Astronomy Stuff

What follows is a collection of various astronomy sites. The descriptions will be short. If you're into astronomy, you should find something you like. Many of these sites came to me in the Internet Tourbus newsletter mentioned in the post just below this one. The newsletter is great but the Tourbus website is even better. Be sure to visit it as well.

Photographs from Deep Impact probe and Tempe I, courtesy of NASA. Pretty slow access on dial up connection but that's because the event just occurred last night.

ASTRONOMY PICTURE OF THE DAY

At the Astronomy Picture of the Day you see a different astronomical photograph each day. The site also includes a brief explanation of the image and multiple links for more information on the topic.

Astronomy for Kids attempts to provide astronomical information for kids in a digestible format. It contains images of sky maps, constellations, the planets and more. It even has electronic postcards available.

Before you go anywhere in Views of the Solar System, you must pick which of five languages you want to view: English, French, German, Portuguese, or Spanish. Then it "presents a vivid multimedia adventure unfolding the splendor of the Sun, planets, moons, comets, asteroids, and more. Discover the latest scientific information, or study the history of space exploration, rocketry, early astronauts, space missions, spacecraft through a vast archive of photographs, scientific facts, text, graphics and videos. Views of the Solar System offers enhanced exploration and educational enjoyment of the solar system and beyond."

NINE PLANETS: A Multimedia Tour of the Solar System. Not only is current information made available but this site also discusses the history and myth associated with the various planets in our solar system. In addition to the above info there is also a brief sound excerpt from the appropriate section of Gustav Holst's Nine Planets.

The title of Bad Astronomy is really a misnomer here. The author of the site simply corrects common misconceptions about astronomy. While I'm not a total science geek, I especially like his movie reviews. They discuss the quality of the movie some but tend to focus on the science and astronomy angles of the film. His review of the latest Star Wars film is entertaining, insightful, and amusing. Beware! In order to properly explain the science of a sci-fi film the review may contain some spoilers. So if you haven't seen the film yet, wait awhile before reading his review. There's more than sci-fi movie reviews. Visit the site and you'll see what I mean.