This is a compilation of initialisms and acronyms commonly used in astronomy. Most are drawn from professional astronomy, and are used quite frequently in scientific publications. A few are frequently used by the general public or by amateur astronomers.
The acronyms listed below were placed into one or more of these categories: Astrophysics terminology – physics-related acronyms Catalog – collections of tabulated scientific data Communications network – any network that functions primarily to communicate with spacecraft rather than performing astronomy Data – astrophysical data not associated with any single catalog or observing program Celestial object – acronyms for natural objects in space and for adjectives applied to objects in space Instrumentation – telescope and other spacecraft equipment, particularly detectors such as imagers and spectrometers Meeting – meetings that are not named after organizations Observing program – astronomical programs, often surveys, performed by one or more individuals; may include the groups that perform surveys Organization – any large private organization, government organization, or company Person – individual people Publication – magazines, scientific journals, and similar astronomy-related publications Software – software excluding catalogued data (which is categorized as "catalog") and scientific images Spacecraft – any spacecraft except space telescopes Telescope – 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 2dF – (instrumentation) Two-degree field, spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope 2dFGRS – (observing program) Two-degree-Field Galaxy Redshift Survey 2D-FRUTTI – (instrumentation) Two dimensional photon counting system 2SLAQ – (observing program) 2dF-SDSS LRG and QSO 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, 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 6dF – (instrumentation) six-degree field, spectrograph on the UKST
A A&A – (publication) Astronomy & Astrophysics, a European scientific journal A4E – (organization) Astronomers for Planet Earth AAA – (organization) Amateur Astronomers Association of New York AAO – (organization) Australian Astronomical Observatory (prior to 1 July 2010: Anglo-Australian Observatory) AAS – (organization) American Astronomical Society AAT – (telescope) Anglo-Australian Telescope AAVSO – (organization) American Association of Variable Star Observers ABBA – ADC Backend For Bolometer Array 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 ACT - Atacama Cosmology Telescope, a cosmological millimeter-wave telescope located on Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert in the north of Chile. 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 ADS – (catalog) The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory/NASA astrophysics data system, an on-line database of almost all astronomical publications ADIS – (organization) Astrophysics Data and Information Services ADS – (organization) Astrophysics Data Service, an organization that maintains an online database of scientific articles AdS — (Astrophysics terminology) Anti-deSitter AEGIS – (observing program) the All-wavelength Extended Groth strip International Survey AFGL – (organization) Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, a research laboratory now part of the United States Air Force Research Laboratory AFOEV – (organization) Association française des observateurs d'étoiles 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 type of red giant star AGC – (catalog) Arecibo general catalog 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 ALMA – (telescope) Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Array ALPO – (organization) Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers AMANDA – (telescope) Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array, a neutrino telescope in Antarctica AMASE – (software) Astrophysics Multi-spectral Archive Search Engine AMBER – (telescope) a near-infrared interferometric instrument at VLTI 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, a machine for making measurements from photographic plates; also, a catalog based on measurements by the machine APO – (organization) Apache Point Observatory APOD – (data) Astronomy Picture of the Day APT – (telescope) Automated Patrol Telescope ARC – (organization) Ames Research Center ARC – (organization) Astrophysical Research Consortium ARCADE – a balloon satellite experiment to measure the heating of the Universe by the first stars and galaxies after the Big Bang ASA – (organization) Astronomical Society of the Atlantic ASAS – All Sky Automated Survey ASCL – Astrophysics Source Code Library, a citable online registry of research source codes ASE – (organization) Astronomical Society of Edinburgh ASI – (organization) Agenzia Spaziale Italiana ASIAA – (organization) Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics ASKAP – (telescope) Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder, a next-generation radio telescope under construction in Western Australia. It differs from previous radio-telescopes in having many pixels at the focus of each antenna. ASP – (organization) Astronomical Society of the Pacific ASTRO – (spacecraft) Autonomous Space Transport Robotic Operations ATA – (telescope) Allen Telescope Array, a radio interferometer array developed by the SETI Institute to search for possible signals from extraterrestrial life ATCA – (telescope) Australia Telescope Compact Array ATLAS – (observing program) Australia Telescope Large Area Survey, a deep radio astronomical sky survey of two SWIRE fields covering a total of about 7 square degrees of sky. ATM – (person) hobbyist engaged in Amateur telescope making (may also refer to the book of the same title, Amateur Telescope Making) 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 – (astrophysics terminology) baryon acoustic oscillations 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-wavelength sky survey BATSE – (instrument) Burst and Transient Source Experiment, an instrument on the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory BATTeRS – (telescope) Bisei Asteroid Tracking Telescope 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, also bright central galaxy BCG – (celestial object) Brightest Cluster Galaxy, the brightest galaxy in a cluster of galaxies 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 BEL – (celestial object) broad emission line clouds in Active galactic nucleus BF – (astrophysics terminology) Broadening function BH – (celestial object) Black hole BHB – (celestial object) Blue horizontal branch, a type of luminous star BHC – (celestial object) Black hole candidate BHXRT – (celestial object) Black hole x-ray transient also BHXT BICEP2 – (telescope) Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization 2 BIMA – (organization & telescope) Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association, and also B-M-I Array, microwave telescope it operated BIS – (organization) British Interplanetary Society BITP – (organization) – Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, a Ukrainian research institute BKL - (Astrophysics terminology) Belinski–Khalatnikov–Lifshitz, a model of chaotic oscillations of spacetime near a singularity BLAGN – (celestial object) Broad-Line AGN, based on classification of spectral line widths 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