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 Google Moon ~ Google Moon launched on July 20, 2005 the thirty-sixth anniversary of the first manned lunar landing. There’s a long way to go before this site approaches the phenomenon that is Google Earth, but the area explored by six Apollo missions is mapped out and you can zoom in to increasing levels of complexity and detail. |
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| Haumea ~ The fifth dwarf planet to go official and acquire a proper name, was formerly called Santa and now Haumea after the patron goddess of the island of Hawai’i. Apparently, there are another 40 known bodies awaiting dwarf planet status, with estimates of perhaps 200 in the Kuiper belt and maybe 2000 further beyond that. |
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| Heavens-Above ~
No-nonsense astronomy site that encourages registration, but only so everything
can be customised for you. Rewards include personalised sky maps and data,
plus a timetable of your next space station fly-past and Iridium flare
- as the sun catches the antennae of an Iridium communications satellite. |
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| Hermit
Eclipse ~ Another great site for practical eclipse information
from an astronomical perspective. Clearly presented and readable with some detailed graphics, an eclipse search facility and extensive
statistical analysis. This site is more accessible than most, yet takes
you as far as you want to go… |
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| HubbleSite ~
With its new advanced camera, the Hubble Space Telescope captures supreme
imagery of both the known universe and beyond. The official website has
the full story with superlative details and extensive interactivity.
The Hubble Deep Field multimedia tour is quite simply breathtaking! |
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| Ian Ridpath’s Star Tales ~ Ian is a professional astronomer and a prolific author who regularly features in the media. His book Star Tales was first published in 1988 and outlines the myths surrounding the 88 constellations used nowadays, plus a few obsolete ones besides. It’s now available online, with updates and additions on the way… |
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| International
Astronomy Union (IAU) ~ The IAU is made up of astronomers from all
over the world and is responsible for the naming of new planetary discoveries.
So if you would like to know why the object internationally called Xena,
should in February 2006 still catchily be referred to as 2003 UB313,
then these are the people to ask. |
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| International
Space Station (ISS) ~ The International Space Station orbits the
Earth over fifteen times each day. It is not hard to spot with the
naked eye, but you do need to know where to look. This site’s huge
database helps us all catch a glimpse from wherever we’re situated.
It’s definitely a worthwhile exercise! |
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| IOTA ~
Standing for the International Occultation Timing Association, this is
an astronomy site that emphasises the further study of these important
celestial events. Occultations are similar to eclipses, but can involve
almost any celestial body, usually obscured by the Moon. They are significant
events for astrologers too of course. |
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| Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer ~ Jack Horkheimer has been director of the Miami Planetarium for over 35 years and since 1976 has been writing and presenting what claims to be the only weekly television series on naked eye astronomy, giving highlights to watch for during the week ahead. Now the show is also available online, it’s quirky and quite brilliant… |
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| Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) ~ Under the NASA umbrella, the JPL is a leading centre for the exploration of space. Give or take the usual differences in definition, so far their spacecraft have visited all of the known planets except Pluto and that mission is currently underway. There’s some great material here on all aspects of the solar system and more… |
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| Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics ~ Jodrell Bank is the astronomical research centre of the University of Manchester and operates the UK’s national radio astronomy facility. Sounds less than gripping perhaps, but they also offer material for the public, to help us get our heads around the sort of thing they do. The Night Sky This Month section looks especially helpful… |
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| JPL Small-Body Database Browser ~ The Dawn mission to Ceres and Vesta is delayed until September 2007, but then that’s what NASA get for planning to launch with Mercury retrograde. Until then, you can see awesome animations of the orbits of these bodies by searching on 1 for Ceres or 4 for Vesta and then selecting Orbit Diagram. You’ll need Java… |
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| Keith’s
Moon Page ~ Keith Cooley’s site has detailed explanations of everything you could possibly want to know about
the Moon and then some. If you’ve ever wondered how much the Moon
weighs, how heavy you would be on the Moon, or how long it would take
to drive there by car ( !!! ), then this would be the place for you… |
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| Kepler Mission ~ NASA’s Kepler mission has been designed to find planets about the size of the Earth orbiting stars at distances where water could pool on the planet’s surface. It launched successfully on March 6, 2009 at 22:49 EST from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Liquid water is currently believed essential for life as we know it to exist… |
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| Kuiper Belt ~ Continuing with the extremes of the solar
system, David Jewitt is Professor of Physics and Astronomy
at the University of Hawaii. He is on the cutting edge
of Kuiper Belt research and his site is aimed firmly at his astronomical
mates. But if you’re feeling strong, you never know, you could learn
something blinding. |
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