astronomy 2801:term report information sources
DESCRIPTION
October 8, 2009 research skills instruction session by Dan Sich, Astronomy Librarian at University of Western Ontario, for Astronomy 2801TRANSCRIPT
Astronomy 2801Term Report information sources
Dan Sich, Physics & Astronomy Librarian
Allyn and Betty Taylor Library
What you need andwhere to find it
the names of the star (in a table) astronomical star catalogs in which it is found (in a table) its location, including the distance from Earth and the accuracy to which the distance
is known its apparent and absolute magnitudes its spectral type and luminosity class whether or not the star is variable – if so, provide details whether or not the star is a member of a binary system – if so, provide details
including its period, velocity curve, eccentricity, luminosity curve etc. based on the above data, a brief “life history” of the star, summarizing the stages it
has passed through and will pass through as it evolves, and the likely end product of its evolution
a discussion of some recent (from 2002 or later) astronomical research on your star and a reference to at least one paper from a principal astronomy journal
other features of interest
What have you tried?
Useful tools
Wikipedia SIMBAD VizieR articles in primary astronomy research
journals ADS articles in semi-popular journals
Google & Wikipedia
SIMBAD
star names some astronomical star catalogues coordinates spectral type and luminosity class whether or not the star is variable links to articles
VizieR
more astronomical star catalogues coordinates apparent magnitude spectral type and luminosity class
Articles may contain
distance & accuracy absolute magnitude spectral type and luminosity class variable? (& details) binary? (& details) recent research
Primary astronomy research journals
AJ ApJ A&A (older issues here) MNRAS
Finding primary astronomy research journal articles using databases
SIMBAD ADS Astronomy and Astrophysics Search Astrophysics
Semi-popular journals
Sky and Telescope Scientific American Physics Today New Scientist Science Astronomy
Library Catalogue
Bibliography & avoiding plagiarism
Use ApJ’s citation style Use BibTeX and LaTeX if you like
