(AAJ Links Page

Amateur Astronomers of Jackson
Astronomy Links

Updated 12/28/2002

Timely Information

Solar System Exploration - NASA! - The latest, most detailed pictures of the Jupiter moon Europa lend more support to the theory that slush or even liquidwater lurks beneath the moon's surface. Those pictures were presented and discussed by scientists from Brown University and NASA during a press briefing today on the Brown campus.

Mars Global Surveyor - This site contains large quick-time animations of the Mars Global Surveyor. Neat if you have a fast
computer!

The Solar System

Comet Shoemaker-Levy Collision with Jupiter - Images and information about this July 1994 collision.

The Daily Martian Weather Report - A daily weather report for the planet Mars, produced by the Mars Global Surveyor Radio Science Team.

Galileo Project - On December 7, 1995, the Galileo Probe became the first atmospheric probe to study a gas giant. Radio transmissions indicated that Galileo's Jupiter atmospheric probe mission had succeeded, when it was confirmed that the probe signal had been received by the orbiter as the probe began parachuting into Jupiter's clouds.

The Nine Planets: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System - The Nine Planets describes each of the 70 planets and moons in the solar system with text, pictures, sounds, an occasional movie and links to other related net resources.

Small Comets - Every few seconds a "snowball" the size of a small house breaks up as it approaches Earth, and deposits a large cloud of water vapor in Earth's upper atmosphere. This theory was first proposed in the early 1980's, but wasn't widely accepted then. New findings (May 1997) are confirming the theory.

Small Planet Communications Astronomy Site - A student-oriented guide to exploring the universe and Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9

Space Flight

Basics of Space Flight - A Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) online tour. This guide provides an overview of how spacecraft missions operate.

Mir Space Station - Mir is the culmination of the Russian space program's efforts to maintain long-duration human presence in space. It can house up to six cosmonauts and astronauts, and has been orbiting the earth for 10 years.

Of General Interest

Astronomy Camp - Spend a week at the University of Arizona learning about astronomy from scientists during the day, and studying the sky at night. Beginning and advanced sessions are available for teens, adults, and educators.

Aurora Borealis Information - This includes many images, as well as aurora forecasts and sightings reports for North America.

Bradford Robotic Telescope - A remote-control telescope -- you control it over the Internet! It is located high on the moors in West Yorkshire, England. The telescope decides when the conditions are good enough to make observations of the sky by itself; an astronomer does not need to be present. Anyone on the Internet can register and ask the telescope to look at anything in the northern night sky. Very cool.

Comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake - Also known as The Great Comet of 1996, this comet passed very close to Earth during March, April, and May, 1996, and was visible with the naked eye.

Hands-on Universe - A science research and education program that makes leading edge astrophysics research tools and technologies available to high school students and educators. >From Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

StarChild - A learning center for young astronomers, featuring Hubble Telescope photos; graphics and data about Earth, planets, and galaxies.

Stargazer Map - Specify your time and location and you get back a Postscript map of the night skies. You can also adjust it for star magnitudes and meteor showers.

Universe Today. Read about space exploration and astronomy news, which is updated every weekday.

Astronomical Magazines/also see below

Coelum Magazine The Italian astronomical magazine web site. Coelum "publishes the best images by the most known astrophotographers from all around the world".

American Meteor Society . We are an organization of amateur and professional meteor scientists and observers founded in 1911, with a common goal of studying meteors: - bright fireballs, the annual meteor showers, and the random sporadic meteors that appear every night.

Astronomy: Amateur An index of amateur astronomical sites.

International Occultation Timing Association . Learn about stars winking off and on behind the Moon and minor planets. This site includes the latest predictions and observing results.

Lake County Astronomical Society (Illinois) home page. Interesting information for the beginner and the advanced amateur.

Nearby Star Observers (NBSO) is a new Special Interest organization that is dedicated to the sharing of data and information about the closest stars to our Sun. Our primary study range is 20 parsec and includes approx. 1300 stars/systems.

Terry's Hunt of the Month is a monthly observing list webpage. It contains five monthly observing lists. They are derived from the Messier, Herschel, Herschel II, FWAS Favorites, and The Beyond Messier lists.

Astronomy and Space

American Astronomical Society. The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is the major professional organization in North America for astronomers and other scientists and individuals interested in astronomy. They provide information on careers in astronomy and other topics.

Carl Koppeschaar's ASTRONET! ASTRONET offers information on astronomical phenomena and closely follows the news on astronomy, space research, space flight, meteorology and earth sciences. ASTRONET is frequently updated.

Astronomical Society of the Pacific . An organization of professional and amateur astronomers dedicated to the promotion of astronomy, especially to the young. The also hold professional meetings and publish a professional Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. For the general reader, there also publish Mercury magazine.

Astronomy Resources on the Ne t A Croatian site with links to various other astronomy resources on the net.

Comet Home Page A great source of information on comets, especially those that are currently visible.

Galileo Lives! The Starry Messenger is a dramatic fun filled adaptation of Galileo's short treatise Siderius Nuncius. Galileo (dressed in 17th century costume) arrives at your organization to present a public lecture on his most recent discoveries made using his newly devised spyglass. As he describes those discoveries, Galileo's new method of observation and measurement of nature become apparent.

International Astronomical Union Working Group on Solar Eclipses . Home page for information on Solar Eclipses, including scheduled observations and reports on solar eclipses already gone by. Run by Jay Pasachoff.

The International Dark Sky Association. Devoted to preserving the sky for all of us, IDA will help you learn to fight light pollution at all levels. Visit this site often, and consider joining the battle through membership and advocacy.

NASA Eclipse Home Page. The authoritative site for Eclipse Information, both lunar and solar. Includes maps for recent and upcoming solar eclipses.

NASA/Kennedy Space Center Home Page Go to the doorway into space.

Project Galileo (JPL) Home Page of the Jupiter Orbiter with the latest images from the Giant Planet.

Rawhide Space Page Brian Webb maintains this site detailing west coast launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base. He also is starting a database of dark sky observing sites.

The STScI Digitized Sky Survey Provides images from the Palomar Sky Survey. The displayed image is a result of user-controlled search. This is great for verifying images you have taken that show unusual or suspect objects.

The Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing is hosted by the School of Biophysical Sciences and Electrical Engineering at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. The group's main research focus is in computationally-demanding problems in pulsar astrophysics, but it is also involved in education through its exciting online education programme. They are offering online courses in astronomy to an audience of mainly amateur astronomers, which already includes a number of US participants. The group is a major user of the Parkes 64-m radio telescope operated by the Australia Telescope National Facility and has been involved in the discovery and timing of many of the Southern millisecond pulsars.

Commercial Astronomy-Related Sites

Anacortes Telescope and Wild Bird . "When great service and reasonable prices are what you want, please contact us."

The Astronomy Mall . Click to some of your favorite astronomy related products and services. Many well known dealers of astronomical goods have sites here.

DGM Optics Off-Axis Newtonian Telescopes feature a Unique, 2-Mirror, Unobstructed Reflector, Offering Exceptional Contrast and Resolution at a Fraction of the Cost of Equal Aperture Refractors.

Planet S is a new search directory limited to Astronomy, Space, and Physics. We will have lots of goodies, including a great selection of products to offer.

The Space Media Store offers secure online shopping for leading astronomy software and many other space and astronomy related products.

Spectrum Coatings ' mission is to become a leader in front surface mirror and decorative thin film production for Amateur Astronomers, Precision Optical companies, and the Art Glass and Awards industries. Check out their site for more information on their coating process.

Stargazer Steve. Read about a unique offer from amateur astronomer and telescope builder Steve Dodson.

Starmaster Portable Telescopes . Information on what they make and sell. 7-inch through 22-inch Dobsonians and accessories.

Explorezone.com They have added several new Earth, space and weather pages, many of them animated. You can see a complete list on our home page. We've also added: More science news; Search capability; A bulletin board (the q&azone); The ez science index, which you can put on your own site to help visitors find answers to common Earth, space and weather questions.