Links to Astronomy Resources on the Web Observing resources: Star Party Etiquette Star Party Etiquette Dark Sky Directories Dark Sky Sites directory Bay Area Observing Sites by TAC Greater Bay Area Observing Sites by DarkHorizons Weather Bay Area Astronomers' Weather Page Clear Sky Clock for Lake Sonoma (click here for CSC homepage.) CNN Berkeley weather CNN Healdsburg weather Real Time Bay Area Wind Pattern (Streaklines) General events Sky and Telescope's Observing Highlights and This Week's Sky at a Glance Stig's Sky Calendar - For planetary events, moon phase, and sunrise / sunset times. JPL's Space Calendar Astronomydaily.com - Customized calendar of events Projects Amateur Astronomy Projects for different levels Online star maps Skymaps.com - Print out their quality all-sky maps for learning the constellations. Also provides list of deep sky objects visible. Hawaiian Astronomical Society Sky Maps - Awesome site with descriptions of constellations and specific deep sky objects, all-sky maps, and detailed maps. Heavens-above - all-sky map Specifically for Berkeley Starchart map server - Generates star maps in Postscript format files; good for printing Objects, Local and Solar System Aurora Links Meteor / Meteor Shower International Meteor Organization IMO's meteor shower calendar for 2001 Comets and Meteor Showers The American Meteor Society - Click here to check out their list of meteor showers and links to in-depth descriptions. Artificial Satellites NASA J-Pass Heavens-above-Satellite passes for Berkeley - This is an amazing site that displays other very useful information on asteroids, all-sky and detailed star maps Sun Testing different materials for safe solar observing Glossary of solar-terrestrial terms Mr. Sunspot's Answer Book - Answers to all types of questions about the solar system and beyond. Stanford Solar Center - For live view of the sun, etc. Moon Inconstant Moon - A comprehensive online guide to the moon, with a complete interactive lunar atlas. Moon Phase Calendar Moon features nomenclature Detailed photographic map by Antonio Cidadao (not yet complete) Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon Find where the Apollo missions landed Lunar Transient Phenomenon More on LTP Occultations International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA) Solar and Lunar Eclipses and transits of inferior planets Fred Espenak's Eclipse Home Page - The site for information on solar and lunar eclipse, and transits of the inferior planets Video and still images of the 1999 Mercury Transit Great demo illustrating why eclipses occur (requires Java) Planets / Solar System Shallow Sky - Resources for observing planets Shallows Sky: Jupiter features nomenclature Planet summary - Table of very useful information, including links to finder maps (esp. useful for finding Uranus, Neptune or Pluto) Ring Node Online tools - Generates planetary events; good for preparing blanks. Object catalog: planets - Finder charts, other useful info Great demo on solar system and orbit of planets The Nine Planets - Extensive information on the planets and other solar system objects Planetscapes.com - Rival to The Nine Planets The Planets by Castle Point Astronomy Club - Displays Jupiter and Saturn satellite events Mr. Sunspot's Answer Book - Answers to all types of questions about the solar system and beyond. Asteroids Heavens-above list of currently brightest asteroids for Berkeley Object catalog: Asteroids by name and by number - Finder charts, other info S&T Article on how to search for asteroids. Comets NASA Comets currently visible Comet Ephemerides Extensive list of coordinates of observable comets Comets and Meteor Showers Object catalog: Comets - Finder charts, relevant info Objects, Extra-solar system General PAS - Description of every constellations, and a list of objects visible in each of them. Introduction to Cosmology Star Party Objects: Text File 1 Text File 2 by Steve Coe from the SAC  Stars HYG Database Deep Sky Messier Catalog Object Index, also with Object Data SEDS Messier Catalog Database Interactive NGC Catalog Online The NGC / IC Project Deep Sky Collections and Catalogs Saguaro Astronomy Club observing lists Supernovae / Novae Supernova Net List of Links American Association of Variable Star Observers Links to other useful astronomy resources: Tips for beginners Astronomy.com - For Beginners Sky and Telescope - How To The Sky Guide - Observing The Astronomy Connection: Advice for Beginners Newsgroups sci.astro.amateur - For amateur astronomers. sci.astro sci.astro.ccd-imaging sci.astro.satellites.visual-observe alt.binaries.pictures.astro Deja.com You can read and search through newsgroups using this site Mailing lists TAC - A network of Bay Area amateur astronomers. Astronomy News by E-mail from S&T - One list informs you of the latest astronomical news and discoveries. The other informs you of the latest sky events. Contact list run by Astronomical Association of Northern California (AANC) -Informs list members of various Bay Are club activities. Astro Archive - A searchable database of messages posted on various astronomy mailing lists Yahoo! Groups - There are many astronomy-related mailing lists here. Try doing a search to see which group matches your interest. Magazines Sky and Telescope Astronomy Astronomy Now Astronomy Magazines - List of astronomy magazines Software links HNSky - Recommended free planetarium software. Sky Charts - Another free planetarium software. http://astronomy-mall.com/regular/programs/programs.html http://www.seds.org/billa/astrosoftware.html Bay Area / N. California organizations and clubs Northern California Resource Guide - Links to local organizations. The Astronomy Connection - Network of Bay Area Astronomers Saturday Night Stargazing at the Lawrence Hall of Science Equipment & techniques: Introduction Astro Notes by The Astronomical League - Useful information on practical issues like polar alignment, astrophotography, celestial coordinates, etc. Great demo on telescope resolution (requires Java) http://www.openteach.com/astronomy/telescope.html http://www.observers.org/beginner.html - Covers a whole range of important topics Review Todd Gross Weatherman site Cloudy Nights Scope Reviews by Ed Ting Excelsis Equipment Ratings / Reviews Equipment buy and sell New Astronomy-Mall The Astro Guide Vendor Listing The Astro Guide Manufacturer Listing Sky and Telescope Advertisers The Astronomical Yellow Pages: Manufacturers and Vendors Astronomy Shops Orion Telescopes and Binoculars Used Astro Mart Astronomy-mall The Telescope Warehouse Surplus Shed TeleTrade Hands on Optics: Used Section Local / Non-Astronomy sites Craigslist Equipment maintenance and techniques Meade 16" LX200 instruction manual - manual for the Campbell telescope. Cleaning optics with Collodian USP http://www.rhinodev.com/oldscope/atspages/techtips.htm http://www.rhinodev.com/oldscope/atspages/techtips.htm http://www.rahul.net/amall2/tvo/cleaning.htm TAC - Cleaning Optics Collimating a Newtonian reflector http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~mbartels/kolli/kolli.html Chuck's articles: drift method of polar alignment This is the most accurate (albeit time consuming) method of polar alignment, especially essential for long exposure photography. Astro Imaging: Pro NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day NASA Planetary Photojournal Hubble Space Telescope Public Pictures Amateur Amateur Astrophotography and CCD Image Links - Links to astrophotography by amateur astronomers all over the world Thierry LEGAULT's high resolution CCD imaging Axel Mellinger's Astrophotography Video / Non-conventional Astronomy Video Cameras and Accessories Suppliers Adirondack Video Astronomy Internet Telescope Exchange (ITE) SBIG's STV Mintron Enterprise Supercircuits ScopeStuff's SC32M AstronomyQuest.com's Sky-Cam II AstroVideo Resources VIDEOASTRO QCUIAG Humanity North Shore Amateur Astronomy Club's S.H.A.R.E. Infinity and Beyond Project Others: Amateur Telescope Making (ATM) Page Extensive ATM links The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) at Berkeley Links to home pages of amateur astronomers Theory Bad Astronomy - Clears up many misconceptions regarding astronomy Astronomical Pseudo-science: Skeptic's resource list sci.astro FAQ Links to links: http://www.skypub.com/resources/links/links.shtml - Sky Publishing's links page http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/cool/astronomy.html http://theastropages.com/index2.htm http://astronomylinks.com/ http://www.mscs.dal.ca/~andromed/ - Enormously huge list of astronomy links http://www.intricate-ms.com/links.html Administrative/ Others: UCB Astronomy Department Office of Student Life - Student Organizations section ASUC - The Student Government Disabled Students' Union