ALT
Altitude
APO
Apochromatic
APOD
Astronomy picture of the day
ATM
Amateur Telescope Maker/Making
AZ
Azimuth
B
B
CCD
Charge-Coupled Device
CMOS
Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
DEC
Declination
DOB
Dobsonian
DSLR
Digital single lens reflex
DSO
Deep Sky (or Space) Object
ED
Extra-low dispersion
EP
Eyepiece
EQ
Equatorial
FOV
Field Of View
GEM
German Equatorial Mount
GMT
Greenwich Mean Time (also called UT)
GPS
Global Positioning System
GSO
Guan Sheng Optical
HST
Hubble Space Telescope
IR
Infra-Red
ISS
International Space Station
J
J
K
K
LASER
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
LEO
Low Earth Orbit
LMC
Large Magellanic Cloud
M
Messier (as in M31, M13, M57, etc.)
MGS
Mars Global Surveyor
MMT
Multiple Mirror Telescope
NASA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NEAR
Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (now named NEAR Shoemaker)
NGC
New General Catalog
NGST
Next Generation Space Telescope
NICMOS
Near Infrared Camera / Multi Object Spectrometer
NIR
Near Infra-Red
NS
Neutron Star
NTT
New Technology Telescope
OTA
Outer Tube Assembly
OTA
Optical Telescope Assembly
P
P
QSO
Quasi-Stellar Object
RA
Right Ascension
RNGC
Revised New General Catalog
RTG
Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
SAO
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
SAT
Synthetic Aperture Telescope
SCT
Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope
SETI
Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence
SMC
Small Magellanic Cloud
SNR
Signal to Noise Ratio
SOHO
Solar Heliospheric Observatory
SST
Spectroscopic Survey Telescope
T
T
UFO
Unidentified Flying Object
UHT
Ultra-high Transmission
UT
Universal Time (a.k.a. GMT, or Zulu Time; cf UTC)
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time (subtly different from UT)
UV
Ultra-Violet
UVS
Ultra-Violet Spectrometer
VLT
Very Large Telescope
W
W
X
X
YSO
Young Stellar Object
Z
Z
NATO Phonetic
Alphabet
|
A - Alpha
|
K - Kilo
|
U - Uniform
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0 - Zero
|
|
B - Bravo
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L - Lima
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V - Victor
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1 - Wun (One)
|
|
C - Charlie
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M - Mike
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W - Whiskey
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2 - Two
|
|
D - Delta
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N - November
|
X - X-ray
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3 - Tree (Three)
|
|
E - Echo
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O - Oscar
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Y - Yankee
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4 - Fower (Four)
|
|
F - Foxtrot
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P - Papa
|
Z - Zulu
|
5 - Fife
(Five)
|
|
G - Golf
|
Q - Quebec
|
|
6 - Six
|
|
H - Hotel
|
R - Romeo
|
. - decimal (point)
|
7 - Seven
|
|
I - India
|
S - Sierra
|
. - (full) stop
|
8 - Ait (Eight)
|
|
J - Juliet
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T - Tango
|
|
9 - Niner (Nine)
|
|
|
GREEK
Alphabet
