Astronomy Links

Click on a Subject from the Table Above 

Astronomy

Mars Pathfinder Mission Live!- JPL/NASA.
Mars Mission

Ivan's Universe
This is the site where I preview coming attractions in the night sky and offer practical tips on how to see more of the universe from your own backyard. Beginners welcome!

Earth and Moon Viewer
You can view either a map of the Earth showing the day and night regions at this moment, or viewthe Earth from the Sun, the Moon, the night side of the Earth, above any location on the planetspecified by latitude, longitude and altitude, from a satellite in Earth orbit, or above various citiesaround the globe.

Eric's Treasure Troves of Astonomy
Everything in the Treasure Troves on my web pages was compiled by a single person: me.I recently completed a Ph.D. in planetary science at Caltech, but my undergraduate degreeis in physics and astronomy. I am also a closet recreational math devotee. I enjoy pickingup odd bits of information (at least if they're related to math or science), but can neverremember them unless I write them down, hence the Treasure Troves. Furthermore, it hasbeen my experience that it is very difficult to find clear yet accessible explanations oftechnical subjects in the sciences unless one already has some familiarity with the subject.I hope these encyclopedias will provide jumping-off points for people who are interestedin the subjects listed here, but are not necessarily experts.

Griffith Park Obseravatory Star Awards
Star Awards were established to recognize excellence in web sites that promote public awareness of astronomy. These are the best astronomy sites on the World Wide Web, and they present useful, thorough, and accurate information in a well-organized and attractive way, making the sky more accessible.

Space and its exploration
This lesson utilizes resources to learn about the nine planets, the sun, the moon and space travel.
Found in space Grades 5-9
Related Web Links: -Space and its Exploration

Star Date Online   This site also links to the The University of Texas at Austin
McDonald Observatory

International Space Station -Nasa
It is not in space yet, but their is a web site up and ready to explore. 

SPACE SHUTTLE Live!- (not always available)
Also try Countdown.-For its location during the flight updated every minute, try map . And, if you desire to see it yourself in the sky as a moving pinpoint of light, check here!

Untited Space Alliance Shuttle Tracking Monitor
Uses a Java applet to show graphically the position of the Space shuttle as it orbits the earth.  Contains other shuttle links.

Kids Space (Nasa)
This site from Nasa is an excellent source of information. The site includes Quizzes, weight on moon calculator and more. An entertaining site.

Lift off Academy -The Earth and its environment
Concise explanations, including , composition of the Earth's atmosphere, microgravity, materials science and fluid mechanics.

A Virtual Tour of the Sun
Award winning site, good graphics. There is a small Java script problem. Nothing Serious.

"Contact" - The Movie with- Astonomy Links to SETI and the Planetary Society

DRAKE'S EQUATION
The Drake Equation gives a means for estimating how many communicating civilizations may be out there. The results can vary widely, depending on the optimism of the numbers you yourself plug in. Try Plugging in your own values to perform the calculation.

Space Calendar JPL
The Space Calendar covers space-related activities and anniversaries for the coming year.  Included are over 1,000 links to related home pages. This Calendar is compiled and maintained by Ron Baalke. Please send any updates or corrections to baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov.

Earth and Moon Viewer
You can view either a map of the Earth showing the day and night regions at this moment, or view the Earth from the Sun, the Moon, the night side of the Earth, above any location on the planet specified by latitude, longitude and altitude, from a satellite in Earth orbit, or above various cities around the globe.

Planets and the Solar System

Sun's Current Position is here - J. Walker for Earth Viewer
If you happen to be locked up in room or office where there are no windows or are just curious. You can view either a map of the Earth showing the day and night regions at this moment, or view the Earth from the Sun, the Moon, the night side of the Earth, above any location on the planet specified by latitude, longitude and altitude, or from a satellite in Earth orbit. Please consult the Earth viewer details for additional information. Solar System Live allows you to see the planet positions for any date!
Examples: View of Earth from Sun \ View of Earth from Moon \ Solar System Live

The Nine Planets - A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System
The Nine Planets is an overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets and moons in our solar system. Each page has text and images, some have sounds and movies, most provide references to additional related information.

Exploring Planets in the Classroom: Hands-on Activities- SpaceGrant Consortium, U. of Hawaii at Manoa
Dozens of lesson plans: Solar System, Planets, Dynamic Earth, Volcanoes, Impact Craters, Moon, Remote Sensing.

Solar System Live - J. Walker
You can view the entire Solar System, or just the inner planets (through the orbit of Mars). Controls allow you to set time and date, viewpoint, observing location, orbital elements to track an asteroid or comet, and a variety of other parameters.
Examples: Inner Planets Live \ All Planets (distorted scale) \ Asteroid and Comet Tracking

Kepler's Three Laws of Planetary Motion (JavaScript interactive) - NASA
Orbital simulations: "Kepler's laws apply not just to planets orbiting the sun, but to all cases in which one celestial body orbits another under the influence of gravitation -- moons orbiting planets, artificial satellites orbiting the earth and other solar system bodies, and stars orbiting each other."

Exploring Planets in the Classroom: Hands-on Activities - SpaceGrant Consortium, U. of Hawai'i at Manoa.
Dozens of lesson plans: Solar System, Planets, Dynamic Earth, Volcanoes, Impact Craters, Moon, Remote Sensing.

SkyView - Virtual Observatory on the 'Net - K.A. Scollick
SkyView is a Virtual Observatory on the Net. Astronomers can generate images of any portion of the sky at wavelengths in all regimes from radio to gamma-ray. Users tell SkyView the position, scale and orientation desired, and SkyView gives users an image made to their specification. The user need not worry about transforming between equinoxes or coordinate systems, mosaicking submaps, rotating the image,.... SkyView handles these geometric issues and lets the user get started on astronomy.

Windows on the Universe (University of Michigan)
A panorama of eaarth and space sciences.  Covers earth and space sciences including sections about the Universe and the planets of our Solar System. Includes three levels of inquiry, beginner, intermediate and advanced.  Student lessons and teacher answer keys and resources are included. **** Rating.

Sun, Earth & Moon Phenomena

View of the Moon- Lorenzo in Italy.
The Moon is the desolate companion of earth, and it always show the same face, rotating around his own axis and revolving around the planet Earth in 27.3 days. However, every day there is a change of phase, so that the view is changing ever so slightly... Can insert the date to see the Moon. Also moon phase dates.

Sun Rise/Set Calculator- M. Elbrecht.
Calculates sunrise,sunset, and civil twilight for any place on earth.

The Earth- Los Alamos National Lab.
Multimedia approach - dozens of images, movies, maps, from satellites to the Space
Shuttle.

Sun, Moon & Earth Applet -This interactive Java applet displays the positions of Sun and Moon on the horizon for any date, time and location, and on a world map with day and night regions. The times of rise and setting, the declination, the Greenwich hour angle of Sun and Moon, the equation of time, the phase of the Moon and more data are computed.

Astronomy Calculator (JavaScript) - R.T. Back
Includes: Phases of the Moon; Next Meteor Shower; Planets Position etc.

Virtual Reality Moon Phase Pictures
These "Virtual Reality Moon Phases" were created from ray-traced images of the Moon. A Clementine spacecraft mosaic of the lunar surface was mapped onto a sphere, and scenes were rendered as a virtual Sun "orbited" the Moon.

Lunar Eclipse Observer Home Page
This is a page for everyone. From the casually interested person, the science student who is looking for a challenging project, or the serious astronomer whom would like to contribute to a scientific program of observations to determine the geometry of the umbral shadow and to define the change in the upper atmosphere of our earth.

Eclipses of the Moon and the Sun - S. Espenak, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center.
Future eclipses and images from past eclipses.

Planet Rise and Set - Mills Observatory at Dundee
PLANET DATA ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD: You can calculate data on the planets, sun, and moon for any time and location. Plus Hubble images, planet paths, and real-time British Isles weather photo.

Back to the Top

Last Updated March 6th, 1999