Astronomy Information for the Public
sky maps | local astronomy organizations | linksCurrent and upcoming astronomical events
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In September, 2008, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN will open. This represents the next big step in our civilization's quest for understanding the fundamental physical structure of our universe. It is sobering - for Americans - that this step is not being taken in America. You can see some amazing photos of this huge particle accelerator and its detectors. In some sense, this is the latest in a multi-thousand-year effort by humans to understand our universe. Our friends at Cosmic Variance have a list of the things they expect the LHC to find. More articles: from The New York Times and The New Yorker. |
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On August 1, 2008, a total solar eclipse was visible in central Asia. This Sky and Telescope article has details and images. |
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There's another robot on Mars: Phoenix landed on May 25, 2008. The images on the left are from the lander's descent (photographed by another spacecraft!) and landing. This robot/laboratory is testing soil samples on Mars. |
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There was a lunar eclipse on February 20, 2008, beginning around 8:45 PM and peaking around 10:30PM. You can easily find photos of it on the web. There was also a lunar eclipse the previous March, visible in the Philadelphia area. Check out this sequence of eclipse images. |
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There was an unexpectedly bright (and big) comet in the sky during November, 2007: Comet 17P/Holmes. Use this sky map to find it. |
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Comet McNaught was visible briefly in the northern hemisphere and looked spectacular in these photos taken in the southern hemisphere. |
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The Leonid meteor shower should peak around midnight on Saturday/Sunday, November 18-19. Note that the intensity of meteor showers is notoriously hard to predict. And how spectacular it looks to you will strongly depend on how dark the skies are where you're watching. NASA has some good information about the Leonids. |
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An object bigger than Pluto has been discovered in the outer Solar System. Will it be considered the Solar System's tenth planet? (Note that the image on the left is an artist's conception.) Update: It's now officially Eris, the Solar System's largest dwarf planet. If you're interested in the possible definitions of "planet," you might enjoy this article about the various considerations. |
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The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft is at Saturn, sending back fantastic pictures of Saturn, its rings, and its moons. |
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On Wednesday night, October 27, 2004, starting a bit after 9 PM, there was a lunar eclipse visible from all of North America. We had over 50 people on the observing deck on the roof of the science center for public viewing of the eclipse. Check out these photos. |
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On June 8, 2004, the first transit of Venus in over a century occured. The Smithsonian has an interesting on-line exhibit on the transit and the history of previous transits. |
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Two new spacecraft have arrived at Mars. |
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The last of NASA's 'great observatories' the Spitzer Infrared Telescope is now in operation. |
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NASA's Stardust Mission is gathering material from comet Wild 2 and bringing it back to Earth. The comet dust collectors are made out of aerogel. |
Information about what's up in the sky on any given night
This week's sky at a glance (from Sky and Telescope)
Space.com: What's Up Tonight
Sky Maps
Earth & Sky: Skywatching center
Space weather
Software to make sky maps
Starry Night: maps the night sky from any location for any date;
15 day free trial.
Software Bisque: makers of The Sky (similar to Starry Night);
Looks like you can make free star charts.
Yoursky is free and uses a web interface to custom-make star maps.
Local astronomy organizations
Delaware Valley Amateur Astronomers
Rittenhouse Astronomical Society
Links
Astronomy Picture of the Day
The NSSDC: Another good source of astronomical images.
Telescope buying guide
