General Astronomy and Telescopic Links and files.
These
include Telescope and Accessory Online sales, Auctions, Astronomical Data, and
other sites
that I have used.
Website for fellow T.A.S.
member and innovative telescope maker Dale Sander. As Gary
Seronik wrote in the Oct. 2009 edition of Sky And Telescope, "a
clever and innovative solution to the problem of collapsing a
Dobsonian truss system for easy transport. Sure, a 4-pole strut
can be made that way without much fuss, but what about a proper
6- or 8-pole truss? Dale Sander has accomplished this feat with
his elegant 10-inch Dob." Click on the above link or visit
http://sites.google.com/site/telescopingtelescopes/
Paul and Liz
Downing are astronomers and Astrophotographers, with a
selection of telescopes, cameras and tracking devices which are
used interchangeably to produce the images which you will see on
this site.
Website for Astrophotographer
Jason Ware. Jason is a member of the Texas Astronomical Society
and has been
photographing the Night Sky since 1989 using exclusively
Meade Instruments Telescopes.
President of the Texas Astronomical
Society, Astronomy Outreach contributor, known world-wide for
his astronomical blogging assistance, and
Restaurateur
extraordinaire, Joe Lalumia has now branched off into website
infamy as 'TelescopeMan'. Joe's website provides weekly
discussions about Astronomy as a hobby and is filled with
valuable tips and useful information.
Ron Wodaski is one of the most renowned
Astrophotographers in the industry. His book, 'The New CCD
Astronomy' is used worldwide and is one of the most respected
guides to creating Deep Space images.
A group where individuals who have built
or would like to build their own personal observatories can post
ideas, suggestions, questions, successes and bumps in the road.
Located
in Chicago, on the shores of Lake Michigan, the Adler
Planetarium and Astronomy
Museum is one of the premier
astronomy museums in the United States. Here, you can
find the latest astronomy
news and information, a skywatcher's guide, ideas for family
fun, a visitor's guide, and much more.
This site contains an almanac of current sky
happenings, a calendar of star parties, directories of
planetariums and clubs, a well-stocked photo library, as well as
product reviews on telescopes and binoculars. Well designed,
this site is a pleasure to explore. Amateur astronomers will
find many of the articles fascinating and comprehensible
The advice not to believe everything you hear or
read applies to the sciences as well, including
astronomy. Here, you can
read about common misconceptions and claims about space and find
out the truth. For example, few people realize that there is no
"dark side of the moon".
This site offers information on studies of black
holes and the life cycles of matter throughout the universe
using a network of powerful X-ray telescopes. Excellent graphics
and video clips, and clear descriptions of various astronomical
phenomena combine to make this one of the most intriguing
astronomy sites in the
group.
Internet home of the popular
Earth & Sky radio program, a
science program created by Deborah Byrd and Joel Block for kids.
Each program is one and a half minutes long and provides a brief
explanation of a particular science topic. Here, you can replay
the radio shows and/or read along with the scripts. Kids should
check out the Activities area for games and quizzes.
Griffith Observatory is located in
Los Angeles, California. Since
1935, the Observatory has given tens of millions of visitors the
opportunity to become observers.
This is the home of NASA's Hubble telescope,
where you can explore the heavens through the incredible photos
that the Hubble telescope has sent back to earth. View digital
images of Hubble's discoveries, read expert analysis of those
discoveries, learn about the technology that powers the Hubble
telescope and its digital imaging and transmission capabilities,
play games, check out the reference desk, and explore Hubble's
future. Site is easy to navigate, packed with great information
and dazzling graphics, and is accessible and interesting to
astronomers at all levels of learning.
This site is primarily designed to provide
engineers with information about space environments to help them
design spaceships and plan missions. The LDEF satellite, which
contained 57 experiments, spent 69 months studying various
aspects of the environment in space.
Provides information about NASA and non-NASA data
as well as information about spacecraft and experiments that
generate NASA space science data. Here, you can find details
about specific space exploration missions plus links to
planetary events and other
astronomy sites. Excellent site for researching the
various planetary bodies in our solar system.
Meade Advanced Astronomy User Group for the Meade
LX200 (GPS & Classic), LX90, LX50, LXD55, RCX400, Starfinder, &ETX telescopes; and DSI & LPI cameras; and
imaging software.
Located
atop Mount Locke and Mount Fowlkes in the Davis Mountains of
West Texas, the McDonald Observatory is one of the world's
leading centers for astronomical research.
Overviews several ongoing
astronomy projects using
innovative techniques and modern detectors. Provides information
for professionals, amateurs, tourists, and educators from its
location just outside Pasadena, California.
This
public access site is designed to provide visitors with current
satellite images and information about the earth—mainly its
environment and how environmental changes are affecting the
landscape.
Study the history of NASA's space missions from
Mercury to the present, get real-time data on sighting
opportunities, track the orbit of NASA spacecraft, obtain
detailed information about the space station and space shuttle
programs, check out NASA's photo gallery, and much more.
This site from NASA is designed specifically to
appeal to kids. Here, children can view NASA cartoons, learn
about rockets and airplanes, explore the Milky Way and other
celestial frontiers, tour the astronaut's living space, play
games and animations, and much more. For kids who are interested
in space, there's no better site on the Web.
View the nighttime sky using the online sky
chart, complete with images from the Hubble telescope. You can
also set your own course to investigate the heavens. Older
children who are interested in
astronomy may find some of the information here very
interesting and clearly presented.
This site offers information from current and
back issues of Sky and Telescope
magazine as well as links to information that can help you set
up your own observatory, including news reports about up and
coming astronomical events and information on how to take
pictures through your telescope.
Allows you to view a model of the solar system.
Offers adjustable settings so you can see how the solar system
would be at any given time or on any given date.
Features a vivid multimedia tour of the solar
system. Contains images and information about the sun, planets,
moons, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. You can purchase books
and equipment with which to view the planets here.
K3CCDTools is a
Windows application dedicated for Astro-imaging. Version 1 is
freeware which requires
free license key renewal
every 3 months. I have imaged with my LPI, ToUcam, and DSI
imagers using this software.
