Okay - here's a vaguely structured list of subjects on Astronomy I've cobbled together. What can I say - my meeting is boring, and no-one can see my screen! :-) I think it would be a good idea to have this list as a sort of 'core' to the Astronomy Department - i.e. if we're going to cover the subject, at least this stuff should be covered in some degree of detail. Of course, when the whole thing is up and running, this screen might be obsolete (and it'll definitely change and grow) - we probably won't need or want a 'table of contents' type thing at the front door of the department, although we could display it if people wanted it for a quick overview... we can discuss that below.

By posting this core curriculum here, we can basically show what topics can be written about - whether they've been taken by someone else already or not. We can also, however, leave plenty of room for anyone else to drop by and say 'Hey - I've got a page on that with even more information! Will you link it in?' or even 'Hey - you've missed out [this important and fascinating subject] - I'm going to write it right now so you can link it in!' Any of these is good.

What we need to do is run regular searches for any of the subjects we are (or are about to) develop, and see what else has been written, maybe annotating this topics list with the user names of who's writing what at the moment. That way we can avoid too much repetition of the same bunch of facts.

We might also need to set up some system for gathering facts from postings below pages - corrections, attention being drawn to other articles, etc. etc. A good method for doing this will mean that the Dept can grow much more efficiently, and allow a greater density of links and interconnections, which is good.

I've thought of some other ideas for the Dept as well - check here.

Why astronomy? What's the point?

I've hacked out a basic article on this already - see it here.

• The whole point of science. Curiosity, but also the future.
• Noticing things - moon's behaviour, sun's bhaviour, stars to navigate by...
• Seeing where you are - sense of self in universe (any number of links!)
• Anyone else out there? SETI (link to computers)

The Development of Astronomy

• Egyptians, Chinese, Arabs (link to cultures)
• Stonehenge (link to history, archaeology)
• Measuring the stars to know when to plant crops (link to agriculture)
• Mythology - sky falling on heads - watch stars to reassure (link to mythology)
• Copernicus (link to Religion/Catholicism)
• Galileo (link to drama: Berthold Brecht)
• Newton (link to physics)
• Hubble (age of universe)
• Einstein (link to physics)
• Background echo of Big Bang
• Radio scopes (link to Hawaii, etc.)
• Oxone hole discovers (see ecology)
• Simulation software (Starry Night)

What you can see right now in your own back yard!

JimiX is handling this one - the practical stargazer's guide! See here.

• Get binoculars - much better than thin telescopes
• Watching eclipses (pinhole cameras, goggles, etc.)
• Constellations (make a real star chart, which is quite possible within h2g2)
• Good meteor storms to watch out for

Our Solar System

Joanna's got this. Plenty of chance for links to planetary exploration, probes, etc. See here.

• Sol (flares, Wolf/Butterfly charts, radiation to Earth, etc. Link to ecology)
• Mercury
• Venus
• Earth (The Moon - link to Moon shots, below, and tons of others!)
• Mars (Phobos and Deimos, exploration link)
• The Asteroid belt (see NEOs)
• Jupiter (Galilean Satellites - see Galileo, Newton, etc.)
• Saturn (Rings, Cassini, Shepherd moons, etc.)
• Uranus (upside down...)
• Neptune (Moons - can't remember!)
• Pluto (discovery in 1936 by inference (link to new planets around other suns), joint atmosphere with Charon)
• Planet X?
• Comets (see NEOs, Myth, Halley, Hale-Boop, Shoemaker Levy 9, etc.)

The Galaxy

• Shape, size, proximity to others and universe expansion (i.e. roughly in middle!) Hubble.
• Black hole at centre?
• Oort clouds
• Magellanic clouds
• Other galaxies (Andromeda, Crab, etc.)

The Universe at large scale

• Stars - formation, types, variables, Novas, Supernovas, etc.
• Black holes
• Pulsars (LGMs)
• Quasars
• Collapse of universe? Whole bunch of theoretical stuff

Near Earth objects - NEOs

I'm taking care of this at the moment - see here.

• Asteroids, meteors, comets
• Dinosaurs, Chicxulub crater
• Meteor Crater
• Halley, Hale Bopp
• Tunguska incident
• Shoemaker Levy 9 at Jupiter
• Life in asteroids?
• Armageddon - fact, fiction, or just bad acting?

Telescopes

• Optical (Reflectors, Refractors)
• Radio
• Infrared
• Ultraviolet
• X-Ray
• Hubble Space Telescope (see Shuttle)
• Making your own (Dad's article - see here.)

Space exploration

Could be a whole separate tech category, this.

• A bit of the mechanics of spaceflight
• Goddard, Jules Verne, Sci-fi, etc.
• Interplanetary probes (Viking, Gemini, Voyager)
• Moon shots (See Cold War politics)
• Shuttle
• Planets round other suns - discovered by wobble, etc.
• International Space Station
• Mars shot, terraforming?

Archaeo-astronomy

• Interesting theories linking archaology to ancient buildings and beliefs
• Roots of astronomy and astrology - intertwining, yet separate now.
• Pyramids, Stonehenge, Ankor Wot, etc.
• Graham Hancock. (link to mythology, MBS)