Astronomy Links
Our favorite astronomy resources from across the web, grouped into categories listed below.
For Beginners
BBC Sky at Night – Astronomy For Beginners – BBC Sky at Night Website with a beginner’s guide to observing the cosmos.
Planetary Society – Astronomy For Beginners – Planetary Society Website with Some of the Basics on Learning to Explore the Night Sky.
Love the Night Sky – How to Use a Telescope – Tips & techniques to take you from telescope novice to competent backyard stargazer.
Royal Astronomical Society – Getting Started In Astronomy – Introduction, Astronomy as a hobby, Getting to know the night sky, Buying a telescope, etc.
San Jose Astronomical Society – Astronomy For Beginners – Beginners astronomy classes: Astronomy 101 & Intro to the Night Sky.
Educational / For Kids
American Museaum of Natural History Astronomy for Kids – Games, reading, hands-on activities and videos about space and astronomy.
Common Sense Astronomy Links for Kids – Links to apps and websites with tools covering a variety of astronomy-based topics.
Cloudy Nights Forums – A wealth of information (form beginner to very detailed) on astronomical subjects for/by the astronomical community
NASA Kids Club – Official NASA Site with Activities and Games for Kids and Resources for Teachers/Parents.
NASA Space Place – Another official NASA Site with Activities and Games for Kids and Resources for Teachers/Parents.
National Geographic Kids: Passport to Space – Out-of-this-world facts, photos, books, and games about all things space.
Build a Solar System – (older kids/adults) – Make a scale model of the Solar System and learn the REAL definition of “space.”
If the Moon were One Pixel – (older kids/adults) – A tediously accurate scale model of the solar system (side scroller).
Planetary Links
NASA Eyes on the Solar System – Info on Planets, Moons, Dwarf Planets, Comets, Spacecraft, etc (basically all things solar system)
NASA Solar System Exploration – Explore our planetary neighborhood: The Sun, planets, moons, and millions of asteroids and comets.
NASA Solar System Interactive – Virtual Orrery showing real-time positions of major solar system objects (planets, asteroids, spacecraft)
NASA Science, Mercury – Facts, pictures, and information about Venus.
Solarviews, Solar System Information – Facts and figures about each planet in our solar system.
Windows to the Universe – Facts, pictures, and information about our solar system and more.
NASA Mars Exploration – Official NASA Mars Site with News, Mission info, and details about the red planet.
Cassini-Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan
The Nine 8 Planets – Facts and information about mythology and current scientific knowledge of the planets, moons, and other objects in our solar system and beyond
Planetary Photojournal – JPL Website with large database of planetary images searchable by Mission, Spacecraft, and/or Sensor Instrument.
Sun and Moon
Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon – Features can be listed by name, coordinate range, or ascending/descending by location.
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Moon -Extensive collection of moon links and resources.
Moon Phase and Libration – See what the moon looks like now, or at any time in the past or future.
Earth & Moon Viewer – View the current state of the earth or the moon from various points.
Solar Data Analysis Center -Serves data from recent and current space-based solar-physics missions, funds and hosts much of the SolarSoft library, and leads the Virtual Solar Observatory (VSO) effort.
Solar Dynamics Observatory – Real time views of the sun and up to date information about the SDO mission, which studies how solar activity is created and how space weather results from that activity.
Solar Physics – NASA website with detail on the sun’s structure, features and activity.
Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory – Updates on the STEREO misssion, which uses two space-based observatories – one ahead of Earth in its orbit, the other trailing behind – to provide stereoscopic measurements of the Sun and its coronal mass ejections, or CMEs.
SOHO Exploring the Sun – Solar & Heliospheric Observatory project website – international collaboration between ESA and NASA to study the Sun from its deep core to the outer corona and the solar wind
SpaceWeather – News and information about the Sun-Earth environment.
Deep Sky
Arp’s Catalog of Peculiar Galaxies – Overview of the catalog of 338 peculiar galaxies, including observing tips, book links and images.
Astronomy.com Deep Sky Site – Guide to help you better understand deep-sky objects and also provide lots of targets for your telescope
Hubble Heritage Site – Aesthetically impactful and scientifically accurate color images of our universe
Hubble’s Messier Catalog – Brief History of the Messier Catalog and Hubble images of 86 of them.
Messier Marathon – Detailed plan for observing the entire Messier Catalog in one night, along with background, history and additional information.
The Visible Universe – Book listing many Deep-Sky astrophotography targets.
Astronomy Gear and Vendor Sites
***Support your Local Astronomy Store***
Company Seven Astro-Optics Division
Montpelier, Maryland 20709 / 301-953-2000
(additional vendor informational list only, does not constitute an endorsement by HAL)
10Micron – High end Mounts and Accessories.
Airy Disk – APO Telescopes.
ADM Accessories – Dovetail Plates and more.
Adorama – General Photography Supplies.
Antlia Filter – Narrowband, Solar, Light-Pollution & Visual Filters, Filter Drawers, Adapters, and related Accessories.
Astro Hutech / Borg – Astronomical Filters and Telescopes.
Astro-Physics – High-Quality Telescopes and Accessories for the advanced amateur since 1975.
Astrozap – Dew Control products and more.
Atik Cameras – Astronomical Imaging Equipment.
Baader Planetarium – Accessories, Filters, Telescopes, Mounts, Cameras, etc.
Celestron – Mounts, Telescopes, Binoculars, etc.
Company Seven – Brick-and-mortar local Astronomy Store (one of a handful left in the country) with showroom full of high-quality gear and advice from a true expert.
Cloud Break Optics – Online Astronomy store with brick-and-mortar location in Seattle, WA.
Dark Sky New Mexico LLC – Remote Hosting facility in New Mexico.
Daystar Filters LLC – Solar Filter and Telescope Products.
Explora-Dome (Poly Tank) – Backyard Observatories & Domes.
Explore Scientific LLC – Accessories, Filters, Telescopes, Mounts, Cameras, etc.
Finger Lakes Instrumentation, LLC – Astronomical Cameras.
Fornax Mounts – Mounts and star trackers
High Point Scientific -Accessories, Filters, Telescopes, Mounts, Cameras, etc.
HomeDome (Technical Innovations) -Backyard Observatories and Domes (HAL’s dome is a homedome).
iOptron – Mounts and Star Trackers.
Losmandy Astronomical Products – Equatorial mounts and Accessories.
Lunt Solar Systems LLC – Solar filter and Telescope Products.
Meade Instruments – Telescopes, Mounts, Accessories, Cameras, etc.
Meade’s Coronado – Hydrogen Alpha Solar Telescopes.
Moonlite Telescope Accessories – Precision telescope Focusers.
NexDome – Backyard Observatories & Domes.
Oberwerk Corp – High quality Binoculars, Tripods, Head Mounts, and Accessories.
Omegon Telescopes, Binoculars, Mounts, and Accessories.
Optolong Optics Co. – Astronomical Filters.
Pegasus Astro – Mounts, Focusers, Filter Wheels & other Accessories.
Planewave Instruments – High end Mounts, Telescopes, and Accessories.
Primalucelab – Telescopes, Mounts, Focusers, Filter Wheels & other Accessories including Radio Telescope equipment.
QHYCCD – Astronomical Cameras.
QSI (Atik Cameras) – Astronomical Cameras.
Questar – High Quality Maksutov Cassegrain Telescopes.
RainbowAstro – Compact, high quality harmonic drive Mounts, Focusers, and Accessories.
Sky Watcher – Telescopes, Mounts, and other Accessories.
Software Bisque – High quality Telescope Mounts.
Starizona – Online Astronomy store with brick-and-mortar location in Tucson, AZ.
Starlight Instruments, LLC – “Feather Touch” Focusers and other Collimation and Focusing solutions.
Starlight Xpress Ltd. – CCD Astronomical Camera supplier, based in the UK.
Stellarvue – Maker of quality APO Refractors
Super Mount – Maker of high quality, Mounts, Piers, and Carbon Fiber Tripods, based in Korea.
Takahashi America – High quality Telescopes.
Tele Vue Optics – High quality Telescopes and Eyepieces.
Telescope Live – Resource for Remote Imaging.
Vernonscope – Eyepieces, Barlows, Diagonals, Binoviewers, etc.
Vixen Optics – Telescopes, Mounts, Star Trackers, and other Accessories.
William Optics – Telescopes and related Accessories.
Woodland Hills Telescopes Online Astronomy store with brick-and-mortar location in California.
ZWO Co Ltd – Astronomical Cameras, Mounts, Focusers, Telescopes, Filter Wheels & other Accessories.
Astronomy Software
(informational list only, does not constitute an endorsement by HAL)
———————————————————–
Windows & Cross-Platform
Astronomy.tools – [free] A collection of useful, free astronomy tools such as FOV calculator, Star Charts, etc.
AutoStakkert4 – [free] AutoStakkert! is all about alignment and stacking of image sequences, minimizing the influence of atmospheric distortions (seeing). Its goal is to create high quality images of the Planets, the Sun, and the Moon, without too much hassle.
BackyardEOS – [$] Software tailor made to control your Canon DSLR camera, purposely built with astro-photography in mind.
BackyardNikon – [$] Software tailor made to control your Nikon DSLR camera, purposely built with astro-photography in mind.
Cartes du Ciel – [free] Planetarium program that enables you to draw sky charts, making use of the data in many catalogs of stars and nebulae, includes planets, asteroids and comets.
Deep-Sky Planner – [$] Comprehensive astronomical planning and logging software for Windows. Discover what you can observe, when and where to observe it, and what it looks like. Once you’ve observed an object, record the observation and exchange it with other astronomy software.
DeepSkyStacker – [free] Simplifies all the pre-processing steps of deep sky pictures.
Distant Suns – [$] 3D flight simulation, live Earth cloud data, and more.
Earth Centered Universe – [$] A planetarium and telescope control program for Windows.
GIMP – [free] GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is a cross-platform image editor available for GNU/Linux, macOS, Windows and more operating systems.
K3CCDTools – [$] K3CCDTools is a Windows application dedicated for astro-imaging. It includes video-capturing, auto-guiding, frame aligning and stacking and simple image post-processing.
Nighttime Imaging ‘N’ Astronomy (NINA) – [free] Comprehensive and constantly evolving open source imaging software for Windows. The toolset includes choosing, framing, focusing, centering and imaging one or multiple targets and more.
PHD2 Guiding – Very popular guiding software that simplifies the process of tracking a guide star.
PHD2 Log Viewer– [free] Tool for quickly visualizing your guiding performance and spotting problems in your PHD2 Guide Log.
PixInsight – [$] Advanced image processing platform.
Registar- [$] Automatic image registration for astrophotography.
RegiStax- [free] Software for alignment/stacking/processing of images.
Sequence Generator Pro – [$] Fully automated night sky imaging.
Simulation Curriculum – Earth & Space Science Software for PC and mobile including SkySafari and Starry Night
SkyTools – [$] Observation planning, charting, and logging.
TheSkyX – [$] Desktop planetarium software offering telescope and camera control from Software Bisque.
Startrails– [free] Freeware for Windows to create startrail-images and timelapse movies.
Starry Night – [$] Multi-tasking program with versions for all user levels.
Stellarium- [free] Open-source planetarium for Linux/Unix, Windows, & Mac.
Voyager – [$] System integration and astrophotography automation software.
———————————————————–
For MAC only
Ben Software SwiftCapture – [$] High-quality video software for the Mac; video capture, multi-camera video surveillance & IP Camera viewing software.
Equinox6 Webcam Control – [$] Equinox is a planetarium program with filters for organizing deep sky objects and controls for most telescopes. Available from the Mac App Store.
Lynkeos – [free] Lynkeos is a Cocoa (Mac OS X) application dedicated to the processing of astronomical (mainly planetary) images taken with a webcam through a telescope.
Astronomy Clubs & Organizations
Amateur Astronomers Association – Promotes public awareness of the cosmos through observing, education, outreach, astrophotography, and more.
Astronomers without Borders – International organization supporting astronomy and science outreach.
Astronomical League – National club with observing programs, conventions, youth awards, and lots of information about Amateur Astronomy.
Astronomical Society of Greenbelt – Local Astronomy Club in Maryland.
Goddard Astronomy Club – Local Astronomy Club in Maryland.
International Dark-Sky Association (IDSA) – Advocates for dark skies and reduced light pollution.
Kalamazoo Astronomical Society – Astronomy Club in Michigan with large and active membership and excellent educational resources.
Lowell Observatory – Established by Percival Lowell in Flagstaff, AZ in 1894. Performs research, public outreach and education.
Maryland Science Center – Great for all things-science, not just astronomy.
Mid-East Regional Astronomical League (MERAL) – HAL’s region of the Astronomical League
Northern Virginia Astronomy Club – Local Astronomy Club with large and very active membership.
Rockland Astronomy Club, Inc. – Astronomy club in Suffern, NY – Home of NEAF.
Tri-State Astronomers – Coalition of Astronomers in Maryland, Pennsylvania & West Virginia.
Westminster Astronomical Society of Maryland – Local Astronomy Club in Maryland.
Weather Resources
Accuweather – General weather site with hourly, 10-day and minute-cast forecasts.
Astrospheric – Astronomical forecast tool updated multiple times daily; includes a smoke forecast.
Clear Sky Chart – At a glance, Cloud cover, Transparency, & Seeing forecast for the next few days.
Clear Outside – 7-day hourly cloud & weather forecasts. Designed by astronomers for astronomers. Includes smoke coverage forecast & map.
Magazines & Journals*
Amateur Astronomy Magazine -News for, by and about amateur astronomers around the world.
Astronomy Magazine – The world’s best-selling astronomy magazine.
Astronomy Now – The United Kingdom’s best-selling astronomy magazine.
Astronomy Technology Today – Your complete guide to astronomical equipment.
Practical Astrophotography Magazine – Imaging and processing resources for astrophotographers, from beginner to advanced.
Sky at Night – British monthly magazine about astronomy aimed at amateur astronomers.
SkyNews – The Canadian magazine of astronomy and stargazing.
Sky & Telescope – The essential magazine of astronomy.
StarDate – Publication of The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory.
* Many of these links courtesy of the Kalamazoo Astronomical Society website.
Light Pollution
LightPollutionMap.Info – VIIRS annual and World Atlas 2015 satellite surveys overlaid on Micosoft Bing map base
DarkSky International – What is Light Pollution – Light pollution definition with examples
National LIbrary of Medicine Article – Missing the Dark: Health Effects of Light Pollution
General Interest
Antique Telescope Society – organized and operated educational and/or scientific purposes, is dedicated to antique telescopes, binoculars, books, atlases, the history of optics, and the preservation and use of the antique instruments.
Galaxy Zoo – Citizen science site, where you can assist professional astronomers by identifying different types of galaxies
Geophysical Institute – Aurora Forecast – Auroral activity for Alaska, North America, etc.
Heavens-Above – Loads of information about satellites, deep space missions, and astronomy in general.
Project PANOPTES – A citizen science project that aims to make it easy to build a low cost, robotic telescope that can be used to detect transiting exoplanets.
Universe Today – Space and Astronomy News