Observational Astronomy Links

Obervatories & Planetariums in the Area

Mount Hood Community College Planetarium (www.starstuff.com): Public programs on 2nd Mondays at 7:30 pm.

OMSI: Murdock Planetarium (www.omsi.edu/visit/planetarium/)
Goldendale Observatory (www.perr.com/gosp.html)

Pine Mountain Observatory (pmo-sun.uoregon.edu/)

Sunriver Nature Center Observatory (www.sunrivernaturecenter.org)

Rose City Astronomers (http://www.rca-omsi.org/): Portland's astronomy club. RCA runs star parties, has informational programs for both kids and adults at the general meetings, and operates a telescope library as well as a book/video library. Meetings are 3rd Mondays, 7:00 pm at OMSI.
Astronomical League (www.astroleague.org/)
Astronomical Society of the Pacific (www.astrosociety.org/)
NASA (www.nasa.gov)
Oregon Star Party (www.oregonstarparty.org)

Atlas of the Universe (anzwers.org/free/universe): Marvelous visuals of our neighborhood of the universe at different scales from 12 light years to 14 billion light years.


Bad Astronomy (www.badastronomy.com): Astronomer Philip Plait of Sonoma State University reviews space-related news, movies, etc. and gives us the real scoop on common astronomical misperceptions. Check out "The Pantry" for a FAQ of "bite-size astronomy" articles; put together, they make a nice introductory text.

BBC Space (www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/): Lots of facts and explanations, plus a variety of quizzes and games.

An excellent guide from amateur astronomer Richard Dibon-Smith. For each of the 88 constellations, it provides: origin/ mythology; star data table; notes on deep-space objects and double, variable, and other noteworthy stars, including recent discoveries of planets,etc.

Heavens Above (www.heavens-above.com): Provides sky-charts and times of satellite, space station and shuttle fly-bys at your location. Free registration required.

NASA Lunar and Planetary Missions (nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/chronology.html): Space exploration mission timeline with links to details on each mission.

SEDS: Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (www.seds.org/): Nice "Nine Planets Solar System Tour" plus a Messier Object index with descriptions and directions, and constellation maps with descriptions of the deep-sky objects found in each constellation.

Sky & Telescope (www.skyandtelescope.com): From the publishers of the magazine. Take a look at their "Observing" section for up-to-date highlights and skymaps and the "Celestial Objects" section for a listing of objects, how to find them, and pretty pictures of them. Particularly useful are the "Sky at a Glance" page, including with the current Planet Roundup, and the Almanac, which gives a quick view of available planets, sunset, moonrise, etc.

Sloan Digital Sky Survy (skyserver.sdss.org/dr1/en/): A wealth of information and projects from the SDSS, which is a project to map the universe.

SolStation (www.solstation.com): Detailed star and plnet data, including 3-D images of star locations.

Space Weather (www.spaceweather.com): Current views of sunspots, solar flares, the solar wind report, aurorae, and weather on other planets!
Stellar Evolution (chandra.harvard.edu/xray_sources/stellar_evolution.html): Nice overview of stellar evolution from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. (Includes an excellent graphic of star fates by mass.)

Visual Satellite Observers (www.satobs.org/satintro.html): a wealth of information on observing satellites
Windows to the Universe (www.windows.ucar.edu): Image-rich, informative and entertaining astronomy site including an excellent section on mythology of the heavens from many cultures. Use "preferences" to choose among 3 different reading/content levels, kid to adult. Have fun!

You Are Here (www.ecology.com/earth-at-a-glance): From Ecology.com, great visuals & data on the home planet and links to others.

For great photos and images, check out:

NASA Image Exchange (nix.nasa.gov/)
Hubble Space Telescope Gallery (hubble.stsci.edu/gallery/)
Astronomy Picture of the Day (antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/)
Spitzer Space Telescope latest images (www.spitzer.caltech.edu/picturegallery/index.shtml)

Cloudy Nights (www.cloudynights.com)

What's Up?
(objects we view)