General Astronomy

SPACE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS:  Have a question about the Solar System? Check out this link. Maybe someone else had your question, too, and an answer is already posted. If not write to an expert and get your question answered.Grades 4-6.

THE SPACE PLACE: Sponsored by NASA this site has links for kids to make, do, and learn things related to space.

STAR CHILD :  Another NASA site with information about the objects in our universe. It has different levels for different ages. In level 1 the text can be read to you.

ASTRONOMY FOR KIDS :  Contains lists of factoids about the objects of our solar system. No internal back buttons; so a bit awkward.

BLACK HOLE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS :  Answers to the most often asked questions about Black Holes.

SPACEKIDS.COM:  This site is full of current events in the space program. SpaceKids.com’s role in that mission is to excite young children about space and give them a kid-friendly place to learn.

UNIVERSE IN THE CLASSROOM:  Designed for teachers who have some interest, but not much knowledge, of astronomy, each issue contains interesting information on a topic of current astronomical interest, along with a hands-on classroom activity or two to make the topic come alive for students.

OBSERVATORIUM'S SATELLITE ORBITS:  Animations as well as text information about why and how objects orbit.

RELATIVITY FAQ: Nice resource for information on Relativity. This also includes information on gravity, speed of light and black holes.

THE ONLINE PLANETARIUM SHOW :  Links to photos, online planetarium shows, lots to see and do!

THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT :  Light is what we use to study the universe. Here is a place to learn about light. It has some great activities.

WINDOWS TO THE UNIVERSE:  This site has a little bit of everything. A good source of information but a little awkward to move around in.

VIRTUAL JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE: Take an imaginary tour through our solar system and beyond.

TONIGHT'S SKY: Check out what is interesting in the night sky each night.

TREASURE TROVE OF ASTRONOMY:  Dictionary of Astronomy. All you have to do is click on the first letter of the astronomy term which you want more information about.

ZOOM ASTRONOMY: A comprehensive on-line site about space and astronomy.

TIMES OF RISE AND SET FOR THE SUN AND MOON : It is as it says.

MAYAN ASTRONOMY: Learn what the Mayans knew about the heavens.

THE SEARCH FOR ORIGINS: A very in-depth site about the formation of our solar system and the possibility of other planets like ours. Has a list of extra-solar planets.

PHIL PLAIT'S BAD ASTRONOMY: A great site where you can get information to help debunk the bad concepts many of the general population has about space.

EARLY COSMOLOGY TUTORIAL TOPICS : A college level lecture about the motions of our solar system.

MILESTONES IN UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE: Covers the history of Astronomy.

SPACE AND ASTRONOMY FOR KIDS: This site covers a multitude of topics in astronomy at a middle school level.

ASK MAG: Look here first if you have a question about space.

CURRENT HYDROGEN-ALPHA SOLAR IMAGE: Look here to see a current image of the sun.

ASTRONOMY FOR KIDS: An astronomy site where anyone could get useful information that is easy to understand.

CELESTIAL TIME:  A monthly night guide to the sky.

IMAGINE THE UNIVERSE:  This site helps you explore the extremely high energies, high densities, high pressures, and intense magnetic fields of our universe and in the process test your understanding of the laws of physics.

Solar System

CLASSROOM TOUR OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM:  Site contains information about each planet and links to other valuable resources.

VIEWS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM: Covers pretty much of what you need to know about the solar system.

MINOR PLANETS:  The words asteroid, minor planet and planetoid are interchangable. They each refer to the small rocky bodies that are mainly confined to the asteroid belt between the planets Mars and Jupiter. This site gives lots of information about these bodies.

SIMPLE FACTS ABOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM:  Quick and simple facts about each of the planets. A good site for students to make comparisons.

SOLAR SYSTEM CENTRAL:  This site is full of information about what we are observing and doing in the solar system. Includes information about more than just the basics. Presented in a way to interest students in space exploration.

NINE PLANETS FOR KIDS: Interesting information about the objects in the Solar System. Highly visual presentation.

PLANETSCAPES:  A very in-depth site with an abundance of information about the bodies of our Solar System.

YOUR WEIGHT ON OTHER WORLDS:  A great site for students to compare their weight on all the planets.

BUILD A SOLAR SYSTEM :  Enter a diameter for the Sun and it will calculate the size of the rest of the planets in the Solar System.

SOLAR SYSTEM LIVE :  See where all the planets are currently in their orbits.

PLANETS AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM:  Full of information about the exploration of the planets.

ALL ABOUT THE SOLAR SYSTEM:  From Zoom Astronomy comes a link about our Solar System designed for kids of all ages and levels of comprehension.

SPACE BOY:  This site gives a brief description of each planet. I found the link to planet composition particularly valuable.

CYBER ASTRONOMY:  Another site with quick information about the planets.

THE SOLAR SYSTEM:  This site has a kid friendly format and links to more in-depth sites.

THE PLANETS:  A nice link for information about the planets.

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM: A kid friendly place to learn about our solar system.

PLANETS AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM: This link has a list of recommended links about most of the planets.

EXTRA PLANETARY PERCEPTION: Site explains how solar systems are formed.

Stars

THE SUN:  An interesting site about the Sun. Several animated graphics to help explain solar concepts.

MULTIWAVELENGTH MILKY WAY :  A site containing spectacular images of our Milky Way Galaxy in different wavelengths.

THE CONSTELLATIONS:  A website chart takes you to learn about the constellation of your choice.

HAWAIIAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY ATLAS: The constellations are organized alphabetically. Also includes starmaps, myths and images of the deep space objects that are located in the constellations.

THE CONSTELLATIONS AND THEIR STARS:  Everything you need to know about constellations including FAQ's, stars, Messier objects and links to photos.

SOLAR ENERGY:  Learn how the sun produces energy and how we can harness solar power.

GALAXIES :  An explanation of galaxies.

SPACE WEATHER :  We now understand that our weather is more than what happens in the Earth's atmoshere. This is a great site to show that our weather is influenced by our Sun.

HOW THE SUN WORKS :  A great site to look at the major features of the Sun and the amazing way it makes light and heat.

SOLAR ENERGY :  Learn about the energy from the Sun and how it effects the Earth.

AURORAS PAINTINGS IN THE SKY: This site will show you what auroras look like from space and on Earth, explain how they are created, and show you where they can be found.

STANFORDS SOLAR CENTER: This site contains a collection of information about our sun.

ABOUT THE SUN: Current and ancient information about our sun.

NOAA SUNRISE SUNSET CALCULATOR: You put in the coordinates, it calculates the rest.

THE MOON

A THREE MINUTE GUIDE TO THE MOON:  Explains what we know about the Moon and lists key questions about our Moon.

THEORIES OF FORMATION FOR THE MOON :  Briefly discusses five current theories of the Moon's origin.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MOON:  116 questions about the Moon.

MOON NOMENCLATURE TABLE OF CONTENTS: Lunar geographical data.

MOON LEGENDS :  Legends of the Moon and lunar facts.

THE MOON: EARTH'S SATELLITE:  Information about the solar system and facts about the Moon.

LUNAR LINKS::   The name says it all.

THE MOON, EARTH'S SPUTNIK:  Lots of information about the Moon's geography.

PHASES OF THE MOON  Get a calendar printout of all the phases of the moon for a month.

INCONSTANT MOON:  A great site for those interested in observing the features of the moon. From the calendar, click on a specific date and you will get information about the features most visible on that date.

NASA KIDS' MOON: A collection of sites about the moon.

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MOON: Site includes information and quizes.

Space Exploration

INTERPLANETARY EXPLORATION: A Britannica article about space exploration.

GALILEO JOURNEY TO JUPITER:Feature story about the Galileo mission to Jupiter.

CASSINI RADAR: This is an outline of the history of the Cassini Project and a brief description of the spacecraft, its engineering subsystems, and the science instruments.

CASSINI ULTRAVIOLET IMAGING:Information about the UltraViolet Imaging Spectrograph aboard the Cassini spacecraft.

CASSINI MAG:  More about instruments aboard Cassini.

INTERPLANETARY PROBES:  This site lists and gives information about all US probes.

ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS AND PROJECTS:  An index of probes.

SPACEPROBES AND SATELLITES:  Information available here about space flight past, present, and future.

THE PIONEER MISSIONS:  Detailed information about the Pioneer Missions.

THE APOLLO LAUNCH PAD: Information about past, present, and future robotic missions.

UPCOMING PLANETARY EVENTS AND MISSIONS:  A list of upcoming planetary events and missions.

TIMELINE OF SPACE EXPLORATION:  It is what it says it is.

STARDUST:  Details of the Stardust mission to return both particle samples from a comet and interstellar dust.

DAWN MISSION:  Information about the Dawn mission, which will take nine years to visit two primordial asteroids.

NEAR:  Information about the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous.

A Telescope for Under $500.00: This site is written by an amateur astronomer with a good deal of knowledge about telescopes and optics. He will explain some terminology of telescopes and include information you will want to have in order to make an educated decision before spending your money. Its a worthwhile investments of about an hour to make a good decision.

Virtual Solar System: Introductory Astronomy: This is a site for a class taught at Indiana University. The instructor is Mike Barnett and he is doing some neat projects with his students and virtual reality software. If you have some interest in virtual reality on your computer, this would be a good site to visit to get some ideas.

About HST: This site is developed by the Space Telescope Science Institute. It includes several links to pages involving the instruments on the telescope, various missions, archived data, and educational links for projects and activities.

Amazing Space Web Based Activities: These are a group of 8 (currently) activities using the web to discover some facts about astronomy. Most of the exercises are easy enough to be done at the elementary level. This site is sponsored by the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Astronomy 161 & 162 at the University of Tennessee: These are online lectures (virtually an online textbook) broken down into small sections for easy reading. They are college based material, but could be used in a junior high or high school environment.

Astronomy Education Links from Canonical Education Consultants: This is a page with a variety of different links made for teacher and student use. There are links for activities, curriculum, software, and much more. A prompt will come up asking if you wish to download Comet Cursor Plus. I always say no, so I cannot comment on what it is. I have enough stuff on my computer.

Astronomy Freeware and Software is a page with over a dozen different pieces of software for a wide variety astronomical purposes. The type of software ranges from planetarium software to satellite tracking software.

Astronomy on the World Wide Web is a nicely organized listing of various astronomy sites, most of which are not listed on this site.

Astronomy Unbound, A Virtual Astronomy text is exactly that. It is a web based astronomy text book written and edited by the astronomers at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The home page has a table of contents and the site also includes an excellent glossary.

Awesome Library is a very good resource for all sorts of subjects, not just astronomy. The resources are carefully checked for accuracy and the references are listed. It is very easy to navigate also.

Sky and Telescope Magazine has many different astronomy pages to help the amateur astronomer. My favorites are the Tips pages which have a great deal of useful information for observing in your back yard. Its an excellent starting place for someone thinking of pursuing the hobby before taking expensive steps. There are also several other resource links.

Classifying Galaxies is an interactive exercise teaching the different types of galaxies. It is very simple and made for children from the 5th through 9th grades (though I enjoyed it myself and found it educational).

The Exploratorium: the museum of science, art, and human perception contains a collection of exhibits similar to a science museum, but online. You will find links to biological and physical sciences and even sports science (one of my favorites). Some of the links will include activities for various grade levels. There is also help for science fair projects. You will certainly find something of interest in your exploration.

Exploring the Planets is created by the National Air and Space Museum and contains information about the members of our solar system. It also has links to the various pieces of equipment used for exploration. You can also link to the National Air and Space Museum Homepage which offers more information including educational resources.

StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers is exactly that. It is a resource sponsored by NASA for children. It is separated into 2 levels to further differentiate the content.

Imagine the Universe is also a NASA site for education but is made for older students than the StarChild site.

The Latest Hubble Space Telescope Pictures is a collection of photos recently taken by the Space Telescope. According to the copyright notice, the pictures are public domain, though you should read the notice yourself for clarification.

The Digitized Sky Survey is an archive for Space Telescope pictures. Its a little awkward to navigate at first, but a little practice and time will really pay off. There are several related links at the bottom.

The Mount Wilson Observatory hosts a web page to show you what is happening at the famous observatory. They also sponsor a program called Telescopes in Education. "The Telescopes in Education (TIE) program brings the opportunity to use a remotely controlled telescope and charge-coupled device (CCD) camera in a real-time, hands-on, interactive environment to students around the world."

The NASA Homepage is a good launching point for information and resources on what is going on in the space program. It is a fairly elaborate site and you will be able to dig around for quite some time finding information to utilize in the classroom. There are many education based links.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory contains resources for information about the solar system. JPL is a major player in the creation and operation of spacecraft used to explore other worlds. There are educational links for all grade levels. 

The Marshall Space Flight Center is involved, among other things, in Space Station. There is information on Space Station as well as new space craft. Educational opportunities exist but are not as easily found.

The National Air and Space Museum is part of the Smithsonian. There is a large supply of information about flight and there are also links for educational services and online activities. These activities are very simple and easy to do, but also very informative.

Project CLEA (Contemporary Laboratory Experiences in Astronomy) is a collection of software programs written by the project group to simulate the acquisition and analysis of data much like professional astronomers. Some of the exercises use a simulated telescope. Some require a little more math, but many can be done without a lot of math. The exercises are very well done and appropriate for jr. and sr. high school students.

SETI Institute Online is the home page for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. There is interesting information on the ideas behind searching for life off the Earth. You can keep up to date on the efforts being made to search for ET.

Sky and Telescope Homepage is a great source of astronomy news. You can keep current on what's happening in the world of astronomy. A little time will also reveal many interesting articles and links to other good astronomy sites.

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific hosts a wealth of information. They have several projects for educators, the best of which may be the Universe at your Fingertips.

The Center for Science Education at UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory contains lesson plans and projects. It is also a good resource for more astronomy education web sites. It may have made my favorite sites list if I had spent more time there. Some of the Science Mission EPO Programs links also contain more lesson plans.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center contains many links to what is happening with NASA and Goddard. Some of the more interesting links will show images of Earth taken form satellites. There is also an education link that contains even more links making things difficult to follow. Some of the better links there will take you to a guide to NASA education programs or a NASA site for kids. Exploration of the main site can be time consuming, but will likely pay off.

The Education Place is sponsored by Houghton Mifflin and is a search engine for over 400 activities and lesson plans for grades K - 8. The site might have made my favorites page except it is devoted to all subjects and not just astronomy. This site is worth a visit. Thanks to Yancy Blankenship of Sheridan, WY for finding this site.

SciEd: Science and Mathematics Education Resources is a launching point for web resources. There are some links to lesson plans or online courses. I found navigation to be very easy. The site is sponsored by an interdisciplinary group from the University of Washington. There are more resources geared to astronomy at the HPCC home page. Thanks to Yancy Blankenship of Sheridan, WY for finding this site.