List of astronomy acronyms

This is a compilation of acronyms commonly used in astronomy. Most of the acronyms are drawn from professional astronomy and are used quite frequently in scientific publications. However, a few of these acronyms are frequently used by the general public or by amateur astronomers.

Contents
0–9 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 Top of page — See also — References

The acronyms listed below were placed into one or more of these categories:

Astrophysics terminology - a general category for physics-related acronyms
Catalog - a category for collections of tabulated scientific data
Communications network - a category that includes any network that functions primarily to communicate with spacecraft rather than performing astronomy
Data - a general category for astrophysical data not associated with any single catalog or observing program
Celestial object - a category that contains acronyms for natural objects in space and for adjectives applied to objects in space
Instrumentation - a category for telescope and other spacecraft equipment, particularly detectors such as imagers and spectrometers
Meeting - a category for acronyms used to describe meetings that are not named after organizations
Observing program - an astronomical program, often a survey, performed by one or more individuals; may also refer to the group that performs the survey
Organization - a category for any large private organization, government organization, or company
Person - a category form terms that refer to individual people
Publication - a category for acronyms used for magazines, scientific journals, and similar astronomy-related publications
Software - a category for all software except catalogued data (which is listed under "catalog") and scientific images
Spacecraft - a category that includes all spacecraft except space telescopes
Telescope - a category that includes both ground-based and space telescopes; organizations that operate telescopes (for example, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO)) are listed under "organization"

0-9

1RXH - (catalog) 1st ROSAT X-ray HRI, a catalog of sources detected by ROSAT in pointed observations with its High Resolution Imager
1RXS - (catalog) 1ROSAT X-ray Survey, a catalog of sources detected by ROSAT in an all-sky survey
2MASP - (catalog) Two-Micron All Sky Survey Prototype, an early version of the 2MASS catalog
2MASS - (observing program/catalog) Two-Micron All Sky Survey, an all-sky survey in the near-infrared; also used to describe the catalog of sources from the survey
2MASSI - (catalog) Two-Micron All Sky Survey, Incremental release, one of the versions of the 2MASS catalog
2MASSW - (catalog) Two-Micron All Sky Survey, Working database, one of the versions of the 2MASS catalog

A

A&A - (publication) Astronomy & Astrophysics, a European scientific journal
AAO - (organization) Anglo-Australian Observatory
AAT - (telescope) Anglo-Australian Telescope
AAS - (organization) American Astronomical Society
AAVSO - (organization) American Association of Variable Star Observers
ABRIXAS - (observing program) A BRoadband Imaging X-ray All-sky Survey
AC - (catalog) Catalogue Astrographique
ACE - (spacecraft) Advanced Composition Explorer
ACIS - (instrumentation) Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer, an instrument on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
ACM - (meeting) Asteroids, Comets, and Meteors
ACP - (instrumentation) - Aerosol Collector and Pyrolyser, an instrument on the Huygens probe
ACS - (instrumentation) Advanced Camera for Surveys, an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope
ACV - (celestial object) Alpha Canes Venatici, a class of rotating variable stars with strong magnetic fields named after Alpha Canum Venaticorum (Cor Caroli), the archetype for the class
ACYG - (celestial object) Alpha CYGni, a class of rotating variable stars named after Alpha Cygni (Deneb), the archetype for the class
ADAF - (astrophysics terminology) Advection Dominated Accretion Flow, a mechanism by which matter is slowly accreted onto a black hole
ADC - (organization) Astronomical Data Center
ADEC - (organization) Astrophysics Data Centers Executive Council, an organization that provides oversight for the Astrophysics Data and Information Services
ADF - (organization) Astrophysics Data Facility
ADS - (catalog) Aitken Double Stars
ADIS - (organization) Astrophysics Data and Information Services
ADS - (organization) Astrophysics Data Service, an organization that maintains an online database of scientific articles
AFGL - (organization) Air Force Geophysics Laboratory
AFOEV - (organization) Association Francaise des Observateurs d'Etoiles Variables
AG - (organization) Astronomische Gesellschaft
AGAPE - (observing program) Andromeda Galaxy and Amplified Pixels Experiment, a search for microlenses in front of the Andromeda Galaxy
AGB - (celestial object) Asymptotic Giant Branch, a description for a type of red giant star
AGK - (catalog) Astronomische Gesellschaft Katalog
AGN - (celestial object) Active Galactic Nucleus
AGU - (organization) American Geophysical Union
AIM - (spacecraft) Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, a spacecraft that will study the Noctilucent clouds
AIPS - (software) Astronomical Image Processing System
AJ - (publication) Astronomical Journal
ALaMO - (organization) Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory
ALEXIS - (instrumentation) Array of Low Energy X-ray Imaging Sensors
ALPO - (organization) Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers
ALMA - (telescope) Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Array
AMANDA - (telescope) Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array, a neutrino telescope
AMASE - (software) Astrophysics Multi-spectral Archive Search Engine
AMS - (organization) American Meteor Society
AN - (publication) Astronomische Nachrichten, a German scientific journal
ANS - (telescope) Astronomical Netherlands Satellite
ANS - (organization) Astro News Service
ANSI - (organization) American National Standards Institute
AO - (instrumentation) Adaptive Optics
AOR - (instrumentation) Astronomical Observation Request
ApJ - (publication) Astrophysical Journal
- ApJL - (publication) Astrophysical Journal Letters
- ApJS - (publication) Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
APM - (instrumentation/catalog), Automatic Plate Measuring machine, describes both a machine for making measurements from photographic plates and a catalog based on measurements by the machine
APOD - (data) Astronomy Picture of the Day
APT - (telescope) Automated Patrol Telescope
ARC - (organization) Ames Research Center
ARC - (organization) Astrophysical Research Consortium
ASA - (organization) Astronomical Society of the Atlantic
ASI - (organization) Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
ASIAA - (organization) Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics
ASP - (organization) Astronomical Society of the Pacific
ASTRO - (spacecraft) Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations
ATCA - (telescope) Australia Telescope Compact Array
AU - (measurement) Astronomical Unit, the distance between the Earth and the Sun
AUASS - (organization) Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences
AURA - (organization) Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy
AWCA - (meeting) American Workshop on Cometary Astronomy, an older name for the International Workshop on Cometary Astronomy
AXP - (celestial object) Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar
AXAF - (telescope) Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility, an older name for the Chandra X-ray Observatory

B

B - (catalog) Barnard catalog
BAA - (organization) British Astronomical Association
BAAS - (publication) Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society
BAC - (catalog) Bordeaux Astrographic Catalog
BAO - (organization) Beijing Astronomical Observatory
BASIS - (observing program) Burst and All Sky Imaging Survey
BAT - (instrumentation) Burst Alert Telescope, an instrument on SWIFT
BATC - (observing program) Beijing-Arizona-Taiwan-Connecticut, the name of a multi-wavelenght sky survey
BATSE - (instrument) Burst and Transient Source Experiment, an instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory
BATTeRS - (telescope) Bisei Asteroid Tracking Telescopes for Rapid Survey
BB - (astrophysics terminology) Black Body
BBXRT - (telescope) Broad Band X-Ray Telescope
BCD - (celestial object) Blue Compact Dwarf
BCD - (software) Basic Calibrated Data, data produced after basic processing
BCEP - (celestial object) Beta CEPhei, a class of pulsating variable stars for which Beta Cephei is the archetypal object
- also BCE
BCG - (celestial object) Blue Compact Galaxy, another name for a blue compact dwarf
BCVS - (catalog) Bibliographic Catalogue of Variable Stars
BD - (catalog) Bonner Durchmusterung
BD - (celestial object) Brown Dwarf
BEN - (catalog) Jack Bennett catalog, a catalog of deep-sky objects for amateur astronomers
BF - (astrophysics terminology) Broadening Function
BH - (celestial object) Black Hole
BHB - (celestial object) Blue Horizontal Branch, a description for a type of luminous star
BHC - (celestial object) Black Hole Candidate
BHXRT - (celestial object) Black Hole X-Ray Transient
- also BHXT
BIMA - (telescope) Berkeley Illinois Maryland Array, a microwave telescope
BIS - (organization) British Interplanetary Society
BITP - (organization) - Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, a Ukrainian research institute
BLLAC - (celestial object) BL LACertae, a class of active galaxies for which BL Lacertae is the archetypal object
- also BLL
BLAST - (telescope) - Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope
BNSC - (organization) British National Space Centre
BOAO - (observatory) Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory, in Korea
BPM - (catalog) Bruce Proper Motion
BSG - (celestial object) Blue Super Giant
BSS - (celestial object) Blue Straggler Star
- also BS
BSS - (observing program) Bigelow Sky Survey
BY - (celestial object) BY Draconis, a class of rotating variable stars for which BY Draconis is the archetypal object

C

CADC - (organization) Canadian Astronomy Data Centre
CAHA - (organization) Centro Astronómico Hispano Alemán, a German-Spanish Astronomical Centre
CAPS - (instrumentation) CAssini Plasma Spectrometer, an instrument on the Cassini spacecraft
CARA - (organization) California Association for Research in Astronomy
CARA - (organization) Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica
CASS - (organization) Center for Advanced Space Studies
CBR - (celestial object) Cosmic Background Radiation
CC - (celestial object) Candidate Companion, a newly detected observed object that initially appears to orbit another celestial object
CCD - (instrumentation) Charge Coupled Device
CCD - (astrophysics terminology) - Color-Color Diagram, a plot that compares the differences between magnitudes in different wave bands
CCDM - (catalog) Catalog of Components of Double and Multiple Stars
CCO - (catalog) Catalogue of Cometary Orbits
CCO - (celestial object) Central Compact Object, a compact star in the center of a planetary nebulae
CCS - (celestial object) Cool Carbon Star
CD - (catalog) Cordoba Durchmusterung
CDIMP - (catalog) Catalogue of Discoveries and Identifications of Minor Planets
CDM - (astrophysics terminology) Cold Dark Matter, used to describe models for structure formation in the universe that include "cold" particles such as WIMPs as dark matter
CDS - (organization) Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg
CELT - (telescope) - California Extremely Large Telescope, an older name for the Thirty Meter Telescope
CEMP - (celestial object) Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor, a type of carbon star
- CEMP-no - (celestial object) Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor star with no enhancement of elements produced by the r-process or s-process nucleosynthesis
- CEMP-r - (celestial object) Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor star with an enhancement of elements produced by r-process nucleosynthesis
- CEMP-s - (celestial object) Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor star with an enhancement of elements produced by s-process nucleosynthesis
- CEMP-r/s - (celestial object) Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor star with an enhancement of elements produced by both r-process and s-process nucleosynthesis
CEP - (celestial object) CEPheid, a type of pulsating variable star
CEPS - (organization) Center for Earth and Planetary Studies
CfA - (organization) Center for Astrophysics
CFHT - (telescope) Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope
CFRS - (observing program), Canada-France Redshift Survey
CG - (astrophysics terminology) Center of Gravity
CG - (celestial object) Cometary Globule, a Bok globule that show signs of a tail-like extension
CG - (celestial object) Compact Galaxy
CGCS - (celestial object) Cool Galactic Carbon Star
CGRO - (telescope) Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
CGSS - (catalog) Catalogue of Galactic S Stars
CHARA - (organization) Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy
CIAO - (software) Chandra Interactive Analysis of Observations, software for processing Chandra X-ray Observatory data
CIAO - (instrumentation) Coronagraphic Imager with Adaptive Optics, an instrument for the Subaru Telescope
CIBR - (celestial object) Cosmic Infrared Background Radiation
- also CIB
CIDA - (instrumentation) Cometary Interplanetary Dust Analyzer, an instrument on the Stardust spacecraft
CINEOS - (observing program) Campo Imperatore Near-Earth Object Survey
CIO - (catalog) Catalog of Infrared Observations
CISCO - (instrumentation) Cooled Infrared Spectrograph and Camera for OHS, an instrument for the Subaru Telescope
CM - (astrophysics terminology) Center of Mass
CMBR - (celestial object) Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
- also CMB, CBR, MBR
CMC - (catalog) Carlsberg Meridian Catalogue
CMD - (astrophysics terminology) Color-Magnitude Diagram, commonly used to describe the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram or similar diagrams
- also CM
CNB - (celestial object) Cosmic Neutrino Background
CNES - (organization) Centre Nationale d'Etudes Spatiales, the French Space Agency
CNO - (astrophysics terminology) Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen, a sequence of nuclear fusion processes
CNR - (organization) Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
CNSR - (spacecraft) Comet Nucleus Sample Return
COBE - (telescope) Cosmic Background Explorer, a space telescope used to study the cosmic microwave background radiation
COHSI - (instrumentation) Cambridge OH-Suppression Instrument
Col - (catalog) Collinder
COMICS - (instrumentation) COoled Mid-Infrared Camera and Spectrometer, an instrument for the Subaru Telescope
CGRO - (telescope) COMPton TELescope, another name for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
COROT - (telescope) COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits, a space telescope for detecting extrasolar planets
COSPAR - (organization) COmmittee on SPAce Research
COSTAR - (instrumentation) Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement, corrective optics for the Hubble Space Telescope
CP - (astrophysics terminology) Chemically Peculiar, a description for stars withpeculiar chemical compositions
CPD - (catalog) Cape Photographic Durchmusterung
CRAF - (spacecraft) Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby
CSA - (organization) Canadian Space Agency
CSBN - (organization) Committee for Small-Body Nomenclature
CSE - (celestial object) Circumstellar Envelope, structural descriptions of a planetary nebula
CSI - (catalog) Catalog of Stellar Identification, a compilation of the catalogs, BD, CD, and CPD
CSO - (telescope) Caltech Submillimeter Observatory
CSPN - (celestial object) Central Star of Planetary Nebula
- also CSPNe (plural form of CSPN)
CSS - (observing program) Catalina Sky Survey
CST - (astrophysics terminology) ConStanT, used to describe non-variable stars
CSV - (catalog) Catalog of Suspected Variables
CTIO - (telescope/organization) Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory
CTTS - (celestial object) Classical T-Tauri Star
CV - (celestial object) Cataclysmic Variable, a type of variable binary star system that contains a white dwarf and a companion star that changes
CW - (celestial object) Cepheid W Virginis, a class of Cepheids named after W Virginis, the archetype for the class
- CWA - (celestial object) Cepheid W Virginis A, a subclass of CW stars that that vary in brightness on timescales of less than 8 days
- CWB - (celestial object) Cepheid W Virginis B, a subclass of CW stars that vary in brightness on timescales greater than 8 days
CXBR - (celestial object) Cosmic X-ray Background Radiation
CXO - (catalog) Chandra X-ray Observation, a catalog based from the Chandra space telescope

D

DAO - (organization) Dominion Astrophysical Observatory
DCEP - (celestial object) Delta CEPhei, a class of Cepheids named after Delta Cephei, the archetype for the class
DDEB - (celectial object) Double-lined eclipsing binary
DENIS - (observing program/catalog) DEep Near Infrared Survey
DENIS-P - (catalog) DEep Near Infrared Survey, Provisory designation
DES - (observing program) Deep Ecliptic Survey
DIB - (celestial object) Diffuse Instellar Band, an absorption feature in stellar spectra with an interstellar origin
DISR - (instrumentation) - Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer, an instrument on the Huygens probe
DN - (celestial object) Dwarf Nova
DNS - (celestial object) Double Neutron Star, another name for a binary neutron star system
DPOSS - (data) Digitized Palomar Observatory Sky Survey
DS - (celestial object) Dwarf Star
DSCT - Delta SCuTi, a class of pulsating variable stars named after Delta Scuti, the archetype for the class
DSN - (communications network) Deep Space Network, a network of radio antennae used for communicating to spacecraft
DSS - (data) Digitized Sky Survey
DWE - (instrumentation) - Doppler Wind Experiment, an instrument on the Huygens probe

E

E - (celestial object) Eclipsing, used to describe a binary star system with variable brightness in which the stars eclipse each other
- EA - (celestial object) Eclipsing Algol, a class of eclipsing binary stars named after Algol, the archetype for the class
- EB - (celestial object) Eclipsing Beta Lyrae, a class of eclipsing binary stars named after Beta Lyrae, the archetype for the class
- EW - (celestial object) Eclipsing W Ursa Majoris, a class of eclipsing binary stars named after W Ursa Majoris, the archetype for the class
E-ELT - (telescope) - European Extremely Large Telescope
EAPSNET - (organization) - East-Asian Planet Search Network
EC - (celestial object) Embedded Cluster, a star cluster that is partially or fully embedded in interstellar gas or dust
ECA - (celestial object) Earth Crossing Asteroid
EGG - (celestial object) Evaporating Gaseous Globule
EGGR - (catalog) Eggen & Greenstein, a catalog of mostly white dwarfs
EGP - (celestial object) Extrasolar Giant Planet
EGRET - (telescope) Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope, another name for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
EHB - (celestial object) Extreme Horizontal Branch, the description for a type of hot, evolved star
EJASA - (publication) Electronic Journal of the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic
EKBO - (celestial object) Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt Object, an alternative name for Kuiper Belt Objects
ELIAS - (observing program) European Large Area ISO Survey, a survey of high redshift galaxies performed with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO)
EMP - (catalog) Ephemerides of Minor Planets
EMP - (celestial object) Extremely Metal-Poor, a description for stars that contain few elements other than hydrogen and helium
ENACS - (observing program) ESO Nearby Abell Cluster Survey, a survey of galaxy clusters
ERO - (celestial object) Extremely Red Object, a name applied to galaxies with red spectra
ESA - (organization) European Space Agency
ESO - (organization) European Southern Observatory
ESTEC - (organization) European Space research and TEchnology Centre
EUV - (astrophysics terminology) Extreme UltraViolet
EUVE - (telescope) Extreme UltraViolet Explorer, an ultraviolet space telescope
EVN - (organization) European VLBI Network

F

FAME - (telescope) Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer
FASTT - (telescope) Flagstaff Astrometric Scanning Transit Telescope
FCC - (catalog) Fornax Cluster Catalog, a catalog of galaxies in the Fornax Cluster
FEB - (celestial object) Falling-Evaporating Body, a solid planetary object that is being evaporated by the stellar wind
FGS - (instrumentation) Fine Guidance Sensors, an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope
FHST - (instrumentation) Fixed Head Star Trackers, an instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope
FIR - (astrophysics terminology) Far InfraRed
FIRST - (observing program) Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters, a radio survey of the sky with the Very Large Array
FIRST - (telescope) Far InfraRed and Submillimeter Space Telescope, an older name for the Herschel Space Observatory
FITS - (software) Flexible Image Transport System, the format commonly used for scientific astronomy images
FLOAT - (telescope) Fibre-Linked Optical Array Telescope
FLWO - (telescope) Fred L. Whipple Observatory
FMO - (celestial object) Fast Moving Object, a description for asteroids so close to the Earth that they appear to be moving very fast
FOC - (instrumentation) Faint Object Camera, a camera formerly on the Hubble Space Telescope
FOCAS - (instrumentation) Faint Object Camera And Spectrograph, an instrument for the Subaru Telescope
FOS - (instrumentation) Faint Object Spectrograph, a spectrometer formerly on the Hubble Space Telescope
FOV - (instrumentation) Field Of View
FRED - (astrophysics terminology) Fast Rise Exponential Decay, used to describe the variations in the luminosity of gamma ray bursts over time
FSC - (catalog) Faint Source Catalogue, one of the catalogs produced using Infrared Astronomical Satellite data
FTL - (astrophysics terminology) Faster Than Light
FUOR - (celestial object) FU Orionis objects, a class of variable pre-main sequence stars named after FU Orionis, the archetype for the class
- also FU
FUSE - (telescope) Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer, an ultraviolet space telescope
FUVITA - (instrumentation) Far UltraViolet Imaging Telescope Array, an ultraviolet imager for the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma mission
FWHM - (instrumentation) Full Width at Half Maximum, used to describe telescopes' resolution
FWZI - (instrumentation) Full Width at Zero Intensity, used to describe telescopes' resolution

G

G - (catalog) Giclas, a catalog of nearby stars
GAIA - (telescope) Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics, a planned space telescope that will be used to make high-precision measurements of stars
GALEX - (telescope) Galaxy Evolution Explorer, an ultraviolet space telescope
GASP - (software) Guide star Astrometric Support Package
GAT - (catalog) AO (Gatewood+), catalog of G. Gatewood's observations
GBT - (telescope) Green Bank Telescope
GC - (catalog) General Catalog, a catalog of clusters, nebulae, and galaxies created by John Herschel and now superseded by the New General Catalogue
GCAS - (celestial object) Gamma CASsiopeiae, a class of eruptive variable stars named after Gamma Cassiopeiae, the archetype for the class
GCMS - (instrumentation) - Gas Chromatograph and Mass Spectrometer, an instrument on the Huygens probe
- also GC/MS
GCN - (organization) GRB Coordinates Network
GCR - (astrophysics terminology) Galactic Cosmic Rays
GCVS - (catalog) the General Catalog of Variable Stars
GD - (catalog) Giclas Dwarf, a catalog of white dwarf
GDS - (celestial object) Great Dark Spot, a transient feature in the clouds of Neptune
GEM - (observing program) Galactic Emission Mapping
GEM - (observing program) Galileo Europa Mission, the description for the science observation program of Europa performed by the Galileo spacecraft
GEM - (observing program) Giotto Extended Mission, the description for the extended operations of the Giotto spacecraft
GEMS - (organization) Group Evolution Multi-wavelength Study
GEMSS - (organization) Global Exoplanet M-dwarf Search-Survey, a search for exoplanets around m-dwarf stars
GEODDS - (telescope) Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance, a network of telescopes used in a United States Air Force program for observing space junk
GH - (catalog) Giclas Hyades, a catalog of stars in the Hyades cluster
GHRS - (instrumentation) Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph, a spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope
- also HRS
GIA - (organization) Gruppo Italiano Astrometristi
GIMI - (instrumentation) Global Imaging Monitor of the Ionosphere, an ultraviolet imager on the Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite
GJ - (catalog) Gliese & Jahreiß/Jahreiss catalog
GL - (catalog) Gliese catalog
GLAST - (telescope) Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope
GMC - (celestial object) Giant molecular Cloud
GMF - (celestial object) Galactic Magnetic Field
GMRT - (telescope) Giant Meter Radio Telescope
GMT - (telescope) - Giant Magellan Telescope, a telescope being built by a US-Australian collaboration
GONG - (organization) Global Oscillation Network Group, an organization that monitors oscillations in the Sun
GOODS - (survey) Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey a survey of various redshifts to study galactic formation and evolution
GP - (astrophysics terminology) Giant Pulses, a description for a type of observed pulse emission from pulsars
GPS - (astrophysics teminology) GHz-Peaked Spectrum, a description for the radio or microwave spectra of some galaxies
GR - (astrophysics terminology) General Relativity
GR - (catalog) Giclas Red dwarf, a catalog of red dwarfs
GRB - (celestial object) Gamma Ray Burst
GRO - (telescope) Gamma Ray Observatory, another name for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory
GROSCE - (telescope) Gamma Ray Burst Optical Counterparts Search Experiment, an automated telescope used to detect the optical counterparts to gamma ray bursts
GRS - (instrumentation) Gamma Ray Spectrometer, an instrument on the Mars Observer
GRS - (celestial object) Great Red Spot, a feature in the clouds of Jupiter
GSC - (catalog) Guide Star Catalog, a catalog of stars used for pointing the Hubble Space Telescope
GSC2 - (catalog) Guide Star Catalog version 2, a catalog of stars used for pointing the Hubble Space Telescope
- also GSC II
GSFC - (organization) Goddard Space Flight Center, a NASA institution
GSPC - (catalog) Guide Star Photometric Catalog, a catalog of stars with precisely-measured fluxes used to calibrate the Guide Star Catalog

H

HAeBe - (celestial object) Herbig AeBe star, a type of pre-main sequence star with strong spectral emission lines
- HAe - (celestial object) Herbig Ae star
- HBe - (celestial object) Herbig Be star
HALCA - (telescope) Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communications and Astronomy, a satellite that is part of the VLBI Space Observatory Program, a Japanese radio astronomy project
HAO - (organization) High Altitude Observatory
HASI - (instrumentation) Huygens Atmosphere Structure Instrument, an instrument on the Huygens probe
HB - (celestial object) Horizontal Branch, a description for a type of evolved red giant star in which helium is burned in the core and hydrogen is burned in a shell around the core
HBRP - (celestial object) High-magnetic field Radio Pulsar
HBV - (catalog) Hamburg-Bergedorf Variables, a catalog of variable stars
HBMM - (astrophysics terminology) Hydrogen Burning Minimum Mass
HCO - (organization) Harvard College Observatory
HCS - (celestial object) Heliospheric Current Sheet, the boundary where the polarity of the Sun's magnetic field changes direction
HD - (catalog) Henry Draper, a catalog of stars
HDE - (catalog) Henry Draper Extension, a catalog of stars
HDF - (data/celestial object) Hubble Deep Field, an area of the sky with little foreground obscuration that was observed deeply with the Hubble Space Telescope; also the name for the data product itself
HDM - (astrophysics terminology) Hot Dark Matter, a description for cosmological models treating neutrinos as dark matter
HDS - (instrumentation) High Dispersion Spectrograph, a spectrograph on the Subaru Telescope
HE - (catalog) Hamburg/ESO Survey
HEAO - (telescope) High Energy Astronomical Observatory, a series of X-ray and gamma ray space telescopes
HEASARC - (organization) High Energy Astrophysics Science Archival Research Center, a NASA organization that deals with X-ray and gamma ray telescope data
HESS - (telescope) High Energy Stereoscopic System, a telescope for detecting cosmic rays
HETE - (telescope) High Energy Transient Explorer, a space telescope that performs multi-wavelength observations of gamma ray bursts
HF - (astrophysics terminology) High Frequency
HGA - (instrumentation) High Gain Antenna
HH - (celestial object) Herbig-Haro object, objects formed when the ejecta from new stars collides with the interstellar medium
- also HHO
HIC - (catalog) HIPPARCOS Input Catalog, a catalog of data for the first target stars selected for observation by the Hipparcos
HICAT - (catalog) HIPASS catalog, a catalog of HI sources, see also NHICAT
HID - (astrophysics terminology) - Hardness-Intensity Diagram, a type of color magnitude diagram used in X-ray and gamma ray astronomy
HIP - (catalog) HIPPARCOS, the catalog of data produced by Hipparcos
HIPASS - (Observing program) HI Parkes All-Sky Survey, survey of HI sources
HIPPARCOS - (telescope) HIgh Precision PARallax COllecting Satellite, a space telescope specifically designed to measure distances to stars using parallax
HISA - (astrophysical terminology) HI Self-Absorption region
HK - (catalog) Survey for metal-poor stars based on the strength of CaII H and K absorption lines
HLIRG - (celestial object) HyperLuminous Infrared Galaxy, a galaxy that is brighter than 10¹³ solar luminosities in the infrared
HMC - (instrumentation) Halley Multicolor Camera, an instrument on the Giotto spacecraft
HMPO - (celestial object) High-Mass Proto-stellar Object
HMXB - (celestial object) High-Mass X-Ray Binary, an X-ray-luminous binary system consisting of a compact star and a massive star
HPMS - (celestial object) High Proper Motion Star, a star with high proper motion
HR - (catalog) Hoffleit Bright Star
HR - (astrophysics terminology) Hertzsprung-Russell, a description for a diagram that compares stars' colors to their luminosities
HRC-I - (instrumentation) High Resolution Camera, an instrument on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
HRD - (instrumentation) High Rate Detector, an instrument on the Cassini spacecraft
HRMS - (observing program) High Resolution Microwave Survey, a survey for microwave signals from extraterrestrial intelligence
HRI - (instrumentation) High Resolution Imager, an instrument on the ROSAT telescope
HSP - (instrumentation) High Speed Photometer, an instrument formerly on the Hubble Space Telescope
HST - (telescope) Hubble Space Telescope
HTRA - (astrophysics terminology) High Time Resolution Astrophysics, a term used to describe the observations of phenomena that vary on timescales of one second or less
HUT - (telescope) Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, an ultraviolet telescope that operated from the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle
HVC - (celestial object) High Velocity Cloud, an interstellar cloud with a velocity that is too high to be explained by galactic rotation
HXD - (instrumentation) Hard X-ray Detector, an instrument on the on the Suzaku space telescope
HVS - (celestial object) Hypervelocity Star or High Velocity Star

I

IAC - (organization) Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias
IAPPP - (organization) International Amateur/Professional Photoelectric Photometry
IAS - (organization) Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale
IASY - (observing program) International Active Sun Year, the name given to a series of coordinated Sun-related observational programs performed in 1969 and 1971
IAU - (organization) International Astronomical Union
IAUC - (publication) IAU Circular
IAYC - (meeting) International Astronomical Youth Camp
IBAS - (instrumentation) - INTEGRAL Burst Alert System, an instrument on the INTEGRAL satellite
IBIS - (instrumentation) - Imager on Board the INTEGRAL Satellite, an instrument on the INTEGRAL satellite
IBVS - (publication) Information Bulletin on Variable Stars
IC - (catalog) Index Catalog
IC - (celestial object) Intracluster, a general term to describe either the regions between stars in star clusters or the region between galaxies in galaxy clusters
ICE - (spacecraft) International Comet Explorer
ICM - (celestial object) Intracluster Medium, is the superheated gas present at the center of a galaxy cluster
ICQ - (publication) International Comet Quarterly
ICRF - (astrophysics terminology) International Celestial Reference Frame, a coordinate system based on radio sources used to define the locations of objects in the sky
ICRS - (astrophysics terminology) International Celestial Reference System, a coordinate system based on Hipparcos observations used to define the locations of objects in the sky
IDA - (organization) International Dark-Sky Association, an organization that seeks to control light pollution
IDP - (celestial object) Interplanetary Dust Particle, dust particles around planets or planetary bodies
IDS - (catalog) Index catalog of Double Stars
IEO - (astrophysics terminology) Inner-Earth Object, used to describe the orbits of asteroids
IERS - (organization) International Earth Rotation geophysical Service or International Earth rotation and Reference systems Service, an organization that monitors the Earth's orientation with respect to the radio sources used to define the ICRF
IfA - (organization) Institute for Astronomy, the astronomy research division of the University of Hawaii
IGM - (celestial object) InterGalactic Medium
IGR - (catalog) Integral Gamma-Ray source, a catalog based on observations by the INTEGRAL telescope
IGY - (observing program) International Geophysical Year, the name given to a series of coordinated geophysical and astronomical observation programs performed in 1957 and 1958
IHW - (organization) International Halley Watch, an organization created to coordinate observations of Halley's Comet in 1986
ILOM - (spacecraft) In-situ Lunar Orientation Measurement, a mission to measure variations in the orientation of the Moon from the Moon's surface
IMBH - (celestial object) Intermediate Mass Black Hole
IMF - (astrophysics terminology) Initial Mass Function, used to describe the relative numbers of stars of different masses that form during star formation
IMO - (organization) International Meteor Organization
IMPACT - (meeting) International Monitoring Programs for Asteroid and Comet Threat
IMPS - (observing program) IRAS Minor Planet Survey
INAG - (organization) Institut National d'Astronomie et de Geophysique
ING - (organization) Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
INS - (celestial object) Isolated Neutron Star
INT - (telescope) Isaac Newton Telescope
INTEGRAL - (telescope) INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory, a gamma-ray space telescope
IoA - (organization) Institute of Astronomy, an astronomy research department at Cambridge University
IOTA - (telescope) Infrared-Optical Telescope Array
IOTA - (organization) International Occultation Timing Association, an organization for monitoring occultations
IPAC - (organization) Infrared Processing & Analysis Center
IPMO - (celestial object) Isolated Planetary Mass Objects, another name for isolated planemos or sub-brown dwarfs
IQSY - (observing program) International Quiet Sun Year, the name given to a series of coordinated Sun-related observational programs performed in 1964 and 1965
IR - (astrophysics terminology) InfraRed
IRAC - (instrumentation) Infrared Array Camera, a mid-infrared imager on the Spitzer Space Telescope
IRAF - (software) Image Reduction and Analisys Facility, a general-purpose professional data-processing package
IRAIT - (telescope) - International Robotic Antarctic Infrared Telescope
IRAM - (organization) Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimetrique
IRAS - (telecope/catalog) InfraRed Astronomical Satellite, an infrared space telescope; also used to describe the catalog produced using the telescope's data
IRCS - (instrumentation) InfraRed Camera and Spectrograph, an instrument on the Subaru Telescope
IRDC - (celestial object) Infrared Dark Cloud
IRTF - (telescope) InfraRed Telescope Facility
IRSA - (organization) Infrared Science Archive
ISAS - (organization) Institute of Space and Astronautical Science
ISEE - (spacecraft) International Sun Earth Explorer, a series of spacecraft designed to study the effects of the Sun on the Earth's space environment and magnetosphere
ISGRI - (instrumentation) - INTEGRAL Soft Gamma-Ray Imager, an instrument on the INTEGRAL satellite
ISM - (celestial object) InterStellar Medium
ISN - (organization) International Supernovae Network
ISO - (telescope) Infrared Space Observatory
ISPM - (spacecraft) International Solar Polar Mission, another name for the Ulysses spacecraft
ISSA - (data) Infrared Sky Survey Atlas, an atlas compiled from Infrared Astronomical Satellite data
ISTeC - (organization) International Small Telescope Cooperative
ISY - (observing program/meeting) International Space Year, the name given to a celebration of space exploration as well as a series of coordinated astronomical observations and a series of meetings to plan future astronomy research efforts
ITA - (organization) Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, one of three organizations that was combined to form the Institute of Astronomy
IUE - (telescope) International Ultraviolet Explorer, an ultraviolet space telescope
IUEDAC - (organization) IUE satellite Data Analysis Center
IWCA - (meeting) International Workshop on Cometary Astronomy

J

JAC - (publication) Japan Astronomical Circular
JAC - (organization) Joint Astronomy Centre, the organization that operates the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
JAPOA - (organization) Japan Amateur Photoelectric Observers Association
JAXA - (organization) Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency
JCMT - (telescope) James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
JD - (astrophysics terminology) Julian Date, an alternative time commonly used in astronomy
JET-X - (telescope) Joint European Telescope for X-ray astronomy
JGR - (publication) Journal of Geophysical Research
JILA - (organization) formerly Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics
JKT - (telescope) Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope
JPL - (organization) Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a research center associated with NASA
JSGA - (telescope/organization) Japan SpaceGuard Association, a Japanese telescope used to track near-Earth asteroids and space junk
JWST - (telescope) James Webb Space Telescope, a planned space telescope that will supersede the Hubble Space Telescope

K

KAIT - (telescope) Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope
KAO - (telescope) Kuiper Airborne Observatory
KBO - (celestial object) Kuiper Belt Object
KCAO - (organization) Kumamoto Civil Astronomical Observatory
KIC - (catalog) Kepler Input Catalog, a catalog of stars with potential extrasolar planets to be observed by the Kepler Mission
KPNO - (organization) Kitt Peak National Observatory

L

L - (astrophysics terminology) Lagrange, used to describe Lagrange points
L - (catalog) Luyten, a catalog of proper motion measurements of stars
LAD-C - (instrumentation) Large Area Debris Collector, a canceled program that was to collect and catalog low orbital dust on the International Space Station
LAEFF - (organization) Laboratorio de Astrofisica Espacial y Fisica Fundamental, a Spanish astronomy research organization
LAL - (catalog) LALande, a historical catalog of stars
LANL - (organization) Los Alamos National Laboratory
LASCO - (instrumentation) Large Angle and Spectrometric COronagraph, an instrument on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
LASER - (instrumentation) Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
LBN - (catalog) Lynds Bright Nebula, a catalog of bright nebulae
LBNL - (organization) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
LBT - (telescope) Large Binocular Telescope
LBV - (celestial object) Luminous Blue Variable, a type of very bright variable star
LCDM - (astrophysics terminology) Lambda Cold Dark Matter, used to describe models for structure formation in the universe that include dark energy
- also ΛCDM
LCROSS - (spacecraft) Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite
LCRS - (observing program) Las Campanas Redshift Survey
LDN - (catalog) Lynds Dark Nebula, a catalog of dark nebulae
LDS - (catalog) Luyten Double Star
LEO - (astrophysics terminology) Low Earth Orbit
LEST - (telescope) Large Earth-based Solar Telescope
LETGS - (instrumentation) Low Energy Transmission Gratings Spectrometer, an instrument on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory
- also LETG
LF - (astrophysics terminology) Luminosity Function, used to describe the spatial density of objects such as star clusters and galaxies as a function of their luminosity
LFT - (catalog) Luyten Five-Tenths, a catalog of stars with proper motions exceeding 0.5"
LGA - (instrumentation) Low Gain Antenna
LGM - (celestial object) Little Green Men, a humorous name applied to pulsars soon after their discovery
LHEA - (organization) Laboratory for High Energy Astrophysics
LHS - (catalog) Luyten Half-Second, a catalog of stars with proper motions exceeding 0.5"
LIC - (celestial object) Local Interstellar Cloud, the cloud in the interstellar medium through which the solar system is currently moving
LIGO - (telescope) Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, an instrument for detecting gravitational waves
LINEAR - (observing program) Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research
LINER - (celestial object) Low Ionization Nuclear Emission Region, a galactic nucleus that is characterized by spectral line emission from weakly-ionized gas
LIRG - (celestial object) Luminous Infrared Galaxy, a galaxy that is between 10¹¹ and 10¹² solar luminosities in the infrared
LISA - (telescope) Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, a series of spacecraft that can be used to detect