal Emission Imaging System, a camera on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft
TIC - (catalog) Tycho Input Catalog, a predecessor of the Hipparcos Input Catalog
TIMED - (spacecraft) Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics
TIE - (organization) Telescopes In Education
TLP - (astrophysics terminology) Transient Lunar Phenomenon, an unexplained flash of light observed from the Moon
TMC - (celestial object) Taurus Molecular Cloud
TNO - (celestial object) Trans-Neptunian Object, any object that orbits the Sun at a distance greater than that of Neptune
TO - (person) Telescope Operator, the technician who assists in operating a telescope during astronomical observations
TOPS - (meeting) Toward Other Planetary Systems, a series of educational astronomy workshops
TPF - (telescope) Terrestrial Planet Finder, a planned space telescope that will be used to find extrasolar Earth-like planets
TRACE - Transition Region And Coronal Explorer, a solar space telescope
TrES - (telescope) Transatlantic Exoplanet Survey
TT - (astrophysics terminology) Terrestrial Time
- also TDT - Terrestrial Dynamical Time
TTS - (celestial object) T-Tauri Star
TWA - (celestial object) TW Hydrae Association
TYC - (catalog) Tycho, a catalog that was the predecessor of the Hipparcos (HIP) Catalogue
TZO - (celestial object) Thorne-Żytkow Object, the object that forms when a neutron star merges with a red giant

[edit] U

UARS - (spacecraft) Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, a satellite used to study the Earth's upper atmosphere
UCAC - (catalog) USNO CCD Astrometric Catalog
UESAC - (observing program) Uppsala-ESO Survey of Asteroids and Comets
UFO - (astrophysics terminology) Unidentified Flying Object
UG - (celestial object) U Geminorum, a class of cataclismic variable stars (also known as dwarf novae) that are named after U Geminorum, the archetype for the class
- UGSS - (celestial object) UG SS Cygni, a subclass of UG-type stars named after SS Cygni, the archetype for the subclass
- UGSU - (celestial object) UG SU Ursae Majoris, a subclass of UG-type stars named after SU Ursae Majoris, the archetype for the subclass
- UGWZ - (celestial object) UG WZ Sagittae, a subclass of UG-type stars named after WZ Sagittae, the archetype for the subclass
- UGZ - (celestial object) UG Z Camelopardalis, a subclass of UG-type stars named after Z Camelopardalis, the archetype for the subclass
UGC - (catalog) Uppsala General Catalog, a catalog of galaxies
UIT - (telescope) Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, an ultraviolet telescope that was operated from the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle
UKIRT - (telescope) United Kingdom Infrared Telescope
UKST - (telescope) United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope
ULIRG - (celestial object) UltraLuminous InfraRed Galaxy, a galaxy that is brighter than 10¹² solar luminosities in the infrared
ULX - (celestial object) UltraLuminous X-ray source
UMS - (celestial object) Upper Main Sequence, used to describe the more massive hydrogen-burning main sequence stars
USAF - (organization) United States Air Force
USGS - (organization) United States Geological Survey
USNO - (organization) United States Naval Observatory
UT - (astrophysics terminology) Universal Time
UTC - (astrophysics terminology) Coordinated Universal Time
UV - (astrophysics terminology) UltraViolet
UVS - (instrumentation) UltraViolet Spectrometer, the name of instruments on the Voyager and Galileo spacecraft

[edit] V

VCC - (catalog) Virgo Cluster Catalog, a catalog of galaxies in the Virgo Cluster
VdS - (organization) Vereinigung der Sternfreunde, the German amateur astronomers society
VEEGA - (astrophysics terminology) Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist, used to describe the path taken by the Galileo spacecraft to reach Jupiter
VERA - (telescope) VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry, a Japanese radio telescope designed for studying objects in the Milky Way
VHE - (astrophysics terminology) Very High Energy, used to describe gamma rays with high energies
VLA - (telescope) Very Large Array, a radio telescope in New Mexico operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
VLBA - (telescope) Very Long Baseline Array, a radio telescope operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory with antennae spread across the United States
VLBI - (instrumentation) Very Long Baseline Interferometry, used to describe combining signals from multiple telescopes/radio antennae that are separated by large distances
VLM - (astrophysics terminology) Very Low Mass, a description for objects (usually stars) that have relatively low masses
VLT - (telscope) Very Large Telescope, four 8.2 meter telescopes in Chile that operate either independently as individual telescopes or together as an interferometer
VOIR - (spacecraft) Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar, a spacecraft for mapping Venus that was cancelled and then superseded by the Magellan spacecraft
VRM - (spacecraft) Venus Radar Mapper, an older name for the Magellan spacecraft
VSOLJ - (organization) Variable Star Observers League in Japan
VSOP - (organization) VLBI Space Observatory Program, a project to use both satellites and ground-based radio telescopes as an interferometer
VST - (telescope) VLT Survey Telescope

[edit] W

WD - (celestial object) White Dwarf
WDM - (astrophysic terminology) Warm Dark Matter, used to describe models for structure formation in the universe that use "hot" particles such as neutrinos as dark matter
WDS - (catalog) Washington Double Star, a catalog of double stars
WEBT - (organization) Whole Earth Blazar Telescope, a network of observers across the Earth who work together to perform continuous observations of blazars
WET - (organization) Whole Earth Telescope, a network of astronomers spread across the Earth who work together to perform continuous observations of variable stars
WFPC - (instrumentation) Wide Field and Planetary Camera, a camera formerly on the Hubble Space Telescope that was replaced with WFPC2
WFPC2 - (instrumentation) Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, a camera on the Hubble Space Telescope
WFC - (instrumentation) Wide-Field Channel, one of the detectors in the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope
WGPSN - (organization) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature
WHT - (telescope) William Herschel Telescope
WIMP - (celestial object) Weakly Interacting Massive Particle, a hypothetical subatomic particle that may comprise most of the dark matter in the universe
WISARD - (software) Web Interface for Searching Archival Research Data
WIYN - (teelscope) Wisconsin-Indiana-Yale-NOAO, the name of a telescope at Kitt Peak operated by the University of Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale University, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory
WLM - (celestial object) Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte, a nearby dwarf galaxy in the constellation Cetus
WMAP - (telescope) Wilkinson Microwave Anisotrophy Probe, a space telescope used to study the cosmic microwave background radiation
WR - (celestial object) Wolf-Rayet, a type of hot, luminous star with strong stellar winds
- WC - (celestial object) Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet, a Wolf-Rayet star with strong carbon spectral line emission
- WN - (celestial object) Nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet, a Wolf-Rayet star with strong nitrogen spectral line emission
  - WNE - (celestial object) Early-type Nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet, a WN star without hydrogen spectral line emission
  - WNL - (celestial object) Late-type Nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet, a WN star with hydrogen spectral line emission
- WO - (celestial object) Oxygen-rich Wolf-Rayet, a Wolf-Rayet star with strong oxygen spectral line emission
WTTS - (celestial object) Weak-Line T-Tauri Star, a type of young star with weak spectral line emission

[edit] X

XIS - (instrumentation) X-ray imaging spectrometer, an instrument on the on the Suzaku space telescope
XMM - (telescope) X-ray Multi Mirror, part of the name of the XMM-Newton X-ray space telescope
XN - (celestial object) X-ray Nova
XRF - (celestial object) X-Ray Flash

[edit] Y

YSO - (celestial object) Young Stellar Object

[edit] Z

ZAHB - (celestial object) "Zero-Age" Horizontal Branch, a description for horizontal branch stars that have just begun burning helium in their cores and hydrogen in a shell around the cores
ZAMS - (celestial object) Zero Age Main Sequence, a description for a star that has just become a main sequence star (i.e. a star that has begun burning hydrogen in its core)
ZAND - (celestial object) Z ANDromedae, a class of eruptive variable stars named after the binary star system Z Andromedae, the archetype for the class
- ZANDE - (celestial object) Z ANDromedae with Eclipses, a subclass of ZAND stars where the stars eclipse each other
ZHR - (astrophysics terminology) Zenith Hourly Rate, the maximum number of meteors per hour that may be observed during a meteor shower