| Alt | altitude |
| AO | adaptive optics |
| ATM | amateur telescope maker |
| Az | azimuth |
| CCD | charge coupled device (electronic imager) |
| Dec | declination |
| Dob | Dobsonian mounted telescope (also Dobs or Dobbie) |
| EP | eyepiece |
| FDR | Field DeRotator |
| FPK | Fremont Peak State Park (favorite site of Silicon Valley observers) |
| GEG | Giant Easy Guider (Lumicon) |
| GEM | German equatorial mount |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| Mak | Maksutov (-Cassegrain telescope) |
| MAPUG | Meade Advanced Products User Group |
| Newt | Newtonian telescope |
| OAG | Off axis guider |
| OTA | optical tube assembly |
| PEC | periodic error correction |
| PV | PictorView (also PView) |
| RA | right ascension |
| SBIG | Santa Barbara Instruments Group (CCD manufacturer) |
| TSP | Texas Star Party |
| SEDS | Students for the Exploration and Development of Space |
| SCT | Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope |
| AFAIK | as far as I know |
| BTW | by the way |
| FAQ | Frequently Asked Question(s) |
| FWIW | for what its worth |
| FYI | for your information |
| IMHO | in my humble opinion |
| OT | off topic |
| OTOH | on the other hand |
| RSN | real soon now (usually meaning the opposite) |
| TIA | thanks in advance |
| TLA | three letter acronym |
| TNSTAAFL | there’s no such thing as a free lunch |
| WOT | way off topic |
| 🙂 | smile |
| 🙁 | frown |
| 😉 | winky smile |
Bill Arnett; additions & corrections welcome; last updated: 1998 Nov 10
