Great Collection of SPACE Links

Hall of Science ^ | 2-9-05 | Editorial Staff

[vannrox]

This Page is http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu/SII/URLs/URLs-Astronomy.html
Visit this site yourself... http://www.lawrencehallofscience.org/sii/SIImorelinks.html

ASTRONOMY URLs:

If you find any of these links no longer operating (after repeated tries--not just first try),
please notify Alan Gould <agould--@--uclink.berkeley.edu> [delete dashes]
Please include name of non-operative link as well as the name of this page: URLs-Astronomy

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ASTRONOMY CLUBS -- ASTRONOMY COMPANIES

ASTRONOMY EDUCATION

ASTRONOMY WEBSITES FOR KIDS

CONSTELLATIONS -- ECLIPSES -- GALAXIES

HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY -- IMAGES -- NASA Sites

OBSERVATION AIDS -- OBSERVATORIES -- ORGANIZATIONS

SOFTWARE

SOLAR SYSTEM/PLANETS
(Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, Mars, Moon, Pluto, Saturn, Venus, Sun)

SATELLITES

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An Astronomy Web Index (Astro Web) http://www.cv.nrao.edu/fits/www/astroweb.html

Yahoo's Index of Astronomy Resources

Astronomy Picture of the Day http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/

Adirondack Video Astronomy http://www.astrovid.com/ email: avaastro@compuserve.com -- cameras with manual gain and shutter control. Complete kits are available to attach to the telescope.

Amateur Sky Survey (TASS) http://www.tass-survey.org/tass/tass.shtml TASS hopes to construct low-cost drift-scan cameras and distribute them to sites around the world--to monitor bright objects across a large section of the sky

Amateur Telescope making

• http://www.astunit.com similar list for UK. "The Astronomical Unit."
• The ATM Page http://www.atmpage.com/
• Tour of Dobsonian construction http://www.arrowweb.com/M1/atm/
• http://www.system.missouri.edu/atm/

ARCHAEOASTRONOMY

• History of Astronomy: Archaeoastronomy, Ancient Astronomy and Ethnoastronomy http://www.astro.uni-bonn.de/~pbrosche/hist_astr/ha_items_archaeo.html 12/97
• Stonehenge http://www.christiaan.com/stonehenge/index.html http://home.earthlink.net/~shadowfax/sfstone.htm12/97

Art--Space Art by

• Bonestell http://www.bonestell.com/
• Don Davis http://www.donaldedavis.com/
• Lynnette Cook http://www.spaceart.org/~lcook/space.html
• Barclay Shaw http://www.artie.com/cm/art/artists/barclayshaw/

Ask an expert: Allexperts Astronomy Q&A Astronomers and other experts answer all your astronomy questions for free!

Astrobiology

• Astrobiology Index http://www.lyon.edu/webdata/users/dthomas/astrobiology/astrobiology.html
• NASA Ames Astrobiology http://www.nai.arc.nasa.gov/
• Penn State Astrobiology Research Center http://psarc.geosc.psu.edu/
• Drake Equation online http://astrobio.terc.edu/Activities/newindex.htm
• http://www.astrobiology.com/

Astrology

• Astronomical Pseudo-science: A Skeptic's Resource List (v 2.1) http://www.aspsky.org/education/pseudobib.html by Andrew Fraknoi, Astronomy Dept., Foothill College, 12345 El Monte Rd., Los Altos Hills, CA 94022
• Aug 30 2001, Accreditation Commission Approves Astrology School -- http://www.csicop.org/list/listarchive/msg00269.html -- The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP)http://www.csicop.org

Astrometry http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/cfa/ps/info/Astrometry.html Guide to Minor Body astronometry

The Astronaut Connection http://www.nauts.com/

Astronomer Search Engine http://star-www.rl.ac.uk/astrolist/astrosearch.html -- find info on professional astronomers...

Astronomical Image Index (searchable) http://www.syz.com/images/ (over 17,000 images linked)

ASTRONOMY CLUBS

• List of Clubs from Sky and Telescope http://skyandtelescope.com/resources/organizations/default.asp
• Hong Kong Astronomical Society http://www.hkas.org/
• Manchester Astronomical Society http://www.u-net.com/ph/mas/
• San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers http://members.aol.com/raycash/sidewalk.htm

Astronomy Online (European) http://www.eso.org/astronomyonline/ or http://www.algonet.se/~sirius/eaae.htm

Astrophotography (see also CCD Imaging)

• QuickCam -- to disassemble QuickCam and remove lens: http://perso.club-internet.fr/uranos/disassemble_quickcam.htm;; color astrophotos by Akkana with quickcam http://www.shallowsky.com/quickcam/
• Webcam Astrophotography for the Mac, by Neale Monks -- http://www.applelust.com/scitech/archives/monks_020503.shtml

Astrophysical data system http://adswww.harvard.edu/; http://adswww.harvard.edu/ads_services.html Abstract Service; Article Service (access to scanned images of full journal articles for the most astronomical journals; Astronomical Catalog; Digital Library of books scanned and put online; data collected by the Einstein X-ray satellite mission; NIST Atomic Spectroscopic Database

AURORA

Bad Astronomy http://www.badastronomy.com/ misconceptions

Beginners

• "AllExperts" on Astronomy -- http://www.allexperts.com/getExpert.asp?Category=1360
• Astronomy Magazine web site beginner's page -- http://www.astronomy.com/Content/static/beginners/
• Bill Dauphin's Complete Newbie's Guide to Getting Started in Astronomy -- http://pw1.netcom.com/~dauphinb/newbie.htm
• Cloudy Night's Telescope Reviews -- http://www.cloudynights.com/
• FAQ for sci.astro newsgroup -- http://sciastro.astronomy.net/
• FinderScope.com -- http://www.FinderScope.com/
• Tom Campbell's Amateur Astronomy--Useful Tools for the Beginning Stargazer -- http://www.iolaks.com/softech/astro/astro.html

Braille--Touch the Universe--NASA Braille book of astronomy by Norine Grice. http://analyzer.depaul.edu/ttu/

CALENDARS -- Astronomical

• Astronomical Sky Calendar http://imagiware.com/astro/skycalendar.cgi by Brian Casey , using Skycalendar by John Thorstensen includes display of times of sunset, twilight end, twilight beginning, sunrise, moonrise, moonset, %illuminamtion of moon
• Skywatcher's Diary (Abrams) at MSU--http://www.pa.msu.edu/abrams/diary.html
• Skylights by Jim Kaler http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/ updated every Friday.
• Star Trak http://astrowww.astro.indiana.edu/startrak.shtml written monthly by Hal Kibbey of the Indiana University
• Stig's Sky Calendar & Planisphere http://www.skycalendar.com/

CATALOGS (Astronomical)

• The NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
• NED: NASA Extragalactic Database

• National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC)
• NGC Catalog Online
• University of Strasbourg
  • Aladin Interactive Sky Atlas
  • CDS tutorials
  • SIMBAD Astronomical Database
  • VizieR provides the astronomical community with a dedicated tool for retrieving astronomical data listed in published catalogues and tables.

CCD Imaging

• CCD "Cookbook Cameras" http://wvi.com/~rberry/
• CCD Photographers
  • QuickCam astrophotography by A.Cidad‹o http://www.astrosurf.com/cidadao/
  • Tim Puckett http://www.cometwatch.com/
• Sky and Telescope on CCD imaginghttp://www.skyandtel.com/imaging/imaging.shtml

Celestial sphere -- good explanations of coordinate systems and celestial timekeeping systems.

CHILDREN'S SITES

• http://www.kidsastronomy.com/
• http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/
• http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/
• http://spacekids.hq.nasa.gov/
• http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/index.shtml
• http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html
• http://science.nasa.gov

Chiron Information http://www.vub.ac.be/STER/www.astro/chihp.htm

COMPANIES that sell Astronomy stuff

CONSTELLATIONS

• Constellation Charts http://www.learnwhatsup.com/astro/constellations/index.shtml
• http://www.dibonsmith.com
• http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/constellations.html
• Constellations and Stars--educational resource by Jim Kaler: http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/sow.html. Includes photos of the constellations
• Mythology of the Constellations www.emufarm.org/~cmbell/myth/myth.html
• Native American star stories http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~skywise/legends.html
• Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook--http://www.cosmopolis.com/star-myths/ -- translation and commentary by Dr. Theony Condos
• More Mythology of Constellations

Cosmology tutorial http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog.htm and cosmological calculator http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/CosmoCalc.html

CRATERS

• Terrestrial http://www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase/CILocSort.html
• Crater Chasers http://www.msnbc.com/onair/nbc/dateline/m-crater.asp on MSNBC. Lots of stuff from Shoemaker.

Dark Matter--OGLE http://www.astrouw.edu.pl/index.html

Dark Sky Information -- Light Pollution

• Connecticut -- AN ACT REQUIRING ENERGY EFFICIENT ROADWAY LIGHTS -- http://www.cga.state.ct.us/2001/act/Pa/2001PA-00134-R00HB-05449-PA.htm
• International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) http://www.darksky.org/
• Glare Buster http://www.theglarebuster.com/ -- alternative in home lighting which eliminates glary flood lights.
• ÊOctober 28, 2002, Light Pollution Goes Mainstream, By Richard Tresch Fienberg -- If the fall 2002 meeting of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) proved anything, it's that astronomers have lost control of the light-pollution issue Ñ and that's a good thing. Like the spoiling of our air and water, the loss of nighttime darkness is becoming a serious concern not only to astronomers but also to health-care professionals, zoologists, lighting engineers, politicians, and the public. Some 175 activists gathered in Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts, last Friday and Saturday for the IDA's first national meeting outside its headquarters city of Tucson, Arizona. They learned that poorly designed light fixtures do more than just blot out our view of the starry sky. They also disrupt our circadian rhythms, cause accidents on roadways, confuse migrating birds and other wildlife, and waste billions of dollars in energy costs.
• August 18, 2001 -- Study details growing problem of light pollution BY JEFF FOUST http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0108/18lightpollute/ -- SPACEFLIGHT NOW
• May 17, 2001 In Praise of Darkness -- It Brings Benefits to Health, Comfort to Critters, Energy Savings and a View of the Stars; By Bill Blakemore ÑABC World News Tonight Story on the Need for Dark Nights -- http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/darkness_wnt010517.html -- Scientists have now discovered that only when it's really dark can your body produce the hormone called melatonin. Melatonin fights diseases, including breast and prostate cancer. Lights spill so much glare into the sky that they can wipe out views of the stars and disrupt healthful production of melatonin. (ArtToday)
• The Fading Milky Way -- http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast01nov_1.htm?list13216 -- Science@NASA
• Study details growing problem of light pollution Aug 18, 2001 http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0108/18lightpollute/
• Dark Sky Observing Sites
  • http://www.spacearchive.info/darksites.htm
  • http://www.psiaz.com/polakis/azsites/azsites.html (Arizona sites)
• DarkSky - A Web Tool for Stargazing http://www.darksky.org/ida/darksky/index.html

Distances to Stars -- directly access the Hipparcos data base and calculate the distance to any of the 100,000 stars it contains. http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/hipparcos.html; Click on I/239; Select Main Catalog to arrive at the VizieR Search Page; Type the name of the star in the Target field then click Submit Query; Scroll right to the PLX field, which is in units of mas (milli arc seconds); Move the decimal point three places left to get seconds of arc; Use the formula d=1/p to calculate the distance (where p is the parallax in seconds of arc, and d is the distance in parsecs, one parsec = 3.26 ly)--Example: For the star Dubhe, the query returns 26.38 mas. So the distance is 1/.02638, or 37.9 pc. Finally, 37.9 pc is equivalent to 124 LY. You can also use a location in the target field. Example: 11:04 +61:45 The declination must have a + or - sign. If you need to pinpoint more accurately, you could use 11:04:43 +61:45:04. Colons may be dropped and replaced by spaces. VizieR doesn't seem to know all the stars. Alkaid, for example, is not found by name.

Double Star magazine/journal: DOUBLE STAR OBSERVER; c/o Ronald C. Tanguay; 306 Reynolds Drive; Saugus, MA 01906-1533; rtanguay@mit.edu

EDUCATION PROGRAMS in Astronomy

Eta Carina -- http://etacar.umn.edu/

FTP list for Astronomy http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/pub/faq/astroftp.html

GALAXIES

• CCD Images of galaxies http://zebu.uoregon.edu/galaxy.html

• The Galaxy catalog of Zsolt Frei and James Gunn
• Grasslands, Sabino Canyon, and 3towers Observatories http://www.3towers.com/
• Images at U. of Alabama http://www.astr.ua.edu/choosepic.html
• NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu/
• NGC Catalog Online
• SEDS Galaxies ; also http://bozo.lpl.arizona.edu/messier/galaxy.html
• Very Large Telescope (VLT) images

Galileo (the person) http://es.rice.edu/ES/humsoc/Galileo/

Gravity map of Earth (animated) http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030723.html

Hands On Universe http://hou.lbl.gov/ -- education project, remote telescope network, high school curriculum

Hawkings -- PBS show/website on Stephen Hawking http://www.pbs.org/wnet/hawking/html/home.html
Download a free, desktop-publishable quality PDF (Portable Document Format) version of the STEPHEN HAWKINGÕS UNIVERSE Teacher's Guide

HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY

• History of astronomy discoveries since 1989. University of Illinois astronomy professor Jim Kaler has given an "astronomy update" at the Great Lakes Planetarium Association's annual conference. The very popular talk covers the major astronomical discoveries over the previous year. They're at http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/glpa/glpa.html

IMAGES

• 2 Micron All-Sky Survey http://www.ipac.caltech.edu/2mass/
• 3-D views
  • 3-D Tour of the Solar System or http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi.html
  • Ambroziak Third Dimension Technologies, Inc. http://www.a3dt.com
• Anglo-Australian Observatory Photographs by David Malinhttp://www.aao.gov.au/images.html
• Astronomical images from the 3.9M Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) -- http://newt.phys.unsw.edu.au/~mgb/astroimages.html
• Deep Sky Astronomical Images http://www.astropix.com/INDEX.HTMl By Jerry Lodriguss
• http://www.astr.ua.edu/choosepic.html An interesting catalog of sky images based at University of Alabama
• Digital Images of the Sky http://www.allthesky.com/gallery.html
• Earth Images
  • http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html
  • Imaging Radar
  • SEDS Earth images
• SkyView http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov/skyview.html is a Virtual Observatory on the Net generating images of any part of the sky at wavelengths in all regimes from Radio to Gamma-Ray
• Starmatt Astrophotography http://starmatt.com/
• Very Large Telescope (VLT--ESO) http://eso.org/outreach/gallery/astro/
• Virtual Observatories--Imagine you are an astronomer with instant, fingertip access to all existing observations of a given object and the opportunity to sift through them at will...
  • US National Virtual Observatory http://www.us-vo.org/
  • Europe's Virtual Observatory-- Astrophysical Virtual Observatory (AVO) -- http://www.euro-vo.org/
  • AstroGrid (UK) -- http://www.astrogrid.org/

Japanese Astronomy (Steve Reynolds) http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/jastro.html You will find articles in English about Japanese Starlore and Astronomical History as well as significant Activities of Amateur Astronomers in Japan.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory http://www.jpl.nasa.gov Information on JPL programs

MAGAZINES/News

• Astronomy Magazine http://www.astronomy.com
• Explore Space http://www.explorespace.com
  A sort of magazine online -- general topics in astronomy

• Icarus http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/Icarus/Icarus.html -- the official publication of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. For searchable database of Icarus articles, click on "IDEAL" and select "Link In to go directly to a specific journal" and choose "Icarus".
• Que tal in the Current Skies http://currentsky.com "Earth in Space Online Monthly Newsletter" by Bob Riddle
• Sky & Telescope Magazine -- Sky Online http://www.skypub.com -[Sky Publishing]

Messier Objects

• Learn What's Up -- Messier Page -- http://www.learnwhatsup.com/astro/messier/index.shtml
• (SEDS) http://www.seds.org/messier/;
• Grasslands, Sabino Canyon, and 3towers Observatories http://www.3towers.com/

METEORS

Misconceptions in Astronomy: Heavenly Errors http://www.physics.umaine.edu/ncomins/

MOON

Music--AstroCappella: A Musical Exploration of the Universe -- http://www.astrocappella.com/

Mysteries of Deep Space (PBS show) http://www.pbs.org/deepspace/ -- Interactive timeline and classroom activities. Also how to purchase the show.

MYTHOLOGY of Constellations

• See also...Constellations
• African Star Lore http://www.saao.ac.za/starlore/legends.html
• Bulfinch's Mythology -- http://www.bulfinch.org/; http://www.webcom.com/shownet/medea/bulfinch/bulframe.html
• Cathy Bell's pages -- http://www.emufarm.org/~cmbell/myth/myth.html
• Egyptian http://www.windows.umich.edu/mythology/egypt.html
• Encyclopedia Mythica http://pantheon.org/
• Hawaiian Astronomical Society Storybook http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/
• Japanese Starlore http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/jastro.html
• Myth Web -- http://www.mythweb.com/
• Myths & Legends http://www.myths.com/pub/myths/myth.html --Christopher B. Siren
• MYTHING LINKS http://www.mythinglinks.org/ Kathleen Jenks
• Perseus Project http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/
• Solar Myths http://solar-center.stanford.edu/folklore/folklore.html
• Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: A Sourcebook -- http://www.cosmopolis.com/star-myths -- translation and commentary by Dr. Theony Condos.
• University of Michigan index of mythology files http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mythology/mythology.html

Night Sky Live http://nightskylive.net/ CONCAMs (CONtinuous CAMeras) that are placed around the world with fisheye lenses to watch the entire sky every night. Each camera takes a 180-second exposure every 4 minutes, then relays the data back to nightskylive.net.

NOVA (PBS) Spacewatch http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/nova/spacewatch/

To . . . OBSERVATORIES

Observation Aids

• http://www.astronomydaily.com/
• Observing list generator. http://www.ngcic.com/oblstgen.htm
• Planispheres and Starcharts online
  • AstroViewer http://www.astroviewer.com/ The AstroViewer planetarium applet shows a sky map for any time and any location on Earth
  • CalSKY -- http://www.calsky.com
  • DeepSkyLive is a sky charting java-applet--freeware web-based star charting application that can display any object in NGC catalogue and stars up to mag. 11.5. By Wim Pessemier
  • Dome of the Sky -- http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/
  • Heaven's Above -- http://www.heavens-above.com
  • Japanese Constellation Finder http://www.nhao.go.jp/~tokimasa/hayami/hayami.html
  • Mount Wilson Observatory Online Stargazer Map http://www.mtwilson.edu/Services/starmap.html
  • SEDS list of Web-based Planetariums http://www.seds.org/billa/astrosoftware.html#www
  • Skymaps.com -- http://www.skymaps.com
  • Star chart map server http://www.polaris.net/services/starchart/starchart.php
  • Stig's Sky Calendar & Planisphere http://www.skycalendar.com/
  • Your Sky http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky/ by John Walker
  • Uncle Al's Sky Wheels http://www.lhs.berkeley.edu/starclock/skywheel.html

To . . . ORGANIZATIONS

PLANETARIUMS

• International Planetarium Society (IPS) http://www.ips-planetarium.org/atw/ips-worldwide.html; also, IPS homepage http://www.ips-planetarium.org/
• Follow the Drinking Gourd planetarium show -- related activities http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/ltc/special/mlk/mlkarchive.html
• http://www.lochness.com Listing from Loch Ness Productions
• http://www.planetarium.net/
• All-sky projector for Starlab planetariums and a planet projector for small domes. Paper Plate Education website at http://analyzer.depaul.edu/paperplate under the "Activities" section. The all-sky projector is self-titled, and the planet projector is entitled "P6".Ê

Planetary Data Systems http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov -- data from all Solar System exploration missions

PLANETS (Solar System)

Planets--ExtraSolar

• 51 Pegasi http://zebu.uoregon.edu/51peg.html
• California & Carnegie Planet Search -- http://exoplanets.org
• Chart of extrasolar planets http://cannon.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/planetsearch/multi_panel.jpg
• Discovery of Extrasolar Planets http://www.physics.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/planetsearch/planetsearch.html -- Dr. Geoff Marcy (San Francisco State University and University of California, Berkeley), Dr. Paul Butler (Anglo Australian Observatory), Dr. Steve Vogt (University of California, Santa Cruz).

• The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/planets/
• Images of Planets Outside Our Solar System -- http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/newplanets€
• List of known planetary systems: http://www.princeton.edu/~willman/planetary_systems/

• NASA's Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF) Mission (a space telescope concept, to find small earth-like planets at nearby stars). http://www.terrestrial-planet-finder.com. Official NASA TPF site is http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/TPF/tpf_index.html
• Planet Quest -- http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov
• Transit of a planet across HD 209458 UC Berkeley -- November 14, 1999:

Powers of ten, animated in java

Pseudoscience -- Astronomical Pseudo-science: A Skeptic's Resource List -- http://www.aspsky.org/education/pseudobib.html

Radio Astronomy

• Development of Radio Interferometry -- http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/2309/page3.html
• National Radio Astronomy Observatory http://www.nrao.edu/
• Principles of Radio Interferometry and VLBI -- http://www.drao.nrc.ca/science/vlbi/principles/principles.shtml
• Radio Telescope Kit -- http://www.cassicorp.com/

SATELLITES

• CalSKY http://www.calsky.com
• Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysicshttp://www.cea.berkeley.edu
• Excellent site. You can also get all sorts of info about other objects to observe, such as comets.
• Heavens Above http://www.heavens-above.com/
• International Space Station -- sightings (by city)
• Lift-off to Space Exploration (MSFC) http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov J-Pass displays overflights of selected satellites from your location on a skymap and J-Track shows where satellites are in realtime on a worldmap. http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JTrack/
• Orbit Simulator http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/education/referance/orbits/orbit_sim.old.html
• SatPasses by Manfred Bester
• SpaceLink Satellite tracking http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Multimedia/Satellite.Tracking/.index.html
• Visual Satellite Observers Homepage http://www2.satellite.eu.org/sat/vsohp/satintro.html

SEDS (Students for Exploration and Development of Space) http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu (University of Arizona)

SETI

• Optical SETI http://www.coseti.org/
• SETI Institute http://www.seti-inst.edu Institute general information and news
• SERENDIP--UC Berkeley SETI Project http://seti.ssl.berkeley.edu/serendip/serendip.html
• SETI@home http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ is a scientific experiment that will harness the power of hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a screensaver program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. There's a small but captivating possibility that your computer will detect the faint murmur of a civilization beyond Earth.

Shoemaker, Gene--tribute page for Gene Shoemaker assembled by USGS-Flagstaff at: http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/USGSFlag/Space/Shoemaker/

SIMBAD (Set of Identifications, Measurements, and Bibliography for Astronomical Data) http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/Simbad.html

SkyWatch - Astronomical Alarm Clock -- http://www.sky-watch.com -- Ed Ehrlich webmaster@sky-watch.com -- SkyWatch sends its subscribers a daily email message with information on important astronomical events that can be observed from their location. These events include meteor showers, satellite passes and eclipses.

Sloan Digital Sky Survey http://www.sdss.org/ -- (Apache Point Observatory) will map in detail one-quarter of the entire sky, determining the positions and absolute brightnesses of more than 100 million celestial objects. It will also measure the distances to more than a million galaxies and quasars.

SOFTWARE

• Applets--Juergen Giesen's GeoAstro Applet Collection http://www.jgiesen.de/GeoAstro/GeoAstro.htm
• SEDS list of software http://www.seds.org/billa/astrosoftware.html#www
• Celestia http://shatters.net/ -- Free program that can show simulated real time views of many astronomical objects. Use the help page to learn all its capabilities, including making and recording movies.
• Dynamical Astronomy Java Lab http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/JavaLab/
• Earth Update and Space Updates -- http://earth.rice.edu/ -- interactive real-time displays of real-time earth and space science data. Modules include quicktime movies, images, and sound, all with very rapid, user-chosen, access. All modules have imagery updated automatically in the background so that an up-to-date image is always immediately available to the visitor. The software presents archival images (such as images from planetary encounters), as well as newly released imagery (Comets, Hubble Space Telescope, Mars Pathfinder & Surveyor). ... hourly weather maps and satellite weather photos and daily images of the Sun at various wavelengths of light from ground-based observatories. One module characterizes the daily space weather by presenting real-time information on the hazards of space from programs run at Rice University, based on real-time data from ground-based and space-based observatories.
• Home Planet for Windows http://www.fourmilab.ch/homeplanet/homeplanet.html
• Macintosh software for webcam astrophotography:
  Keith's AstroImager -- http://www.unm.edu/~keithw/software/keithsAstroImager.html
  Keiths ImageStacker -- http://www.unm.edu/~keithw/software/keithsImageStacker.html
• Mathematica software http://www.mathsource.com/
• Meteor Tracking Software http:// www.sci-trak.com/
• Moon Menu http://www.selznick.com/ puts icon of current Moon phse in upper right corner of Mac screen.
• NIH Image http://rsb.info.nih.gov/nih-image/
• Partiview software and Digital Universe http://www.haydenplanetarium.org
• SkyMap http://cfa165.harvard.edu/software/skymap.html -- shareware
• SOHO screensaver http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/whatsnew/screensaver.html
• Starry Night http://www.siennasoft.com Sienna Software, 416-926-2174
• X-ray and Gamma-ray telescopes screensavers -- http://universe.gsfc.nasa.gov/

Solar Calendars

• Sunwheel project (University of Massachusetts) http://www.umass.edu/sunwheel/

Songbook -- Astronomer's Songbook (Jon Bell) http://www.ircc.cc.fl.us/atircc/commout/planetarium/astsongbook.pdf

Space Art

• International Association of Astronomical Artists http://www.iAAA.org/
• Paintings by Tucciarone http://members.aol.com/INTERSTELL/art.html

Space Day http://www.spaceday.com/

Space Environment Center http://www.sec.noaa.gov

Space Shuttle Images http://www.nasm.edu/ceps/RPIF/SSPR.html from National Air and Space Museum (NASM)

Space Station News from MSNBC http://www.msnbc.com/news/spacestat_front.asp

Star Data

• Brightest Stars -- http://www.learnwhatsup.com/astro/current/brightest_stars.shtml <
• Hipparcos http://astro.estec.esa.nl/Hipparcos/
• http://adc.gsfc.nasa.gov/
• http://www.maa.mhn.de/Cat/Vol1/BSC4/
• Simbad database http://simbad.harvard.edu/Simbad -- will tell you spectral class, magnitude and list all references to a given star. You need an account to use the database - it costs you nothing all you are doing is registering your use.

StarDate Online radio script: http://stardate.org/radio/program.php?f=today

Star Descriptions and info on specific stars http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/sowlist.html

Star Hustler (now Star Gazer) http://www.jackstargazer.com/ -- Jack Horkheimer

Starfield Background http://sunsite.unc.edu/ips/starback.gif

Star Naming

• Position of the International Planetarium Society: http://www.ips-planetarium.org/pubs/ips-starnaming.html
• Articles from wired.com: http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,49345,00.html and http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,49345,00.html
• May 8, 1998 RELEASE FROM THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, IN NEW YORK, NY http://www.ras.ucalgary.ca/~gibson/starnames/isr_news.html
• Article in "The Straight Dope" -- Ask Cecil: http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_385.html

Stars and Constellations--educational resource by Jim Kaler: http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/sow.html. Includes photos of the constellations.

State of Sky -- http://www.wsanford.com/~wsanford/exo/kiosk/index.html -- by Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness -- an online automated "slideshow" presenting a series of sky-related Web pages, featuring the current sky (day & night) as well as some of the sky's greatest hits. About 10 minute slide show.

Students for Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu (University of Arizona) Large quantity of astronomical information and images. Space Images -- Solar-Geophysical data, solar alerts, forcasts, summaries, images

TASS--The Amateur Sky Survey http://www.tass-survey.org/ hopes to construct low-cost drift-scan cameras and distribute them to sites around the world to monitor bright objects across a large section of the sky

Telescopes

• Johnsonians—adjustable tracking platforms for Dobsonian Telescopes from 6 to 25 inches aperture—http://www.johnsonian.com/
• Robotic Telescopes
  • The Bradford Robotic Telescope (under construction) at the Observatorio del Teide 8,000 feet up on the Island of Tenerife. http://www.telescope.org/ The new telescope has been designed as a completely free robotic system to support the understanding of astronomy by school students and the general public.
  • Bridgewater Hill Observatory, Ltd. -- http://home.sprintmail.com/~bfritz/BWHO/ -- the link "From the Beginning" shows a nice series of photos of creation of an observatory.
  • Faulkes Telescope Project - http://www.faulkes-telescope.com/ - the world's largest fully robotic telescopes. To use the telescopes you need to register to the project and be given a username and password.
  • Micro-Observatory Project
  • New Mexico Skies -- http://www.nmskies.com/ibisque.html -- Ibisque remote telescope time costs $5000/100hours, billable monthly; alternatively $36,000 per year for exclusive telescope. New Mexico Skies has more than 2100 hours of clear sky conditions per year.
  • Remote Access Astronomy Project
  • SLOOH -- http://www.slooh.com/ -- offers "lurking" (called "group missions")... 7 Night Free Trial available. After that, Basic Membership:Unlimited group missions, plus 15 minutes of solo mission time (where you select target objects). $49.95 per year. Additional solo time can be purchased separately.
  • Torus Technologies http://www.torusoptics.com/
  • University of Iowa's Automated Telescope Facility
  • Wild Flower Ridge Robotic Observatory -- http://www.robosky.com/ -- Virtual tour: http://www.robosky.com/Pages/EnterObservatories/Space/VirtualTour.html has some nice photos of the facility
• Skywatcher Telescopes http://www.skywatcherTelescope.com
• Telescope making
  • ATM site http://www.atmsite.org/
  • Plans for making a Dobson telescope -- http://tie.jpl.nasa.gov/tie/dobson/
  • Plans for making a Dob -- http://members.aol.com/sfsidewalk/cdobplans.htm -- http://members.aol.com/sfsidewalk/dobplans.htm
  • FAQ for ATM -- http://www.atmsite.org/contrib/Poulson/faq/

Terraforming

• http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/index.htm -- pages by Martyn Fogg
• http://www.reston.com/astro/terraforming.html -- Terraforming and Ecogenesis

Texas Star Party http://www.metronet.com/~tsp/

Universe Today -- Space Exploration News from Around the Internet http://www.universetoday.com/

Variable Stars

• American Association of Variable Star Observers -- http://www.aavso.org/
• Variable Stars -- John Percy's variable star page -- http://www.astro.utoronto.ca/~percy/ -- is excellent resource for variable star observing.

[vannrox]

Enjoy

[My2Cents]

Outstanding! Many thanks.

[vannrox]

How can we SPACE ping this?

[backhoe]

Marvelous- thanks!

[LibWhacker]

Bookmarked, thanks!

[Van Jenerette]

..links for Christian.

[Mr. K]

Does anyone have any experience with MEADE telescopes? They have a bunch ranginG in price from $65 to $65,000 (I WANT ONE OF THOSE!!)

[thecabal]

I noticed your link to "The ATM page" goes to a Automated Teller Machines page, not Amateur Telescope Making.

[marblehead17]

ping

[UCANSEE2]

bookmark , and Thanks to the thread poster for compiling this information.

[NRA2BFree]

That is TOTALLY AWESOME!!! Thank you so much.

[SengirV]

Thanks!!! Ping to my self for later reading

[paradoxical]

Thanks, the ISS is passing over Reno tonight


SATELLITE LOCAL DURATION MAX ELEV APPROACH DEPARTURE
DATE/TIME (MIN) (DEG) (DEG-DIR) (DEG-DIR)
ISS Wed Mar 09/06:27 PM 4 64 26 above SW 10 aboveENE

[Imperialist]

Thanks tons for a great collection of astronomy links. Amateur astronomy is a great hobby, these links will be useful.

[Imperialist]

I have Orion telescopes, but am familiar with Meade. No matter the brand, get as much aperature as possible, of course considering it's intended use (Planets, DSO's, wide-field, etc.). I have two, a Newtonian reflector and a mak-cass design. Look in the $500 to $1400 range for a nice starter scope that will last well into your progression. Price varies widely depending on the mount, Dob being the cheapest, GOTO with GPS the most $, typically. Meade makes nice stuff. You'll probably enjoy the hobby very much. I'm addicted.

[KevinDavis]

[1 spark]

WOW...thanks for the links. How long have you been looking into this stuff? Do you participate in the SETI@home experiment?
Check this one out:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1359386/posts

[LibWhacker]

I'm sure a $65K Meade is a professional instrument and I'm not going to knock it. But, in general, I've been very leery of Meade ever since I learned the company tends to cut corners rather severely; for instance, at the Yahoo! telescope group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/telescopes/ I read a long discussion, way back when I was shopping for a telescope, of Meade's cardboard viewfinders. I learned, for instance, that cheap cardboard components show up even in Meade's relatively expensive telescopes. One thing is certain: If you're talking about a serious telescope, you don't want anything on the telescope to be made of cardboard! Check out this Yahoo group thoroughly, hang out there for weeks, read everything, and especially read thru the archives, before you make a decision to buy any telescope.

Other helpful and useful sites are:

Ed Ting's Telescope Reviews

Hardin Optical . . . This is where I eventually purchased my telescope after doing months of research on the web. Hardin is (or was) an Asian company that actually makes telescopes for Orion, one of the standards in amateur astronomy, but at a fraction of the cost of an Orion (and there's no cardboard in them!).

The Telescope Buyers FAQ

Yahoo SkyQuest Telescopes (Yahoo's Orion Skyquest group)

Cloudy Nights Telescope Reviews

[concentric circles]

Great collection, thanks.

Anyone got time on their hands? Complete Plans for Building a Dobsonian Telescope