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List of Astronomical Acronyms |
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Go to: 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.
Other acronyms.
Acronyms used by this Service:
- a!: astro!nfo
- AAN: Aktuell am Nachthimmel, Informationsblatt
- AAT: Amateur-Astronomie-Tagung (bisher in Luzern)
- AGZU: Astronomische Gesellschaft Zürcher Unterland
- as: astro sapiens, Zeitschrift
- asTT: jährliches Teleskoptreffen organisiert von astro sapiens
- AVA: Astronomische Vereinigung Aarau
- AVZ: Astronomische Vereinigung Zürich
- ETHICS+: ETH Library Information Control System (jetzt inkl. ZB)
- ETHZ: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, Zürich
- ezInfo: Informationssystem der ETH Zürich
- KPM: Kometen Planetoiden Meteore, Zeitschrift
- MoFi: Mondfinsternis
- RWG: Rudolf Wolf Gesellschaft
- S&T: Sky and Telelescope, Zeitschrift
- SAG: Schweizerische Astronomische Gesellschaft (auch SAS)
- SIDC: Sunspot Index Data Center, Brüssel
- SoFi: Sonnenfinsternis
- SoGSAG: Sonnenbeobachtergruppe der SAG
- STWB: Sternwarte Bülach
- SuW: Sterne und Weltraum, Zeitschrift
- SW: Skyweek, wöchtentlicher Newsletter
- WdoD: Woche des offenen Daches der Sternwarte Bülach
International Acronyms:
- A&A: Astronomy and Astrophysics
- AAO: Anglo-Australian Observatory
- AAS: American Astronomical Society
- AAS: American Astronautical Society
- AAVSO: American Association of Variable Star Observers
- ACE: Advanced Composition Explorer
- ACRV: Assured Crew Return Vehicle (or) Astronaut Crew Rescue Vehicle
- ADFRF: Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility (now DFRC) (NASA)
- AGN: Active Galactic Nucleus
- AGU: American Geophysical Union
- AIAA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- AIPS: Astronomical Image Processing System
- AJ: Astronomical Journal
- ALEXIS: Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors
- ALPO: Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers
- ALS: Advanced Launch System
- ANSI: American National Standards Institute
- AOA: Abort Once Around (Shuttle abort plan)
- AOCS: Attitude and Orbit Control System
- Ap.J: Astrophysical Journal
- APM: Attached Pressurized Module (a.k.a. Columbus)
- APU: Auxiliary Power Unit
- ARC: Ames Research Center (NASA)
- ARC: Astrophysical Research Consortium
- ARTEMIS: Advanced Relay TEchnology MISsion
- ASA: Astronomical Society of the Atlantic
- ASI: Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
- ASP: Astronomical Society of the Pacific
- ASRM: Advanced Solid Rocket Motor
- ATDRS: Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
- ATLAS: Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science
- ATM: Amateur Telescope Maker
- ATO: Abort To Orbit (Shuttle abort plan)
- AU: Astronomical Unit
- AURA: Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
- AW&ST: Aviation Week and Space Technology (a.k.a. AvLeak)
- AXAF: Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility
- BAe: British Aerospace
- BATSE: Burst And Transient Source Experiment (on CGRO)
- BBXRT: Broad-Band X-Ray Telescope (ASTRO package)
- BDB: Big Dumb Booster
- BEM: Bug-Eyed Monster
- BH: Black Hole
- BIMA: Berkeley Illinois Maryland Array
- BMDO: Ballistic Missile Defense Office (was SDIO)
- BNSC: British National Space Centre
- BTW: By The Way
- CARA: Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica
- C&T: Communications & Tracking
- CCAFS: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
- CCD: Charge-Coupled Device
- CCDS: Centers for the Commercial Development of Space
- CD-ROM: Compact Disc Read-Only Memory
- CFA: Center For Astrophysics
- CFC: ChloroFluoroCarbon
- CFF: Columbus Free Flyer
- CFHT: Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
- CG: Center of Gravity
- CGRO: (Arthur Holley) Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (was GRO)
- CHARA: Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy
- CIRRIS: Cryogenic InfraRed Radiance Instrument for Shuttle
- CIT: Circumstellar Imaging Telescope
- CM: Command Module (Apollo spacecraft)
- CM: Center of Mass
- CMCC: Central Mission Control Centre (ESA)
- CNES: Centre National d'Etude Spatiales
- CNO: Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen
- CNSR: Comet Nucleus Sample Return
- COBE: COsmic Background Explorer
- COMPTEL: COMPton TELescope (on CGRO)
- COSTAR: Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement
- CRAF: Comet Rendezvous / Asteroid Flyby
- CRRES: Combined Release / Radiation Effects Satellite
- CSM: Command and Service Module (Apollo spacecraft)
- CSTC: Consolidated Satellite Test Center (USAF)
- CTIO: Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory
- DC: Delta Clipper
- DCX: Delta Clipper eXperimental
- DDCU: DC-to-DC Converter Unit
- DDTE: Design, Development, Test, and Evaluation
- DFRC: Dryden Flight Research Center
- DFRF: Dryden Flight Research Facility (was ADFRF, now DFRC)
- DMSP: Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
- DOD: Department Of Defense (sometimes DoD)
- DOE: Department Of Energy
- DOT: Department Of Transportation
- DSCS: Defense Satellite Communications System
- DSN: Deep Space Network
- DSP: Defense Support Program (USAF/NRO)
- EAFB: Edwards Air Force Base
- ECS: Environmental Control System
- EDO: Extended Duration Orbiter
- EGRET: Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (on CGRO)
- EJASA: Electronic Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic
- ELV: Expendable Launch Vehicle
- EMU: Extravehicular Mobility Unit
- EOS: Earth Observing System
- ER: Eastern Range (was ETR)
- ERS: Earth Resources Satellite (as in ERS-1)
- ESA: European Space Agency
- ESIS: European Space Information System
- ESO: European Southern Observatory
- ET: (Shuttle) External Tank
- ETLA: Extended Three Letter Acronym
- ETR: Eastern Test Range
- EUV: Extreme UltraViolet
- EUVE: Extreme UltraViolet Explorer
- EVA: ExtraVehicular Activity
- FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
- FAST: Fast Auroral SnapshoT explorer
- FFT: Fast Fourier Transform
- FGS: Fine Guidance Sensors (on HST)
- FHST: Fixed Head Star Trackers (on HST)
- FIR: Far InfraRed
- FITS: Flexible Image Transport System
- FOC: Faint Object Camera (on HST)
- FOS: Faint Object Spectrograph (on HST)
- FRC: Flight Research Center (old name for DFRC)
- FRR: Flight-Readiness Review
- FTP: File Transfer Protocol
- FTS: Flight Telerobotic Servicer
- FUSE: Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer
- FWHM: Full Width at Half Maximum
- FYI: For Your Information
- GAS: Get-Away Special
- GBT: Green Bank Telescope
- GCVS: General Catalog of Variable Stars
- GEM: Giotto Extended Mission
- GEO: Geosynchronous Earth Orbit
- GDS: Great Dark Spot
- GHRS: Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (on HST)
- GIF: Graphics Interchange Format
- GLOMR: Global Low-Orbiting Message Relay
- GMC: Giant Molecular Cloud
- GMRT: Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope
- GMT: Greenwich Mean Time (also called UT)
- GOES: Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite
- GOX: Gaseous OXygen
- GPC: General Purpose Computer
- GPS: Global Positioning System
- GRO: Gamma Ray Observatory (now CGRO)
- GRS: Gamma Ray Spectrometer (on Mars Observer)
- GRS: Great Red Spot
- GSC: Guide Star Catalog (for HST)
- GSFC: Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA)
- GTO: Geostationary Transfer Orbit
- HAO: High Altitude Observatory
- HD: Henry Draper catalog entry
- HEAO: High Energy Astronomical Observatory
- HeRA: Hermes Robotic Arm
- HF: High Frequency
- HGA: High Gain Antenna
- HLC: Heavy Lift Capability
- HLV: Heavy Lift Vehicle
- HMC: Halley Multicolor Camera (on Giotto)
- HOTOL: HOrizontal TakeOff and Landing (a proposed SSTO craft)
- HR: Hertzsprung-Russell (diagram)
- HRMS: High Resolution Microwave Survey
- HRI: High Resolution Imager (on ROSAT)
- HSP: High Speed Photometer (on HST)
- HST: Hubble Space Telescope
- HTHL: Horizontal Takeoff Horizontal Landing
- HTVL: Horizontal Takeoff Vertical Landing
- HUT: Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (ASTRO package)
- HV: High Voltage
- IAPPP: International Amateur/Professional Photoelectric Photometry
- IAU: International Astronomical Union
- IAUC: IAU Circular
- ICE: International Cometary Explorer
- IDA: International Dark-sky Association
- IDL: Interactive Data Language
- IGM: InterGalactic Medium
- IGY: International Geophysical Year
- IMHO: In My Humble Opinion
- IMO: International Meteor Organization
- IOTA: Infrared-Optical Telescope Array
- IOTA: International Occultation Timing Association
- IPS: Inertial Pointing System
- IR: InfraRed
- IRAF: Image Reduction and Analysis Facility
- IRAS: InfraRed Astronomical Satellite
- IRFNA: Inhibited Red Fuming Nitric Acid
- ISAS: Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (Japan)
- ISM: InterStellar Medium
- ISO: Infrared Space Observatory
- ISO: International Standards Organization
- ISPM: International Solar Polar Mission (now Ulysses)
- ISY: International Space Year
- IUE: International Ultraviolet Explorer
- IUS: Inertial Upper Stage
- JEM: Japanese Experiment Module (for SSF)
- JGR: Journal of Geophysical Research
- JILA: Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics
- JPL: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- JSC: Johnson Space Center (NASA)
- KAO: Kuiper Airborne Observatory
- KPNO: Kitt Peak National Observatory
- KSC: Kennedy Space Center (NASA)
- KTB: Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary (from German)
- LANL: Los Alamos National Laboratory
- LaRC: Langley Research Center (NASA)
- LDEF: Long Duration Exposure Facility
- LEM: Lunar Excursion Module (a.k.a. LM) (Apollo spacecraft)
- LEO: Low Earth Orbit
- LeRC: Lewis Research Center (NASA)
- LEST: Large Earth-based Solar Telescope
- LFSA: List of Frequently Seen Acronyms (!)
- LGA: Low Gain Antenna
- LGM: Little Green Men
- LH: Liquid Hydrogen (also LH2 or LHX)
- LLNL: Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratory
- LM: Lunar Module (a.k.a. LEM) (Apollo spacecraft)
- LMC: Large Magellanic Cloud
- LN2: Liquid N2 (Nitrogen)
- LOX: Liquid OXygen
- LPO: La Palma Observatory
- LRB: Liquid Rocket Booster
- LSR: Local Standard of Rest
- LTP: Lunar Transient Phenomenon
- MACRO: Monopoles, Astrophysics, and Cosmic Ray Observatory
- MB: Manned Base
- MCC: Mission Control Center
- MECO: Main Engine CutOff
- MMH: MonoMethyl Hydrazine
- MMT: Multiple Mirror Telescope
- MMU: Manned Maneuvering Unit
- MNRAS: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- MOC: Mars Observer Camera (on Mars Observer)
- MOL: Manned Orbiting Laboratory
- MOLA: Mars Observer Laser Altimeter (on Mars Observer)
- MOMV: Manned Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle
- MOTV: Manned Orbital Transfer Vehicle
- MPC: Minor Planets Circular
- MRSR: Mars Rover and Sample Return
- MRSRM: Mars Rover and Sample Return Mission
- MSFC: (George C.) Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA)
- MTC: Man Tended Capability
- NACA: National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (became NASA)
- NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- NASDA: NAtional Space Development Agency (Japan)
- NASM: National Air and Space Museum
- NASP: National AeroSpace Plane
- NBS: National Bureau of Standards (now NIST)
- NDV: NASP Derived Vehicle
- NERVA: Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application
- NGC: New General Catalog
- NICMOS: Near Infrared Camera / Multi Object Spectrometer (HST upgrade)
- NIMS: Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (on Galileo)
- NIR: Near InfraRed
- NIST: National Institute for Standards and Technology (was NBS)
- NLDP: National Launch Development Program
- NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- NOAO: National Optical Astronomy Observatories
- NORAD: NORth American aerospace Defense
- NRAO: National Radio Astronomy Observatory
- NRO: National Reconnaissance Office
- NS: Neutron Star
- NSA: National Security Agency
- NSF: National Science Foundation
- NSO: National Solar Observatory
- NSSDC: National Space Science Data Center
- NTR: Nuclear Thermal Rocket(ry)
- NTT: New Technology Telescope
- OAO: Orbiting Astronomical Observatory
- OCST: Office of Commercial Space Transportation
- OMB: Office of Management and Budget
- OMS: Orbital Maneuvering System
- OPF: Orbiter Processing Facility
- ORFEUS: Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer
- OSC: Orbital Sciences Corporation
- OSCAR: Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio
- OSSA: Office of Space Science and Applications
- OSSE: Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (on CGRO)
- OTA: Optical Telescope Assembly (on HST)
- OTHB: Over The Horizon Backscatter
- OTV: Orbital Transfer Vehicle
- OV: Orbital Vehicle
- PAM: Payload Assist Module
- PAM-D: Payload Assist Module, Delta-class
- PDS: Planetary Data System
- PI: Principal Investigator
- PLSS: Portable Life Support System
- PM: Pressurized Module
- PMC: Permanently Manned Capability
- PMIRR: Pressure Modulated InfraRed Radiometer (on Mars Observer)
- PMT: PhotoMultiplier Tube
- PSF: Point Spread Function
- PSR: PulSaR
- PV: Photovoltaic
- PVO: Pioneer Venus Orbiter
- QSO: Quasi-Stellar Object
- RASC: Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
- RCI: Rodent Cage Interface (for SLS mission)
- RCS: Reaction Control System
- REM: Rat Enclosure Module (for SLS mission)
- RF: Radio Frequency
- RFI: Radio Frequency Interference
- RFNA: Red Fuming Nitric Acid
- RIACS: Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science
- RMS: Remote Manipulator System
- RNGC: Revised New General Catalog
- ROSAT: ROentgen SATellite
- ROUS: Rodents Of Unusual Size (I don't believe they exist)
- RSN: Real Soon Now
- RTG: Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
- RTLS: Return To Launch Site (Shuttle abort plan)
- SAA: South Atlantic Anomaly
- SAGA: Solar Array Gain Augmentation (for HST)
- SAMPEX: Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle EXplorer
- SAO: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
- SAR: Search And Rescue
- SAR: Synthetic Aperture Radar
- SARA: Satellite pour Astronomie Radio Amateur
- SAREX: Search and Rescue Exercise
- SAREX: Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment
- SAS: Space Activity Suit
- SAS: Space Adaptation Syndrome
- SAT: Synthetic Aperture Telescope
- S/C: SpaceCraft
- SCA: Shuttle Carrier Aircraft
- SCT: Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope
- SDI: Strategic Defense Initiative
- SDIO: Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (now BMDO)
- SEI: Space Exploration Initiative
- SEST: Swedish ESO Submillimeter Telescope
- SETI: Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence
- SID: Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance
- SIR: Shuttle Imaging Radar
- SIRTF: Space (formerly Shuttle) InfraRed Telescope Facility
- SL: SpaceLab
- SLAR: Side-Looking Airborne Radar
- SLC: Space Launch Complex
- SLS: Space(lab) Life Sciences
- SMC: Small Magellanic Cloud
- SME: Solar Mesosphere Explorer
- SMEX: SMall EXplorers
- SMM: Solar Maximum Mission
- SN: SuperNova (e.g., SN1987A)
- SNR: Signal to Noise Ratio
- SNR: SuperNova Remnant
- SNU: Solar Neutrino Units
- SOFIA: Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy
- SOHO: SOlar Heliospheric Observatory
- SPAN: Space Physics and Analysis Network
- SPDM: Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator
- SPOT: Systeme Probatoire pour l'Observation de la Terre
- SPS: Solar Power Satellite
- SRB: Solid Rocket Booster
- SRM: Solid Rocket Motor
- SSF: Space Station Fred (er, Freedom)
- SSI: Solid-State Imager (on Galileo)
- SSI: Space Studies Institut
- SSME: Space Shuttle Main Engine
- SSPF: Space Station Processing Facility
- SSPS: Sky Survey Prototype System
- SSRMS: Space Station Remote Manipulator System
- SSRT: Single Stage Rocket Technology
- SST: Spectroscopic Survey Telescope
- SST: SuperSonic Transport
- SSTO: Single Stage To Orbit
- STIS: Space Telescope Imaging Spectrometer (to replace FOC and GHRS)
- STS: Shuttle Transport System (or) Space Transportation System
- STScI: Space Telescope Science Institute
- SWAS: Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite
- SWF: ShortWave Fading
- TAL: Transatlantic Abort Landing (Shuttle abort plan)
- TAU: Thousand Astronomical Unit (mission)
- TCS: Thermal Control System
- TDRS: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
- TDRSS: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System
- TEA: Torque Equilibrium Attitude
- TES: Thermal Emission Spectrometer (on Mars Observer)
- TIROS: Television InfraRed Observation Satellite
- TLA: Three Letter Acronym
- TOMS: Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer
- TOPS: Toward Other Planetary Systems
- TPS: Thermal Protection System
- TSS: Targeted Search System
- TSS: Tethered Satellite System
- TSTO: Two Stage To Orbit (also 2STO)
- UARS: Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite
- UBM: Unpressurized Berthing Mechanism
- UDMH: Unsymmetrical DiMethyl Hydrazine
- UFO: Unidentified Flying Object
- UGC: Uppsala General Catalog
- UHF: Ultra High Frequency
- UIT: Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (Astro package)
- UKST: United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope
- USAF: United States Air Force
- USMP: United States Microgravity Payload
- UT: Universal Time (a.k.a. GMT, or Zulu Time; cf UTC)
- UTC: Coordinated Universal Time (subtly different from UT)
- UV: UltraViolet
- UVS: UltraViolet Spectrometer
- VAB: Vehicle Assembly Building (formerly Vertical Assembly Building)
- VAFB: Vandenberg Air Force Base
- VEEGA: Venus-Earth-Earth Gravity Assist (Galileo flight path)
- VHF: Very High Frequency
- VLA: Very Large Array
- VLBA: Very Long Baseline Array
- VLBI: Very Long Baseline Interferometry
- VLF: Very Low Frequency
- VLT: Very Large Telescope
- VMS: Vertical Motion Simulator
- VOIR: Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar (superseded by VRM)
- VPF: Vertical Processing Facility
- VRM: Venus Radar Mapper (now called Magellan)
- VTHL: Vertical Takeoff Horizontal Landing
- VTVL: Vertical Takeoff Vertical Landing
- WD: White Dwarf
- WFPC: Wide Field / Planetary Camera (on HST)
- WFPCII: Replacement for WFPC
- WIYN: Wisconsin / Indiana / Yale / NOAO telescope
- WR: Western Range (was WTR)
- WSMR: White Sands Missile Range
- WTR: Western Test Range
- WUPPE: Wisconsin Ultraviolet PhotoPolarimter Experiment (Astro package)
- XMM: X-ray Multi Mirror
- XUV: eXtreme UltraViolet
- YSO: Young Stellar Object
This list is offered as a reference for translating commonly appearing
acronyms in the space-related newsgroups. If I forgot or botched your
favorite acronym, please let me know! Also, if there's an acronym *not*
on this list that confuses you, drop me a line, and if I can figure
it out, I'll add it to the list.
Note that this is intended to be a reference for *frequently seen*
acronyms, and is most emphatically *not* encyclopedic. If I incorporated
every acronym I ever saw, I'd soon run out of disk space! :-)
The list will be posted at regular intervals, every 30 days. All
comments regarding it are welcome; I'm reachable as .
Note that this just tells what the acronyms stand for -- you're on your
own for figuring out what they *mean*! Note also that the total number of
acronyms in use far exceeds what I can list; special-purpose acronyms that
are essentially always explained as they're introduced are omitted.
Further, some acronyms stand for more than one thing; as of Edition 3 of
the list, these acronyms appear on multiple lines, unless they're simply
different ways of referring to the same thing.
Thanks to everybody who's sent suggestions since the first version of
the list, and especially to Daniel Fischer (),
who is maintaining a truly HUGE list (over 800 at last count) of acronyms and
terms, mostly in German (which I read, fortunately), and Ken Hollis at
NASA, who has sent me copies of NASA's own tomes of TLAs.
last modified: 27-Oct-1997 (bn)
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