Featured
Websites
Updated
27th May 2008
The website's on this page are a list of those that have been the 'Featured Website' on our front page. These web sites are also featured in our fortnightly lecture meetings.
This page will be updated roughly every two weeks when new featured websites are identified. If you find any links that no longer work please let our webmaster know.
Websites should open in another window (if you have Java on your machine) so you can come back & try another !
Latest addition is at the top
Site & Link
Description
The AIM Aeronomy in the Mesosphere Mission is observing Noctilucent Clouds from above. This web site allows you to access the images to compare them with your own observations of Noctilucent clouds and those reported on the Noctilucent Cloud Observers Web Site. For more information on Noctilucent clouds see the page on www.johnmurrell.org.uk
The United States Geological Survey Astrogeology Research Programme supports our efforts to map the Solar System. There are a lot of planetary images plus maps that you can print out. Also the definitive list of feature names on all the bodies in the Solar System. On a lighter note the Kids Zone allows you to print out maps of the planets that you can make into 3 D Models. Recommended by Carol Kennedy
The Royal Observatory Greenwich is part of the National Maritime Museum. In addition to providing a guide to what can be seen if you visit there is quite a lot of behind the scenes material. Have a look at the fact files which contain answers to lots of astronomy questions. Recommended by Paul Harper
We invite advanced amateurs astronomers to collaborate in a scientific project of the International Dark-Sky Association - Italian Section already started in a number of countries. The project has the aim to collect a large number of measurements of night sky brightness in the primary astronomical photometrical bands together with extinction data. Amateurs which can have at their disposal a CCD device mounted on a small telescope and one, or more, standard U, B, V, R filters could make accurate measurements of sky brightness together with extinction in a large number of nights and, if their instruments are transportable, in many different sites. This will allow to obtain for each site the relation between atmospheric conditions and sky brightness, useful for many studies of light pollution. We would like to create many sub-groups in each country, each one with an experienced person who can give support and suggestions to the others, and discuss with them.
The MESSENGER space probe has recently made its first flypast of Mercury and send back a number of stunning images. This site shows all those released. New images are released on most days so check back and have a look at the latest.
The Astronomy Picture of the Day is a NASA supported site that as its name suggests had a different picture each day of an interesting astronomical object. The picture is supplemented by a concise description and links to other relevant web sites. A good place to get your daily fix of astronomy !
An open2.net site on planetary science and astronomy from the Open University. Once you have read the features on the first page have a look at the links on the left for more information. A good site to spend a few hours browsing.
This all sky camera located in Northern Sweden allows you to see live views of the Aurora. In addition there is an index of previous nights events in the Keograms. When you have identified the times the Aurora is visible by the Green Streaks in the Keogram you can access the archive of images for that night. The long exposure JPGs are probably the best as you can click through them until you get interesting images.
Partiview is an interactive data visualization tool that enables you to view static and animated data visualization in 3-D. In essence is allows you to fly through the data to see the 3D relationships. The Hayden Planetarium supply a number of sets of 3D astronomical data that allow you to view both the area around the sun out to the edge of the observable universe. It is a very good tool for seeing the structure of the Solar neighbourhood, the Milky Way & the galaxy clusters.
An opportunity for observers to get involved in assisting the ESA Venus Express mission by providing ground based observations. In addition to visual waveband observations some amateurs have got good images of Venus in the Near Ultra Violet using webcams & filters
This website is an alternative to Heavens Above (see link below) for Satellite tracking - perhaps it should be called Earth Below as it shows you the position and current orbital parameters of the satellite you select. It also shows you the predictions for an object. Set up for the ISS as it is one of the brightest objects at present
We have featured Sky-Map before but it has just been updated to include the Hubble Ultra Deep Field in detail. The Programme alows you to zoom into the image and also identify all the galaxies and the few stars in the image.
A follow up to the last featured web site - the Galaxies you classify come from the SDSS server. This link allows you to find other objects and view the SDSS images of them. Start with the 'Explore' option and enter the RA & DEC of the object you are interested in. Clicking on the resultant image, if the RA and Dec have been imaged, takes you to the finder chart option which allows you to zoom out. The Explore page also has links to pass the object data to NED or SINBAD to allow you to see detailed information - or indeed plot the data using Aladin. Recommended by John Murrell
Welcome to GalaxyZoo, the project which harnesses the power of the Internet - and your brain - to classify a million galaxies. By taking part, you will not only be contributing to scientific research, but you will view parts of the Universe that literally no-one has ever seen before and get a sense of the glorious diversity of galaxies that pepper the sky. Why do we need you? The simple answer is that the human brain is much better at recognising patterns than a computer can ever be. Any computer program we write to sort our galaxies into categories would do a reasonable job, but it would also inevitably throw out the unusual, the weird and the wonderful. To rescue these interesting systems which have a story to tell, we need you. Your opportunity to help with some real research from your computer Recommended by John Murrell
For a change this site looks down rather than up - there are about 750 thousand Earth images to chose from. Have a look at the Noctilucent Cloud images from space as well as Moon rise and Auroras. Recommended by John Murrell
For the start of the Noctilucent Cloud Season this page from The International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy has a link to a very useful guide to observing and recording Noctilucent Clouds. The guide can be downloaded as a PDF document. The images included in the guide are available at higher quality in a separate link. Recommended by John Murrell
Sky-Map is an interactive sky chart. This enables you to zoom into areas of the sky and find details of the stars. In addition it will show you the SDSS images of the area in colour if they have been released. It also has access to more detailed information on objects. An additional feature is the ability to view submitted images of the night sky. The downside is that you can not save the images. Beware it is not a planetarium programme though it allows you to see the sky from your location for the current time it does not show the horizon. The programme does not show Solar System Objects. - Recommended by William Bottaci
In the light Summer evenings it is difficult to observe deep sky objects - an alternative is to hunt down double stars which are still visible against the light sky. This site has a list of double stars for you to observe by constellation
The W M Keck Observatory on Hawaii has a number of Podcasts you can download on a variety of subjects from the first Galaxies in the Universe to Light Pollution. You can download then to your MP3 player and listen while you are traveling
The Japanese Solar Satellite Hinode formally Solar B has taken some stunning images of the Sun. Have a look at the movies on the web site - Broadband is recommended. There is also a Japanese mission site at http://solar-b.nao.ac.jp/index_e.shtml
Science Daily is an Astronomy News Site that has short articles on the latest Astronomy News. A good site to keep an eye on the latest developments in Astronomy. Written for the general public
The Jodcast is an Astronomy Podcast that may be downloaded to your MP3 Player or Played on your PC. The programme is produced by the Astronomy department of The University of Manchester. It covers a wide range of topics as well as an Monthly Night Sky Guide. New editions at the beginning of each month. Older Jodcasts are in the archive
A good example of the use of the VO. The owner of this site produces colour images of the most beautiful and uncommon celestial objects using the modern techniques of photographic digital enhancement. He mainly use the data and the black and white photographs captured by astronomers with the instruments installed at Mount Palomar or other Observatories. This work allows him to discover the wonderful celestial objects hidden in exceptional images that lay unseen in archives, sometimes from decades. The night-sky is full of jewels that wait only to be admired. This website will show you some of these as you never have seen before.
You may have read the book - Visual Astronomy of The Deep Sky by Clark. This is the website of the writer of this book. In addition to the general photography there is a lot on the techniques of digital imaging and the performance of various pieces of kit including the human eye - not the best structured site but worth exploring the hidden depths
Try downloading this programme if you wish to see if you can pilot the Space Shuttle to orbit and a variety of other space craft both real and fictional as well. You can add your own space vehicles as well. Anyone fancy programming the UK Black Arrow as a tribute to the only UK rocket ? - recommended by John Murrell
This site provides a comprehensive guide to the use of Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes. It is based on Celestron Telescopes but most of the information is applicable to other makes as well - recommended by John Murrell
If you are interested in satellites or astronomy, you have come to the right place. Our aim is to provide you with all the information you need to observe satellites such as the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle, spectacular events such as the dazzlingly bright flares from Iridium satellites as well as a wealth of other spaceflight and astronomical information. Recommended by Paul Harper
Ever wanted to fly to a Black Hole and experience what it is like ? If so this is the site for you - lots of interactive experiences. Lots of detailed information on black holes as well. In addition there is an interactive search for Black Holes - find out how real astronomers have detected Black Holes - recommended by Stuart J Goldman, Sky & Telescope
With the interest in Solar System bodies not least the Asteroids MalinSmith & Pluto this site allows you to plot their positions. It also allows you to show the positions on various days. Lots of other useful information on the site as well
Explore Mars - Access to the Mars Odyssey image archive - you can zoom into any of the images and download them - Visible Images plus those at other wavelengths are available - also images of the day to save you hunting
Google Earth now has an overlay of European Light Pollution so you can hunt down a dark sky site. You need to have loaded Google Earth first for this to work
CICLOPS is the Cassini Imaging - Central Laboratory for Operations, lots of images here from the Cassini Mission. Not only Saturn and its moons but Jupiter as well on the flyby
This is the New Scientist Space web site. It covers Astronomy and Space related news stories plus Cosmology as well
For the more advanced astronomers a guide to choosing and using CCD imaging equipment. There is usually a spectacular image on the front page as well
Our own CAS Weather page - have a look at the two MeteoSat derived images for Airmass & low cloud. These seem to give a good view of the observing conditions once you have learnt the colour coding - White is not cloud !
From Universe Today an electronic book with details of what to observe each day of the year, a bit of history and lots of tips as well - beware it is 13MBytes. A copy of this will be available on 'Bellatrix' at Kenley if you need something to observe - or are just bored if it is cloudy !
Ewell Observatory California this site aims to educate public & educational institutions in the Science of CCD Imaging and Basic Astronomy. Have a look at the images and the CCD software. Nominated by Paul Harper
In the early 1900's the pioneering astronomer E E Barnard discovered and catalogued a raft of objects that were named after him. These include the dark nebula and of course Barnard's Loop. The pioneering photographs were published in two books in 1927. This website has a scanned version of the book as well as copies of the photographic plates (find them with the search engine). More information in the November Sky & Telescope
The Hubble Space Telescope is a joint ESA \/ NASA Venture. This site has a lot of good material from the HST as well as a lot of supplemental material. In addition to the normal material there are lots of goodies to buy & download. Have a look at the user images on the project page as well - there are some good amateur images from the HST data sets there
If you wish to see more of Nik's images following his lecture on Friday have a look at his own web site. Plenty of images to encourage you to have a go at imaging
On-line radio - daily short broadcasts on astronomical topics from The University of Texas McDonald Observatory. Also archive of past broadcasts
This site is dedicated to the use of CCD detectors for astronomy and spectroscopy. Also is the home of the free IRIS astro image processing software. Also a lot of good information on using Canon Digital Cameras
PSIgate is a free service that offers access to high quality Web resources in the physical sciences; there are currently 13609 resources in astronomy, chemistry, earth sciences, materials sciences, physics, and general science
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