Astronomy
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Astronomy | Biology | Chemistry | Earth Science | Physics | Science Fair
Links verified 3/23/08
aurora | galaxy | planet
 Stellarium - free open source planetarium for your computer | Lesson Plans to accompany Stellarium
  1. Amazing Space is a set of web-based activities primarily designed for classroom use, but made available for all to enjoy. Caution, Shockwave is required.
  2. Analemma
    1. Analemma - Have you ever seen this figure-8 on a globe and wondered what it is? This set of pages will clear that up for you.
    1. Analemma and the Earliest Sunset - why the earliest sunset, latest sunrise, and shortest day of the year occur on different dates
    2. Analemma Project - description of a year long project to capture the analemma
    3. Analemma Sundial Java Applet - interactive site
    4. Earth Analemma from APOD
    5. Figure Eight in the Sky - a new perspective on an old fascination
    6. Martian Analemma from APOD
    7. Paper Plate Education - description of how to conduct an analemma project
    8. Sunrise Analemma from APOD
    9. Viewing and Understanding the Analemma - from Stanford Solar Center
    10. Width of the Analemma - Eccentricity, Obliquity, and the Analemma's Width
  3. The Animated Virtual Planetarium - simulations designed to be used in the classroom, or in the lab by students, as demonstrations of various aspects of planetary motions - This is a seriously cool site!
  4. Asteroids: Deadly Impact - from National Geographic
  5. Astronomy Magazine - Bookmark the online version of this popular astronomy publication and come back to it regularly. While you are there, go to Astro for Kids even if you are not a kid, and look at their imaginative "family portrait" of the solar system.
  6. Astronomy Net - Astronomy articles, forums, listings, and other resources about Astronomy
  7. The Astronomy Picture of the Day: great photos and an explanation each day. Their search feature returns thumbnail images of matches and their archive extends back to June 16, 1995.
    1. Excellent examples from the APOD archive
      1. Orion's Horsehead Nebula
      2. Andromeda Island Universe
      3. Cone Nebula Close-Up
      4. Saturn At Night
      5. The Newly Expanded International Space Station
      6. The Cat's Eye Nebula
      7. Watch the Sky Rotate
      8. 2001: A Total Lunar Eclipse
      9. A Mercury Transit Sequence
      10. What our Moon looks like during a complete lunar cycle
      11. The View from Everest
      12. Three views of Saturn from HST
      13. Earth at Night
      14. Moonrise Over Seattle
      15. November's Lunar Eclipse (excellent animation)
      16. Satellites that Surround Earth - Zoom in from geosynchronus satellites to the International Space Station
      17. Sunrise by Season - three pictures showing the sunrise at the equinox and each solstice
      18. NASA TV - use this link to access NASA TV
      19. Identify the constellations - roll your mouse over the picture to see constellations named
  8. Astronomy Resources - posted by the Space Telescope Science Institute
  9. Atlas of the Universe - This web page is designed to give everyone an idea of what our universe actually looks like. There are nine main maps on this web page, each one approximately ten times the scale of the previous one.
  10. Aurora
    1. Aurora Borealis - from Virtual Finland
    2. Aurora Borealis : the northern lights - Written by Franck Pettersen, prepared for WWW by Børge Berg-Olsen, The Northern Lights Planetarium
    3. The Aurora Page - Information, links and images about the "Northern Lights".
    4. Aurora Pictures - indexed by aurora seasons from 2000 to 2008
    5. Aurora: Shooting the Aurora Borealis - photography tips and some great pictures
    6. Auroral Activity Extrapolated from NOAA POES - The plots on this page show the current extent and position of the auroral oval at each pole
    7. Auroras: Paintings in the Sky - This site will show you what auroras look like from space and on Earth, explain how they are created, and show you where they can be found. Teach yourself using the "Self-Guided Lesson" button.
    8. Aurora Watch: UK - This web site allows you to monitor geomagnetic activity in real time, and will let you know when aurora may be visible from the UK
    9. Photo Gallery
    10. Oklahoma aurora from APOD
    11. YouTube Videos -
  11. Bad Astronomy - the main Bad Pages; Bad Movies, Bad TV, Bad News, and Popular misconceptions
  12. Basics of Space Flight - This starts with the basics of the solar system and quickly moves on to physics. A recap feature is provided at the end of each section of this project.
  13. Big Bang Time Machine - go back in time to explore what the universe was like at various times
  14. Canadian Astronomy Data Center has links to a large number of image archives.
  15. Classroom-Ready Astronomy Lesson Plans - scroll one-third of the way down the page to Sky Paths
  16. Common Names for Deep Sky Objects - This list only covers non-stellar deepsky objects (nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies)
  17. Constellation Quiz - [this link opens on a new page] How well do you know the night sky? (a Funbrain quiz)
  18. The Cosmic Distance Scale - This feature will give an impression of how immense our Universe is by employing a method used many times in "Power of 10" films - that is, starting with an image of the Earth and then zooming out to the furthest visible reaches of our Universe.
  19. The Cosmic Distance Scale - a series of web-based exercises designed to take students on an interactive tour measuring cosmic distances
  20. The Cosmic Distance Scale - a lecture with illustrations and images
  21. Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) Images of IC Objects
  22. Earth & Sky: Visit the Teacher's Lounge posted by this radio show's home page. Find out how to integrate Earth & Sky into your classroom. Browse their Virtual Textbook then check out their Teacher's Resource Hot List.
  23. Earth from Space - selected images from the NASA Space Shuttle Earth Observations Photography database of images
  24. Eclipse sites
    1. Calgary Centre Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery
    2. Eclipse Home Page at the NASA/GSFC Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum. This web site is continually expanding and strives to be the ultimate resource for online information about eclipses.
    3. Eclipse Chasers - Picture Gallery, Information, Photography, Stories, and more about Solar and Lunar Eclipses
    4. Eclipse Chaser home page - another site devoted to chasing the elusive eclipse
    5. Eclipse Shades™ - Safe Solar Glasses, Viewers & Filters. This is a commercial page where eclipse glasses can be purchased. However, there is quite a bit of free information provided by this site.
    6. Eclipses - This real-time 3D simulation of the Sun, Earth, and moon explains lunar and solar eclipses, as well as the defined moon phases. The student can manipulate the Sun, the Earth, and the moon into all of their phases as well as view the phases from a variety of different perspectives.
    7. Hermit.org has a neat eclipse page.
    8. Lunar Eclipse Finder - This site contains some very detailed eclipse graphics. Select a specific year to see them.
    9. Annular eclipse recorded with a foreground of palm trees during a 1992 annular eclipse (from APOD)
    10. Excellent animation of a lunar eclipse from APOD
    11. NASA Eclipse bulletins via both WWW and anonymous ftp
    12. Photo Gallery
    13. Solar Eclipse: Stories from the path of totality - an Exploratorium site
    14. Solar Eclipses through Space and Time - this 41 slide show is filled with information, images and movies
    15. The Wendy Carlos: Total Solar Eclipse Page - Confessions of a Coronaphile
  25. Field Guide to the Universe
    1. Astronomers
    2. Solar System
    3. Spacecraft
  26. Galaxies
    1. Galaxy Index - photo index which leads to pages with more complete information
    2. Spiral Galaxy pictures - Alwyn Botha has posted this excellent set of galaxy pictures to assist those who want to take their own astro photographs, or those who simply want to see the beautiful pinwheel shapes of spiral galaxies. Thanks for all of the hard work Alwyn.
  27. History of Astronomy - hosted by the University of Bonn
  28. Hours of Daylight - use this java applet to determine the number of hours of daylight for any location and date.
  29. How long does each phase of the moon last? - from Dr. Marc at The Space Place from NASA
  30. How many stars are there in the Universe? - an interesting article on how to make an estimate of the number of stars
  31. Hubble Heritage Project - index to images from the Hubble Space Telescope
  32. Hubble Space Telescope's greatest hits - some of the best images from 1990-1995, plus links to other Hubble images.
  33. The Inconstant Moon - With Inconstant Moon as your nightly guide you can explore Earth's ever-changing companion, and discover some of its strange phenomena.
  34. The Interactive NGC Catalog Online
  35. Leonid Meteor Shower estimator - enter your location and see an estimate of the peak time for your location.
  36. Life Beyond Earth: Are We Alone - excerpts from the PBS show
  37. Living in Space - design a space station
  38. Lunar Eclipse 10/27/04 | NASA Press release | APOD 10/29/04 | APOD 10/30/04 | [kept as archival information]
  39. The Messier Catalog - links to images of the objects and information about the man and his catalog. There is also an index of Messier objects by object type: nebulae, clusters, galaxies, and other kinds of objects not under any major category.
  40. Meteor Showers - a listing of meteor showers
  41. Meteorite Fragments - an exhibit from the Natural History Museum of London
    1. Virtual Wonders Exhibit - click and drag the image to rotate the meteorites Krasnojarsk meteorite | Stannern meteorite | Plainview meteorite | Henbury meteorite | Nakhla meteorite | Parnallee meteorite
  42. Mount Wilson Observatory - a virtual tour designed to give a visitor a feel for the observatory grounds and to present some of the history and heritage of Mount Wilson Observatory [unavailable on 8/12/06]
  43. Mount Wilson Observatory Association - The Mount Wilson Observatory Association (MWOA) is a volunteer organization supporting the Mount Wilson Observatory
  44. Mysteries of Deep Space from PBS Online
  45. NASA's home page [This link opens on a new page]
  46. National Science Foundation Division of Astronomical Sciences provides some useful links to astronomical on-line resources.
  47. NOVA - an archive of past NOVA shows on the subject of space
  48. Papercraft - from Canon's Bubble Jet Printer Creative Park
    1. Rotating Star Chart
    2. Sundial
    3. Globe
  49. Peoria Astronomical Society
  50. Phases of the Moon - See a Shockwave simulation which clearly shows the reason for phases. Caution, relative distances are not to scale.
  51. Phases of the Moon - This is one of the best animations for explaining moon phases. (from the Science Alberta Foundation)
  52. Photo Gallery of the National Space Science Data Center
  53. Planets
    1. Daily Martian Weather Report - The Mars Global Surveyor Radio Science Team conducted a detailed study of the Martian atmosphere, and results from their study were presented on this site in the form of a daily weather report for the planet Mars. The site is not being updated any longer, but a large amount of Martian atmosphere/weather data is available.
    2. Exploring Planets in the Classroom - Hands-on Activities for Science Classes. More than 25 hands-on science activities are provided in classroom-ready pages for both teachers and students for exploring Earth, the planets, geology, and space sciences.
    3. Field Guide to the Universe - Solar System
    4. Mars Exploration Rover Mission - Latest News From Spirit and Opportunity
    5. Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera Image Gallery - Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Image Gallery! This site contains the pictures of Mars acquired by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) orbiter through 31 January 2001. MOC is operated daily at Malin Space Science Systems. The company is responsible for archiving the camera data once they are received on Earth.
    6. Mars Today - current conditions on Mars and its relationship to Earth on 5/24/08
    7. MSSS Viking Image Archive - This page provides access to a large fraction of the set of images taken by the Viking orbiters from 1976 to 1980.
    8. The Nine Eight Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System
    9. Planets of the solar system - Click on a planet to get a short bit of information about each one. Caution, relative sizes are not accurate.
    10. Planetary Orbits - A neat Shockwave simulation showing planetary orbits.
    11. Pluto demoted to dwarf planet
    12. Solar System - This real-time 3D simulation allows the student to inspect our solar system from any angle or vantage point as well as gain detailed information about each element.
    13. The Solar System in Pictures - [this link opens on a new page] This web site has 2 purposes: To give a pictorial overview of the solar system and to quiz you about these pictures.
    14. Solar System Live - Where are the planets right now. Go to this site to find. You can also reset the date for times in the past or future to see where the plants were, or will be. A view of the Inner planets is also available.
    15. Solar System Scale Model Page - Making scale models of the solar system is a useful way to learn about it. This page lists various related pages.
    16. Solar System: True to Scale - scroll forever to find the planets, and don't try to print this site (1487 pages almost all black!) [This page opens in a new window. Close the window to return to this list]
    17. Surface of Mars colored by height - click and drag the image to rotate the planet
    18. Views of the Solar System - This site presents a vivid multimedia adventure unfolding the splendor of the Sun, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and more. Discover the latest scientific information, or study the history of space exploration, rocketry, early astronauts, space missions, spacecraft through a vast archive of photographs, scientific facts, text, graphics and videos. Views of the Solar System offers enhanced exploration and educational enjoyment of the solar system and beyond.
    19. Virtual Solar System by National Geographic - your chance to discover the wonders of our solar system in a spectacular 3-D environment. Take a fly-by tour of the sun and each planet in its orbit, observe close-up views of the planets, extraterrestrial weather patterns, and more.
    20. Welcome to Mars from the American Museum of Natural History
    21. Welcome to the Planets - This is a collection of many of the best images from NASA's planetary exploration program.
    22. What would you weigh on other planets? Enter your weight, select calculate and see what you would weigh on each of the other planets.
      1. See an Excel workbook that does the same thing. What would I weigh on...? - an interactive workbook which uses hyperlinks and protected cells. Calculate your weight on another planet.
    23. World's largest scale model of the Solar System - Welcome to the home of Jupiter, part of the world's largest scale model of the solar system
  54. Plans for Building a Dobsonian Telescope - "If there were a million amateur astronomers with telescopes, and they were willing to let a few thousand people each look through their telescopes, there would be a chance for the people in the world who wanted to see to see." John Dobson
  55. Real Time Satellite Images - from the Space Science and Engineering Center, Universioty of Wisconsin-Madison
  56. Real Time Satellite Tracking - official NASA site on 5/24/08
  57. Retrograde Motion - Use this java applet to see retrograde motion involving Earth and Venus or Earth and Mars.
  58. Rise and Set Times for the Sun and Moon - To find today's Rise and Set Times for the Sun and Moon anywhere in the continental US, click on the map at the desired location.
  59. Rotating Earth Animation - depicting the sunlit hemisphere of the earth as it appears through full rotation at the time of the March or September equinox
  60. Satellite Tracking and Prediction - find out when the space station, the space shuttle and many other satellites will be visible from your back yard
  61. Seasons - find exactly when the seasons start for any year from 1902 to 2102 with this java applet
  62. Six Millennium Catalog of Phases of the Moon - moon Phases from -1999 to +3000 (2000 BCE to 4000 CE) by Fred Espenak
  63. Sky & Telescope magazine
  64. Solar Image - get the latest image of the sun in one of several formats.
  65. Solar Images are also available from Mt. Wilson's 150-Foot Solar Tower
  66. Solar Image from the Big Bear Solar Observatory [use the index on the left to select images]
  67. Solar and Solar-Related links from the Mt Wilson Observatory
  68. Space Environment Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration providing space weather alerts and warnings to the nation and the world for disturbances that can affect people and equipment working in space and on Earth
  69. Space Exploration History - There are things that are known and things that are unknown; in between is exploration. -Anonymous
  70. Space Science Education Resource from NASA
  71. Space Telescope Science Institute - Astronomy resources, data archives and HST
  72. Space Station - a rare inside view of the next frontier in space exploration (from PBS)
  73. Space Weather - A complex series of events that begin deep inside the Sun, and extend throughout the solar system, carried by the solar wind.
  74. Space Weather Today - current views of the sun and the aurora on 5/24/08
  75. Stanford SOLAR Center: Providing Solar On-Line Activity Resources for the joy of solar science exploration
  76. StarChild - A Learning Center for Young Astronomers from NASA
  77. Stargazing Guide - a handbook for night sky tour guides - four tours available; summer, autumn, winter and spring
  78. Star Journey is based on National Geographic's popular map, "The Heavens."
  79. Stephen Hawking's Universe from PBS
  80. The Sunspot Cycle - from the Science Directorate at Marshall Space Flight Center [lost their funding - no more updates after 10/25/05]
  81. Sunspot Numbers - raw data of the daily number of sunspots from 1818 to the present. Is there a project here? (You might also want to see how the numbers are determined) See also, How to get Solar data from NGDC.
  82. Telescope Reviews - reviews of over 100 telescopes, eyepiece reviews, a beginner's advice column, feature articles, and lots more
  83. Understanding the Universe - an exploration with the American Museum of Natural History at DiscoverySchool.com
  84. Windows to the Universe - the site is written in three reading levels approximating elementary, middle school and high school reading levels - levels may be chosen by using the upper button bar of each page of the main site
  85. Yahoo Astronomy Directory - Over three dozen sub directories are listed
  86. Your Sky - the interactive planetarium of the Web. You can produce maps for any time and date, viewpoint, and observing location from this site.

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