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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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| 400 Years of Stargazing ~ August 25, 2009 was applauded as the 400th anniversary of modern astronomy, from Galileo’s first big demonstration of the telescope. His view the Earth was not the centre of the universe lead to his trial for heresy, an error not fully accepted by the Vatican until 1990 according to this feature, or even 1992 as stated elsewhere. |
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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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| AKATSUKI Message Campaign ~ This Site of the Week recommendation updates every Friday, so if you’re quick you have three days left now until their deadline on January 10. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency will send your personal message to Venus on an aluminium plate aboard their Climate Orbiter, providing you can stick to within 40 characters… |
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| An Atlas of the Universe ~ An astonishing website featuring 3D visualisations that zoom out from our own small corner to cover the entire visible universe from 14 billion light years away. There is detail on the nearest stars to our own Sun, the galaxies adjoining the Milky Way, the Virgo supercluster and those surrounding this one too. Stunning! |
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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 Applications Department ~ A great site, coming believe it or not from the US military, the navy to be precise. There has been a lengthy connection between seafarers and the stars, and here it really shows, with some fascinating information about the Moon in particular and eclipses for example. Somehow I don’t think they’ll be linking back though… |
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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 Media Player ~ Supposedly in beta though now likely not to leave this phase, the Astronomy Media Player is considered defunct by its creator Stuart Lowe, a research associate at the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics. I believe it still constitutes a great collection of astronomy podcasts all together in one place, with a few rough edges obviously. |
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| Astronomy Now ~ For over two decades, Astronomy Now has been a source of reference for both amateur and professional astronomers. It is the UK’s best-selling astronomy magazine with an equally engrossing website you can check out here. You’ll find the latest astronomy stories plus pictures, video and links to further information… |
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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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