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 2006 Transit of Mercury ~ Okay citizens, you probably didn’t notice, but on 8 November
2006, Mercury passed over the face of the Sun. If you missed it, say you
live in Europe, didn’t fancy damaging your eyes, or it was raining where
you were, this is broadly what it looked like, one of fourteen such events
this century and the last one for ten years. |
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| AccuWeather Astronomy ~ Previously only for UK visitors, this feature is now on offer globally from the Accuweather.com website. Bash in your location and get a current weather forecast, full details of cloud cover, ongoing lunar phases and the rise and set times of every planet, calculated exactly for where you are. |
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| Apparent Magnitude ~ Is it a bird, is it a plane? Judging by what I’ve heard recently, it is probably Venus, most likely. Here is a list of the brightest objects in the sky, mainly planets rather than stars. The only stars to reach a negative magnitude are Sirius, Arcturus, Canopus, and Alpha Centauri, and you can’t see the last two from the UK. |
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| Approaching
Mars ~ Having reached the closest to us for 60,000 years back in
August 2003, during October 2005 Mars once again gets very close and
bright, only this time higher in the sky, much better placed for observation,
but soon implicated in some less than helpful astrological configurations.
So much trouble in the world… |
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| Ask
the Space Scientist ~ This site is an archive
of all those perplexing space related questions, answered in a detailed
yet accessible fashion by professional astronomer Dr. Sten Odenwald.
You can email a further question if you wish, but otherwise it’s a great
browse through the hundreds that have been asked already. |
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| Asteroid
Orbit Simulator ~ Part of NASA’s Near Earth Object
(NEO) programme, this site enables you to enter the name or number
of any known asteroid. At the click of a mouse you can then generate
a complete set of orbital parameters, together with a graphic simulation
of that asteroid’s orbit. Stunning! |
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| Asteroid
Orbital Elements ~ Part of the site of Dr. Marc
A. Murison, astronomer at the US Naval Observatory, this is another for
all you asteroid fanatics out there. It’s a searchable database of centaurs,
asteroids and trans-Neptunian objects - unusual in also including their
estimated diameters too. It’s great for research! |
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| Astronomical
Constellations ~ For astrologers who’d like to
discover more about the astronomy that surrounds a particular constellation,
this site encompasses not just the zodiac, but all eighty eight constellations
of the night sky. You’ll find maps of each one, features of note and
the mythological background too… |
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| Astronomy.com ~
The online presence of Astronomy magazine and a great source of
information for the latest in important cosmic happenings, space exploration
and discovery. Much of this is freely available to everyone, with additional
content for subscribers and for those who have purchased the magazine itself. |
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| astronomyLINKS ~ Astrologers
must ultimately understand how astrological principles can better
be applied to the night sky. Here you’ll find links to virtually every category
of astronomical study, thus starting you on your voyage of discovery.
This site is subject to full editorial control, so you won’t be wasting
your time… |
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| Astronomy
Picture of the Day ~ Otherwise
known as APOD, this site is truly an Internet institution, with fresh
photographic evidence of some new facet of the universe offered daily
since June 1995. Each image has also been annotated and archived, now
forming the largest astronomy collection available on the Internet. |
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| Astronomy
Resources at STScI ~ STScI stands for the Space Telescope Science
Institute, making a wide range of learned resources available for the
professional or more serious student of astronomy. Much of what you will
find here is very technical, but there are links through to other sites
for those seeking more mainstream explanations. |
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| Aurora Galleries ~ I have never seen an aurora, but keep telling myself
that along with the midnight sun, it is something of my duty to
witness one of these for myself. The pictures in the
Spaceweather.com aurora gallery are simply stunning, and while many now
enter the serious aurora season, new pictures are being submitted thick
and fast. |
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| BBCi
- Space - What’s in the Sky Tonight? ~ Predominately
for UK visitors, but also of assistance to those in other parts of the
world. This section of the BBCi Space website gives current highlights
in the night sky, with detailed instructions on how and when best
to view the planets and other celestial phenomena… |
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| Brightest Stars ~ Here is a list of the brightest stars, out of the 5000 or so visible to the naked eye, depending on your location and eyesight. Click on the link under Proper Name, to find out everything conceivable about each star, from an astronomical perspective anyway. Remember too the stars that look brightest, are probably really planets… |
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| Chiron
Shrinking! ~
After recent revelations about Xena being much smaller than first thought,
it is sobering to realise that this is not the only minor planet with
rapidly diminishing dimensions. Early work put Chiron’s diameter at up
to 400km, by 1998 this was down to 170km and in May 2006 it is thought to be 142km tops, according to the latest from Wikipedia… |
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