Welcome to Astronomers Without Borders! Below is an outline of our general forum rules. Thanks for participating in our forums. Your contributions make our forums a great resource for astronomy enthusiasts from around the world. Your assistance policing our forums helps keep the environment positive and enjoyable for people of all ages.

Now, to the rules:

Please keep discussions on topic (that is, astronomy-related).

Your forum signature should not be used as a place to express your personal beliefs (religion, politics, marital status, sexual orientation, etc.). Remember, this is a forum tied to our common bond of astronomy; don’t let your personal viewpoints on unrelated topics interfere with the common reason we’re all here.

No swearing or foul language. And we don’t care if you use symbols to mask the words. The meaning is still conveyed, and we don’t want it in our forum. Please keep in mind that we have readers of all ages. This isn’t a tavern.

No personal attacks or name-calling. Please keep conversations cordial. We understand that there will be differences of opinion. Please don’t let those differences turn ugly. Accept that others might not have your same point of view, and don’t sink to personal attacks. Nothing is gained by doing so.

No political discussions or signature messages. We know politics sometimes affects astronomy. However, we’ve found that political discussions almost always turn into arguments. We have a common interest in astronomy. Don’t let political differences destroy that common bond.

No religious discussions or signature messages. This is for many of the same reasons as the political discussions and signatures. We all have our own personal views, and this isn’t the place to share them. Remember, this is an astronomy forum.

Please respect copyright material. If you want to share copyright material with our users, please link to it. Don’t take a story from another Web site and post it in our forum. Don’t copy a photo if you don’t own the rights and use it in our forum.