Assorted Astronomical Acronymns, Abbreviations and Abridgements
(Something I started a while ago, now hopelessly out-of-date :)| Misc | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Acronym: | link | Stands For: |
MISC | | Top | | |
2BL | ![]() |
2QZ BL Lac Sample |
2MASS | ![]() |
2 Micron All-Sky Survey |
2QZ | ![]() |
2dF Quasar Redshift Survey |
2dF | Two Degree Field (spectrograph) | |
3C | 3rd Cambridge catalogue of radio sources | |
3CR | 3rd Cambridge catalogue of radio sources, Revised edition | |
A | | Top | | |
A&A | ![]() |
Astronomy & Astrophysics |
A&AS | ![]() |
Astronomy & Astrophysics Supplement |
AAO | ![]() |
Anglo-Australian Observatory |
AAT | Anglo-Australian Telescope | |
ADAF | Advection Dominated Accretion Flow | |
AGB | Asymptotic Giant Branch | |
AGES | ![]() |
Arecibo Galaxy Environments Survey |
AGN | Active Galactic Nucleus/Nuclei | |
AJ | ![]() |
Astronomical Journal |
ANITA | ![]() |
Australian National Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics |
ANITA | ![]() |
ANtarctic Impulse Transient Antenna |
ANU | Australian National University | |
ASKAP | ![]() |
Australian SKA Pathfinder |
ATCA | ![]() |
Australia Telescope Compact Array |
ATNF | ![]() |
Australia Telescope National Facility |
ApJ | ![]() |
Astrophysical Journal |
B | | Top | | |
BAL | Broad Absorption Line | |
BALQSO | Broad Absorption Line Quasi-StellarObject | |
BAT | ![]() |
Burst Alert Telescope (onboard Swift) |
BBB | Big Blue Bump | |
BELR | Broad Emission Line Region | |
BH | Black Hole | |
BLR | Broad Line Region | |
C | | Top | | |
CABB | Compact Array Broadband Backend | |
CAPMAP | Cosmic Anisotropy Polarization MAPper | |
CASPIR | ![]() |
Cryogenic Array SPectrometer/ImageR (on ANU 2.3m) |
CASTLES | ![]() |
CfA-Arizona Space Telescope LEns Survey |
CCD | Charge-Coupled Device | |
CFHT | ![]() |
Canada-France-Hawai'i Telescope |
CGRO | Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory | |
CLASS | ![]() |
Cosmic Lens All-Sky Survey |
CMD | Colour-Magnitude Diagram | |
CO5BOLD | ![]() |
COnservative COde for the COmputation of COmpressible COnvection in a BOx of L Dimensions with l=2,3 |
CSIRO | ![]() |
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation |
CTIO | ![]() |
Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory |
Cangaroo | ![]() |
Collaboration between Australia and Nippon for a Gamma Ray Observatory in the Outback |
CfA | ![]() |
Center for Astrophysics |
D | | Top | | |
DASI | Degree Angular Scale Interferometer | |
DBS | ![]() |
Dual Beam Spectrograph (on ANU 2.3m) |
DEEP | ![]() |
Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe |
DLA | Damped Lyman-Alpha system | |
E | | Top | | |
EGRET | Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope | |
ELAIS | European Large Area ISO Survey | |
ESO | ![]() |
European Southern Observatory |
F | | Top | | |
FIR | Far-InfraRed | |
FIRST | ![]() |
Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters |
FR I/II | Fanaroff-Riley (radio galaxy) type I/II | |
FSRQ | Flat-Spectrum Radio Quasar | |
FUSE | Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer | |
FUV | Far-UltraViolet | |
FWHM | Full Width at Half Maximum | |
G | | Top | | |
GALEX | ![]() |
GALaxy Evolution EXplorer |
GBT | Green Bank Telescope | |
GLAST | ![]() |
Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope |
GMOS | Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (on Gemini) | |
GMRT | ![]() |
Giant Metre-wave Radio Telescope |
GNIRS | Gemini Near InfraRed Spectrograph (on Gemini South) | |
GOES | Geostationary Observational Environment Satellite | |
GRB | Gamma-Ray Burst | |
GZK | Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin | |
H | | Top | | |
HBL | High frequency peaking BL Lac object | |
HESS | High Energy Stereoscopic System | |
HSB | High Surface Brightness | |
HST | Hubble Space Telescope | |
I | | Top | | |
IAR | Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomia | |
IAU | International Astronomical Union | |
IC | Index Catalogue (of Nebulae) | |
ICM | Intra-Cluster Medium | |
IDV | Intra-Day Variable/Variability | |
IGM | InterGalactic Medium | |
INT | ![]() |
Isaac Newton Telescope |
INTEGRAL | NTErnationalGamma Ray AstrophysicsLaboratory | |
IRAF | Image Reduction and Analysis Facility | |
IRAM | Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimetrique | |
IRAS | InfraRed Astronomical Satellite | |
IRIS | InfraRed Imager and Spectrograph (on AAT) | |
IRTF | ![]() |
InfraRed Telescope Facility |
ISM | InterStellar Medium | |
ISO | Infrared Space Observatory | |
IUE | International Ultraviolet Explorer | |
IVO | International Virtual Observatory | |
J | | Top | | |
JAC | Joint Astronomy Centre | |
JWST | James Webb Space Telescope | |
K | | Top | | |
KAOS | Kilo-Aperture Optical Spectrograph (intended for Gemini?) | |
KELT | ![]() |
Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope |
L | | Top | | |
LBL | Low frequency peaking BL Lac object | |
LBQS | Large Bright Quasar Survey | |
LFD | Low Frequency Demonstrator | |
LINER | Low Ionisation Nuclear Emission line Region | |
LMC | Large Magellanic Cloud | |
LPQ | Low Polarisation Quasar | |
LSB | Low Surface Brightness | |
LSS | Large Scale Structure | |
LSS | Last Scattering Surface | |
M | | Top | | |
MGC | ![]() |
Millenium Galaxy Catalogue |
MIPS | ![]() |
Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer |
MIR | Mid-InfraRed | |
MIRA | ![]() |
Milyura International Radio Array |
MIRANdA | ![]() |
MIRA Large-N Small-d Array |
MMT | Multiple Mirror Telescope (Minor Misnomer Telescope?) | |
MNRAS | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | |
MWA | ![]() |
Mileura Widefield Array |
N | | Top | | |
NGC | New General Catalogue | |
NGST | Next Generation Space Telescope | |
NIFS | Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (on Gemini North) | |
NIR | Near-InfraRed | |
NIRI | Near-InfraRed Imager and spectrograph (on Gemini North) | |
NLS1 | Narrow Line Seyfert-1 | |
NOT | Nordic Optical Telescope | |
NTD | New Technology Demonstrator | |
NVSS | ![]() |
NRAO VLA Sky Survey |
O | | Top | | |
OVV | Optically-Violent Variable | |
OWL | OverWhelmingly Large telescope | |
P | | Top | | |
PAH | Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon | |
PASA | Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia | |
PASJ | Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan | |
PASP | Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific | |
PHFS | Parkes Half-Jansky Flat-spectrum Sample | |
PILOT | ![]() |
Pathfinder for an International Large Optical Telescope |
PIQUE | Princeton IQU Experiment | |
PKS | Parkes | |
Q | | Top | | |
QSO | Quasi-Stellar Object | |
QSR | Quasi-Stellar Radio source | |
R | | Top | | |
RFI | Radio Frequency Interference | |
RIAF | Radiatively Inefficient Accretion Flow | |
ROTSE | ![]() |
Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment |
RRAT | ![]() |
Repeating Radio Transient |
RSAA | ![]() |
Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics (at ANU) |
S | | Top | | |
SDSS | Sloan Digital Sky Survey | |
SED | Spectral Energy Distribution | |
SFR | Star Formation Rate | |
SKA | ![]() |
Square Kilometre Array |
SMBH | SuperMassive Black Hole | |
SMC | Small Magellanic Cloud | |
SN(e) | SuperNova(e) | |
SNR | SuperNova Rate | |
SNR | SuperNova Remnant | |
SOHO | SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory | |
SSDI | Simultaneous Spectral DifferentialImaging | |
SSO | Siding Spring Observatory | |
SSS | ![]() |
SuperCOSMOS Sky Survey |
SWIRE | Spitzer Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic survey | |
Sy 1/2 | Seyfert (galaxy) type 1/2 | |
T | | Top | | |
T-ReCS | ![]() |
Thermal Region Camera & Spectrograph (on Gemini South) |
TEXES | ![]() |
Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph |
U | | Top | | |
UHECR | Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray | |
UKST | United Kingdom Schmidt Telescope | |
ULIRG | Ultra-Luminous InfraRed Galaxy | |
UNSW | ![]() |
University of New South Wales |
UV | UltraViolet | |
UVOIR | UltraViolet-Optical-InfraRed | |
UVOT | ![]() |
UV/Optical Telescope (onboard Swift) |
V | | Top | | |
VLA | ![]() |
Very Large Array |
VLBA | Very Long Baseline Array | |
VLBI | Very Long Baseline Interferometry | |
VLT | Very Large Telescope | |
W | | Top | | |
WMAP | ![]() |
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe |
WSRT | ![]() |
Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope |
X | | Top | | |
XBONG | X-ray Bright Optically Normal Galaxy | |
XMM | Xray Multi-Mirror telescope | |
XRT | ![]() |
X-Ray Telescope (onboard Swift) |
xNTD | extended New Technology Demonstrator | |
Y | | Top | | |
Z | | Top | |