Night Sky Resources

[MattC]

For Tom R, and anyone else that likes skywatching, what are some of your favorite resources, online or otherwise? Field guides, books, sky maps, websites, etc. I am a night sky newbie, so basic is good.

Matt

 

[Hobbitling]

heres a google earth overlay that maps light pollution. good for finding places where the sky is nice and dark.

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/0/Number/269838/an/0/page/0

 

[Nessmuk]

Heavens-Above.
Lots of good info here, especially satellite tracking info. If you want to predict Iridium flares this is the place. Such predictions can be impressive if you are the only one to know about it and can arrange a group to be looking where you point at the appointed second.

Sky and Telescope is the premier amateur astronomer's periodical. I've been a subscriber and still have every single copy since 1963.

 

[cooperhill]

http://spaceweather.com

You can sign up for a list serve to get notified of upcoming events.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Oh, where to start! My favorites:

Celestia - http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

Aurora Monitoring - http://www.spacew.com/www/aurora.php

Cartes Du Ciel - http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/ (Sky charts)

Skyglobe - http://www.sidewalkastronomy.com/skyglobe.html

Stellarium - http://www.stellarium.org/

The Nine Planets - http://www.nineplanets.org/ - I helped create this one

Planetarium Gold - http://www.planetariumgold.com/ - I got paid for this one!

Someone else's list:

http://www.midnightkite.com/software.html

Others I have on My H/D. In Google we trust:

Cosmic Cinema
CyberSky
Distant Suns
ECU - Earth Centered universe
SkyMap
SkyChart
SkyView
Virtual Moon
WinGlobe
WinStars

 

[Amicus]

It's probably hopelessly retro, but we've been happy subscribers to the monthly Sky Calendar published by the Abrams Planetarium, U. Mich. (Ann Arbor) for many years. For $11 a year, they send you the calendars for the next three months, quarterly. Not real time, but pretty up-to-date on comet expectations and the like - much on occultations, planetary combos etc.

It will occupy a place of honor on our bulletin board as long as they keep publishing it, and unlike the on-line resources, you can remove the thumb-tacks and take it outside with you.

 

[Tom Rankin]

An excellent paper resource (and nice gift, hint! hint!) is the Astronomical Calendar. A wall calendar but so much more!

http://www.universalworkshop.com/

A lot of good stuff on that page.

 

[MattC]

Thanks for all the replies. For the paper resources, does anyone publish a sky chart for the early morning hours? It seems like they are all for the evening, which is great, but I also tend to get up really early and sometimes go out to skywatch around 5-6 AM.

Matt

 

[Trudy]

The best tool for beginners is a planisphere, simple and inexpensive. I loved my first one to death and I learned all the basics from it. You can dial it to correspond to any time and any date.

My favorite book is 'A Field Guide to the Stars and Planets' by Donald Menzel, one of the Peterson Field Guide Series.

The great thing about it is the 100-page section with black pages; all the stars are white. Each map is for a particular month and time of day; i.e., Sky Map #1 is for Jan. 1 at 11:30 pm, but it is also the same map for Jan. 15 at 10:30 pm and Jan. 30 at 9:30 pm. Each map appears twice, on opposite pages. The right-hand side shows the sky as it appears to the eye, the left-hand side shows the same sky with star and constellation names and has lines drawn on it to outline the constellations.

Another section of the book breaks each constellation down even further with photographic Atlas charts, again with the helpful lines drawn in.

It's a great book.

 

[sardog1]

Clear Sky Charts -- astronomer's clear sky forecasts for many locations, plus other useful links.

 

[Nessmuk]

Thanks for all the replies. For the paper resources, does anyone publish a sky chart for the early morning hours? It seems like they are all for the evening, which is great, but I also tend to get up really early and sometimes go out to skywatch around 5-6 AM.

Matt

Look at either the Sky and Telescope or the Heavens-above references I gave to you. Each offers sky charts completely selectable for location and time of day. Just print them out.

S&T prints a full page evening sky chart for the month in each paper issue. To see what the sky looks like at different times of day, simply select a different month - if you think about it, the chart view changes by 2 hours of time for each month away from the current month.

 

[JOD]

second heavens-above

I really like the http://www.heavens-above.com website. I use it to track satellites at night. It's pretty cool hanging out at night with a group then pointing up to show them either the space station or another satellite. The sky charts are helpful too.

One can make a real cheap "night" light to see the charts without ruining your night vision. Get a red led and watch battery from radio shack. Use electric tape to hold the leads to the battery.

 

[Tom Rankin]

I really like the http://www.heavens-above.com website. I use it to track satellites at night. It's pretty cool hanging out at night with a group then pointing up to show them either the space station or another satellite. The sky charts are helpful too.

One can make a real cheap "night" light to see the charts without ruining your night vision. Get a red led and watch battery from radio shack. Use electric tape to hold the leads to the battery.

You can buy headlamps that have a red and a 'normal' setting.

 

[forestgnome]

Exellent replies here for an interested "newbie" sky lover. I would add the following:

The Planesphere, mentioned by Trudy, would be perfect for your concern about learning what's what at your prefered time. You can dial your time and date. Doing so will also teach you what Trudy has described about the progression of the sky.

My $.02: Mornings are excellent for learning constellations and planets. Anytime you can see only the brightest stars, such as twilight or with a slight haze, learning constellations is easiest because only the major stars of the major constellations are visible. The other dimmer stars cannot confuse you.

At first you may not notice the difference between a white star and a yellow star, or between a 1st magnitude(bright) star and a 4th mag. star. So a clear dark sky will present lots of "distractions" when trying to decifer a constellation.

As you progress and become more aquainted with the sky, you will demand a dark clear sky to find the subtle jewels that float in between the major constellations. You will learn where to find naked-eye galaxies. You will see the beautiful blue of Vega and the beautiful orange of Betelguese or the red of Arcturus and Antares.

You are blessed with clean skies up in the ADKs. Enjoy!

 

[MattC]

Wow, thanks again all for all the replies. I've been checking out some of the websites, and I just ordered a planisphere and a used copy of the Peterson guide. Now I'm going to head outside for awhile...

Matt

 

[JOD]

"coolness" factor

Tom,

I like the "coolness/ geek" factor when I can use the battery and led light. much less impressive than using the store bought headlamp.

Jim

 

[Trudy]

Hi Matt, just looking for an update. How is the celestial ID going?

There was a great conjunction of the moon and Jupiter two nights ago (Nov. 3). The Leonids are coming up on the 17th.

Here is a website that is very handy and easy to use for nightly goings-on:
www.stardate.org/

 

[MattC]

Hi Matt, just looking for an update. How is the celestial ID going?

Well, I received the planesphere and just got the Peterson Guide last night, but then the last couple nights have been very cloudy. When it is clear again I'll try out the planesphere. The guide was some good reading last night in any case.

Matt