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Impact Risks ~ Can anyone remember a time when
there wasn’t an asteroid about to hit the Earth? It’s a perennially popular
subject for the media everywhere, but here you’ll find the true facts
and all the latest data. Again a part of NASA’s Near Earth Object program,
making a speciality of this sort of thing! |
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| Dawn Mission Home Page ~ With the launch of the Dawn mission to the protoplanets (their word!) Ceres and Vesta scheduled for July 7, 2007 this extensive site from NASA answers every question you could possibly have, plus a whole bunch more. Just don’t hold your breath though. Rendezvous with Vesta is scheduled for 2011, with Ceres for 2015… |
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| Dawn - Voyage to the Giant Asteroids ~ And I thought Ceres wasn’t an asteroid anymore… Looks like even NASA has a hard time keeping up with the latest changes in nomenclature. Anyway, let’s hope they have a clearer idea about where they’re going, because the robotic probe Dawn is off to Ceres in July 2007 and will be taking in Vesta along the way. |
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| Digital Images of the Sky ~ A collection of stunning celestial imagery from those who appreciate and wonder about the beauty of space, rather than aiming to crash rockets into bits of it or send animals to perish out there. The time-lapse movies of intriguing nightscapes and celestial phenomena are fascinating, also the section on the constellations too… |
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| Dwarf Planets ~ You’ll remember, back in August 2006, when Xena became
Eris, Pluto ceased to be a planet and Ceres ceased to be an asteroid, and
all three became the first dwarf planets. That would be that you’d
think, except that at the time of writing, there are six known objects beyond Neptune bigger
than Ceres, and their classification remains unclear… |
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| Dwarf Planets #2 ~ Now further dwarf planets are being discovered all the time, it’s amusing thinking back to some of the outrageous astrological pronouncements that greeted the discovery of Quaoar, Sedna and Eris for example, when many still thought the chaos of outer space would fit more readily into the existing scheme of things… |
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| EarthSky ~ An attempt to improve the public perception of science, by offering an accessible platform for scientists to speak directly to their audience, on whatever they are getting enthusiastic over. The popular posts feed of the space section proves interesting, providing details of highlights in the sky at night before other sources… |
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| Eclipse
Home Page ~ Painstakingly maintained by Fred Espenak of NASA and
the Goddard Space Flight Centre, this site “strives to be the ultimate
resource for online information about eclipses.” From an astronomical
perspective it most certainly is too. Anything you’d ever wish to know
is here, plus a whole bunch more you’d never even thought about. |
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| Encyclopedia Astronautica ~ This guy is in love with his subject. Look his name is
Wade, there’s a surprise! Don’t be scared off by the front page and the
eye to erm, design. Anything you wanted to know about space travel is here,
plus a lot more besides, so just start clicking and see where you end up.
Think it isn’t rocket science? Oh yes, it is! |
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| Encyclopedia
of Astrobiology, Astronomy and Space Flight ~ This site is an online
reference of information about astronomy, astrobiology, space flight,
physics and other areas of science and mathematics, both conventional
and more speculative, such as teleportation and time travel. It is updated
daily by astronomer David Darling. |
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| Ephemeris.com ~ An ephemeris lists planetary positions and other astronomical data, at regular intervals and over a given period. This online ephemeris doesn’t seem to have been updated for a while, but still works beautifully across all operating systems, as well as giving details of your sidereal time that can be hard to find out. |
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| ESA - Space Science ~ Most have heard of NASA, unless they live somewhere needing astronomical intervention, but fewer notice its country cousin ESA, otherwise known as the European Space Agency. Now you’re better informed you have no excuse for not visting their website, which has plenty of material to capture your attention, anyhow. |
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| Evening Sky Map ~ Every month this site offers a printable map of the sky, for several locations and a number of different languages, that you can download and use in your stargazing exploits. It’s free for educational or non-commercial purposes and lists what you should look out for each night with your telescope, binoculars or your naked eye… |
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| Eyes On The Solar System ~ Web app created by NASA using their data, to help you explore the solar system in 3D. It has two main parts, one concentrating on immersive visualisations that follow the Juno mission to Jupiter, the other allowing you to zoom around in outer space at will. You’ll need to install the Unity Web Player, but that’s a straightforward process… |
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| Galaxy Zoo 2 ~ An online astronomy project that needs your help with classifying over a million galaxies from pictures taken by a robotic telescope, because your brain spots patterns better than even the fastest computer. No prior knowledge is required, there’s an excellent tutorial and it’s all totally addictive once you’re quite confident. |
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| Green Comet Approaches Earth ~ Some astrologers are making much of Comet Lulin, probably because they have missed the significance of other current planetary trends. Still, this comet has its closest approach to Earth on February 24, 2009. Though you’ll need good eyes and dark skies to see it unaided, NASA informs us that surprises are possible… |
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