Click on the links below for information on astronomy, space missions, careers, and more.
WORTH CHECKING FREQUENTLY
Astronomy Picture of the Day
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod
Highly recommended! Use their "search" function to get info and pictures on almost any astronomical topic.
Spaceweather.com
http://www.spaceweather.com
"Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment." Check here for information about sunspots, auroras (northern lights), eclipses, meteor showers, and other things in the sky that come and go.
Science@NASA
http://science.nasa.gov
Daily updates on research throughout NASA in many areas, including life sciences and space commercialization. This might be the place to discover a great topic for a school paper or report.
Spaceflight Now
http://www.spaceflightnow.com
An excellent source for up-to-the-minute status reports on current and upcoming space missions
Astronomy Now
http://www.astronomynow.com
This magazine from the United Kingdom gathers reports of astronomical discoveries from around the world.
Bad Astronomy
http://www.badastronomy.com
If you don't mind the confrontational tone, you'll enjoy accurate information on common "weird" topics such as egg balancing, Planet X, theories of the Apollo moon landings, and planet line-ups.
SPACE FLIGHT
NASA home page
http://www.nasa.gov
The home page of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the gateway to millions of pages with everything from planet pictures to the NASA budget.
NASA missions to Mars
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov
This site, maintained by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, serves as a jumping-off point to information about U.S. space missions to Mars (past, present and future) and to Mars facts and maps.
European Space Agency
http://sci.esa.int
ESA manages many important space missions including the Mars Express/Beagle 2 mission, a major part of the Hubble Space Telescope research program, and the Huygens probe to Saturn's moon Titan.
Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
Home page for the joint NASA/European Space Agency mission to Saturn and its moon Titan.
Hubble Space Telescope
http://hubble.stsci.edu
Get pictures and information from the most famous telescope operating today!
Chandra X-Ray Observatory
http://chandra.harvard.edu
X-rays come from bizarre cosmic objects such as active galaxies and black holes, and Chandra is observing them. The Field Guide and Education links on this site are particularly good.
New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt
http://pluto.jhuapl.edu
This space probe will reach the object formerly known as the ninth planet in 2015.
MESSENGER mission to Mercury
http://messenger.jhuapl.edu
Follow the first space probe to visit the planet Mercury since the 1970s,
NASA Human Space Flight
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov
Information on the progress of the Shuttle program, letters from astronauts aboard the Space Station, pictures of present and past missions and astronaut assignments for future missions.
Columbia Accident Investigation Board
http://www.caib.us
Official reports from the board investigating what happened to Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003. See also the "STS-107 Investigation Reference" link on the NASA Human Space Flight page listed above.
SKY WATCHING
Rochester's Leading Astronomy Club
http://www.rochesterastronomy.org
The Astronomy Section of the Rochester Academy of Science is a friendly group whose volunteers operate the Planetarium telescope. They welcome beginners at public star parties and other events through the year.
Spaceweather.com
http://www.spaceweather.com
If you hear about a meteor, a sunspot, a solar storm, an eclipse, or any other short-lived celestial phenomenon, check here for information and pictures.
Espenak's Eclipse Page
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/eclipse.html
When is the next eclipse and where will I have to go to see it? Check here for the answer. NASA expert Dr. Fred Espenak maintains detailed information on solar and lunar eclipses, past, present and future.
Sunrise, sunset, seasons, solstices, equinoxes, time, calendars, etc.
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA
The U.S. Naval Observatory is the authoritative source for celestial calculations. Their Astronomical Applications Department makes all this information available to you, customized for your location and date.
How to See the International Space Station and other satellites http://www.heavens-above.com
When will the International Space Station or any other large satellite be visible in Rochester's sky? The German commercial site heavens-above.com tells you when and where to look and can even create sky maps. Click on our link to go directly to a page customized for Rochester, NY.
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
The Nine Planets
http://www.nineplanets.org
"An overview of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge of each of the planets and moons in our solar system. Each page has text and images, some have sounds and movies, most provide references to additional related information." Especially good if you want to get to a specific fact quickly.
NASA Solar System Exploration Home Page
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov
Different from The Nine Planets (listed above), emphasizing how we learn about our solar system using telescopes and space probes. This site also includes information pages on the planets, major moons, and small objects, in a different style from the Nine Planets site.
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov
Pictures of the sun, taken from space, updated several times a day. Follow the progress of sunspots and solar storms as they happen!
NASA Near-Earth Object Program
http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov
Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazards Home Page http://impact.arc.nasa.gov
Check these two sites for reliable information on space objects that come near Earth.
OTHER SOLAR SYSTEMS
Extrasolar Planets Encyclopedia
http://www.obspm.fr/planets
California & Carnegie Planet Search
http://exoplanets.org
These sites document the search for planets orbiting stars other than our sun. Much of the information is meant for professional researchers, but you can find introductory information if you explore a bit.
STARS
Dr. Jim Kaler's Stars Page
http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/~kaler/sow/sow.html
If you're interested specifically in stars (as distinguished from galaxies, planets, meteors, etc.), this site, maintained by a leading expert on the subject, is loaded with useful information. Dr. Kaler spoke in the RMSC Distinguished Scholars Lecture Series in 1995.
BIG BANG, COSMOLOGY, ETC.
NASA Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov
By measuring the heat left over from the "Big Bang," the WMAP satellite is providing epoch-making information about the very early universe. From the home page, click on "Universe" to get "Cosmology 101," an excellent overview of the Big Bang picture and the evidence for it.
Ned Wright's Cosmology Tutorial http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~wright/cosmolog.htm
Maintained by a UCLA astronomer, this site uses science and math at about high-school level. The "News of the Universe" and "Frequently Asked Questions" sections are especially good.
OBSERVATORIES
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
http://www.noao.edu
NOAO includes observatories at Kitt Peak, Arizona; Sacramento Peak, New Mexico; and Cerro Tololo, Chile. The image gallery pages are especially easy to use.
European Southern Observatory
http://www.eso.org
Look here for stunningly beautiful photographs of the southern sky, taken by the giant telescopes at this observatory in Chile.
W. M. Keck Observatory, Hawaii
http://www.keckobservatory.org/
With main mirrors 10 meters across, the twin Keck telescopes hold the current record for largest in the world.
Anglo-Australian Observatory
http://www.aao.gov.au
If you're interested in film photography you'll want to look at the unique color images by Michael Malin.
U.S. Naval Observatory
http://aa.usno.navy.mil
Here's just about everything you'll ever want to know about time, seasons, dates of solstices and equinoxes, sunrise and sunset times, phases of the moon, and much more, from the authoritative source.
CAREERS
Do you want to work for NASA? Check out the NASA Jobs page. http://nasajobs.nasa.gov
Do you want to be an astronomer? The American Astronomical Society is the leading organization of professional astronomers. The AAS site includes a jobs page that gives a glimpse of careers in astronomical research. http://www.aas.org
Do you want to work in a planetarium? The International Planetarium Society, a volunteer-run association, provides web links to planetariums around the world, and even has a jobs page. http://www.ips-planetarium.org
Are you interested in museums and science centers? The Association of Science-Technology Centers web site has job listings plus inside information on how science centers are organized and operated. http://www.astc.org
Do you need official statistics on employment for your report? Go to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
http://www.bls.gov