The Sloan Digital Sky Survey
is the most ambitious astronomical survey project ever undertaken. The survey
will map in detail one-quarter of the entire sky, determining the positions and
absolute brightnesses of more than 100 million celestial objects. It will also
measure the distances to more than a million galaxies and quasars. Apache Point
Observatory, site of the SDSS telescopes, is operated by the Astrophysical
Research Consortium (ARC).
The SDSS addresses fascinating, fundamental
questions about the universe. With the survey, astronomers will be able to see
the large-scale patterns of galactic sheets and voids in the universe.
Scientists have varying ideas about the evolution of the universe, and
different patterns of large-scale structure point to different theories of how
the universe evolved. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey will tell us which theories
are right -- or whether we have to come up with entirely new ideas.
General information about Comet Hale-Bopp is available from Sky and Telescope magazine.
Photographs are available at NASA's JPL website and from local sources here in Albany.
Andy Harwood's photograph of Comet Hyakutake on March 25, 1996 from Michigan. For lots more news and images go to the Comet Hyakutake Home Page.
Astronomy Picture of the Day Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer
Here is a neat view of the planets in the solar system courtesy of Jim Evins.
