pchapin's Astronomical Links

This document, maintained by Peter C. Chapin, is a collection of various links that might be of interest to amateur astronomers. The sites linked below contain information on astronomy, space exploration, or other related topics. Some of these sites were created for professional astronomers and are quite technical; they would only be of interest to very advanced amateurs. However, many of these sites would be of interest to anyone who enjoys the sky.

• American Association of Variable Star Observers. This is the place to go for information about variable stars.
• American Meteor Society. This site has a lot of information about observing meteor showers.
• Asteroid Occultation Observations. Detailed information on upcoming asteroid occultation events.
• Astronomy Picture of the Day. A different picture is presented every day along with some explanation.
• Cassini. Official home page for the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn.
• CelesTrak. Orbital elements for satellites orbiting the Earth. Quite technical.
• Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. This is the place to report discoveries of comets and the similar things. Subscribe to the Computer Service and check the position of a potentially new discovery against that of every known comet and asteroid.
• Digitized Sky Survey. At this site you can access the DSS.
• Event Horizon Telescope. A telescope capable of resolving features in the vicinity of large black holes.
• Gaia. A precision astrometry mission launched by the ESA.
• Galaxies of the Virgo Cluster. A listing of Virgo galaxies visible in amateur instruments.
• General Catalog of Variable Stars. Extensive list of known variable stars.
• Google Sky. Google's on-line virtual telescope and planetarium.
• Heavens Above provides observational information on satellites and related objects.
• Hubble Space Telescope. This site contains a lof of information about the Hubble as well as pictures, etc.
• Interactive NGC Catalog Online. Detailed information on the entire NGC (and IC and Messier) catalogs. This site also includes a list of links to other NGC related material. Maintained by Hartmut Frommert.
• International Comet Quarterly. Extensive information on currently observable comets.
• International Dark Sky Association. This organization is dedicated to preserving dark night time skies.
• International Meteor Organization. This site contains information on how to observe meteors, information on the showers themselves, and various other things.
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The main JPL page. Links from here to all of the JPL's activities.
• JPL Solar System Dynamics. This site provides information about "all known bodies in orbit around the sun." For example, you can generate ephemeris for such bodies here using the HORIZONS system.
• Juno. The official web site for NASA's latest mission to Jupiter.
• Kepler. The official web site for NASA's planetary search mission.
• Mars Exploration. This page covers all JPL sponsored robotic missions to Mars.
• Mars Science Laboratory. The official page for the Curiosity rover on Mars.
• MESSENGER. The official web site of the current mission to Mercury.
• Messier Catalog. A very nice site describing the Messier Catalog that is also maintained by Hartmut Frommert.
• Minor Planet Center. Information on asteroids of all kinds. Ephemerides are given for many objects. Near Earth objects and distant objects are both covered.
• New Horizons. Covering the mission to Pluto.
• North American Meteor Network. Coordinates North American amateur observations of meteors. If you are interested in meteor observing, be sure to check this site out.
• Rosetta. A mission to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Launched by the ESA.
• Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers. This site contains information and links related to amateur radio astronomy.
• Sky & Telescope. Sky Publishing's main web site.
• Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
• Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). This site has up to the minute information on the SOHO mission.
• Universe Today. News headlines of astronomical interest.
• Voyager. The interstellar mission.
• Washington Double Star Catalog. This is one of the most extensive lists of double stars available.