Links
Here are various links to different places on the
web that I find interesting.
Various Astronomy Links
Albert Einstein Exhibit: The American Institute
of Physics web site about Albert Einstein.
The
Galileo Project: The Galileo Project is a hypertext source
of information on the life and work of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
and the science of his time. The project is supported by the Office
of the Vice President of Computing of Rice University. The initial
stages were made possible by a grant from the Council on Library
Resources to Fondren Library.
DistantSuns
Web page: Go here for a free astronomy planetarium program that
you can download!
Skymaps.com:
Need a map of the night sky? This is the place to go. Every month
you can print out a new sky map along with a list of what's happening
for the month and what can be seen naked eye, with binoculars,
or with a small telescope.
Abrams Planetarium Skywatchers Diary: This
is a good site for finding out what is going to happen in the
night sky for the month.
SpaceWeather.com:
What's the Sun up to today? Will we have Northern Lights tonight?
Any Near Earth Asteroids in the neighborhood? This is the site
to find out.
Aurora Chasers:
This is a site where you can sign up for ADEC ( Auroral Detection
and Early Warning System ) notifications, so you'll know when
the conditions are right for your area for Northern Lights.
Auroral
Oval: What is the Aurora doing right now? Find out here.
Atmospheric
Optics: We've all seen rainbows, sun dogs, & halos in
the sky at one time or another and once in a while, things we
haven't seen before. Here's a good site that describes & explains
atmospheric phenomina.
SEDS-Students
for the Exploration and Development of Space: SEDS is an independent,
student-based organization which promotes the exploration and
development of space. SEDS pursues this mission by educating people
about the benefits of space, by supporting a network of interested
students, by providing an opportunity for members to develop their
leadership skills, and inspiring people through our involvement
in space-related projects. SEDS believes in a space-faring civilization
and that focusing the enthusiasm of young people is the key to
our future in space. Look at the Messier Deep-Sky Catalog.
Views
of the Solar System: Views of the Solar System presents a
vivid multimedia adventure unfolding the splendor of the Sun,
planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and more.
The Constellations and Their Stars: A good
web page that has charts & information on the Constellations,
the brighter stars in them, and what objects you can see in them.
Heavens-Above:
Will the Space Shuttle be visible tonight? How about a Iridium
flare? What about some other bright satellite? This is the site
to go to. You will need to customize it for your latitude and
longitude. The more accurate you are with this, the more accurate
the predictions.
Imagine the Universe!: This site is dedicated
to a discussion about our Universe... what we know about it, how
it is evolving, and the kinds of objects and phenomena it contains.
Just as importantly, we also discuss how scientists know what
they know, what mysteries remain, and how they might one day find
the answers to these questions.
StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers.
A great site for the young astronomer in your family! Designed
for children up to age 14.
The
Astronomy Cafe: Features frequently asked astronomy questions.
Astronomy
Pictures by Matt Russell: Some wonderful astronomy images
by a fellow who got hooked on imaging.
The
Universe in Color: This is Robert Gendler's website and has
some of the best astro images I've ever seen. Gendler is recognized
as one of the best astro imager around.
Space Missions
Project
Galileo: This is NASA's web page about the Galileo Mission
to Jupiter. Launched in 1989, the Galileo spacecraft arrived at
Jupiter on December 7, 1995
Mars Exploration Rovers: These little guys
are like the Energizer Bunny! They just keep on going and going
and going... This is the official NASA site for the mission.
Cassini-Huygens
Saturn Mission: This is the NASA web site for the Cassini-Huygens
mission to Saturn and its moons.
Telescopes
Buying Telescopes
Thinking about buying a telescope? The following link will
take you to a page that has a number of links to various pages
with information to help you make a decision on what type of telescope
you should buy. If you have any questions about telescopes &
would like my 2 cents worth send me an email.
Buying
Telescopes: A good web page by the Alachua Astronomy Club
with a number of links to various pages that will give you some
good info about buying a telescope.
Affordable
Astronomy Equipment Reviews: Ok, you want to buy a telescope
or a pair of binoculars. But which one? Here's a site that reviews
many different items.
Cloudy
Nights Telescope Reviews: A very good site for getting reviews
of various astronomy equipment.
Todd
Gross' Reviews: Todd is a long time amateur astronomer and
meteorologist. He was one of the first people to start reviewing
telescopes & eyepieces on the web.
Collimation
Once you have a telescope you need to make sure that the optics
are aligned properly. The following sites are good places to find
information on optically aligning, or collimating, your telescope.
Even the best telescope will give poor images if it isn't collimated
properly. These pages will help you figure out what to do to make
your telescope perform at its best.
Adventures
in Collimation: by Bryan Greer of ProtoStar, a provider of
spiders & secondary holders.
Ultra
Cheap Collimation Sight Tube: A super cheap alternative to
buying a commercial sight tube for aligning the mirrors in your
Newtonian reflector.
The Collimation: Another good page on collimation
with some good simulations of what proper collimation can do for
you.
Remote Sensing/Mapping
In this area you find links to various web sites that are
dedicated to remote sensing and mapping. What is remote sensing?
Basically it is the use of spacecraft to image and map planets
and moons, including our own Earth.
Google
Earth: Google has free software that allows you to explore
the Earth. Be forwarned that not all computers may be able to
run Google Earth (it is rather hardware intensive) and you need
a broadband Internet connection.
Google Moon:
Explore the surface of the Moon. This is a website and not software
you need to download.
Google
Mars: Explore Mars! Again, this a website and not a download.
NASA
World Wind: This site allows you to download a free program
from NASA that allows you to explre the Earth, Moon, Mars, Venus,
Jupiter, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This program is very
hardware intensive and requires a good graphics card and a fast
broadband connection. The download is around 60 megabytes. This
is an amazing program!
