Tips on using the Site……
- This overview of the Universe is intended to be complete and straight forward, but not so much detail so as to detract from the purpose, which is to introduce you to the universe.
- Don’t take the theories described in this site as gospel. Some may change many times just in our life time. Instead, view them for what they are…the best ideas at the present time given the knowledge we have.
- Do take the space photographs seriously…and enjoy the wonder of the night sky. All the photos are Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech, unless specifically noted otherwise.
- A lot of the recent research and discovery is derived from a few magazines….Science News, a biweekly magazine, Scientific American, and Sky and Telescope. I have found that these magazines tend to give updates on the theories based on a representative consensus in the scientific community.
- The basic information regarding the universe and how it got to where it is, is derived from years of reading books on astronomy, science, and cosmology. I’d rather read The Red Limit than Red October.
- If you want more detail on any of the subjects please see the web sites listed in Other Web Sites. There are some great web sites which go into much more detail on the subjects covered here. I prefer to go to NASA sites or to University sites as these are the source of most research. Occasionally I will include an individuals site which is professional and objective and has great graphics.
- Time is always given in millions of years. This is so that when you see a number it is more easily compared to other numbers. You don’t need to say to yourself….”now was that previous number referring to millions or billions?”