Category Archives: astronomy

astronomy, astronomy education, Astronomy outreach, Planetarium, science museums

Want to Learn Astronomy?

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Where Do You Go?

Venus against a starry backdrop. Courtesy CoolCosmos.

I often write on these pages about “stepping out” and checking out the stars and planets. That accessibility to the elements of astronomy is what makes this science so approachable. You really DO only have to step outside and look up, provided of course that you have a good safe place to view from and you’re not terribly plagued with light pollution. I’ve found in my experiences in many big cities that a few stars are usually visible, along with whatever bright planet there is. And, of course, it’s tough to miss the Moon.

But, what if you don’t have regular access to a safe viewing area?  Where do you go if you’re into astronomy and want to learn more? I would hope that astronomy is still a subject being taught in the schools, and if so, that’s a good place to start if you’re still a student.

The Web, of course, is a good place to surf for astro-info.  Sky&Telescope and Astronomy.com are good places to start online. (If you’re looking for magazines and periodicals, this site has a good list to get you started.)  There are plenty of scientifically accurate sources (including this page) on the Web, many of which are listed in my blog links at left. So, if you’re stuck inside doing your astronomy research, these are good places to start.

There are also many good books — I’ve listed some here and here. You can, as I have done much of my life, cruise the cosmos through the pages of many an astronomy tome. The beauty of that approach is that you can do it anytime, and it’s ideal for those cloudy, cold nights when stepping outside isn’t much of an option.

But, there are many other good places to actually GO and learn about astronomy.  If you live in (or visit) Los Angeles, there’s always the venerable Griffith Observatory. It has been bringing people to astronomy (and vice versa) for 77 years.  At the other end of the U.S., there’s the Rose Center for Earth and Space, in New York City.  It’s part of the American Museum of Natural History and another historically significant place to learn astronomy.

Many cities around the world have their science centers and museums and planetariums, ranging from the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich (near London) in the United Kingdom to the Sydney Observatory in Australia, the Beijing Planetarium in China, and many, many other places where you can take in a planetarium show, see astronomy exhibits, and even take classes.  There are, in fact, thousands of these institutions to learn astronomy in the world. Step out…or in… or wherever you can… to learn more about the cosmos through the science of astronomy.

communicating astronomy, space science links

Cool Astro-Links

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Some Spacey Places to Surf

The Web presents some great places to see and learn about astronomy and space science.  I have favorite places I go to, many of which are listed in my blogroll at the left.  Here are a few of my current favorites.

First off is the Carnival of Space.  It’s a wonderful melange of information and opinion about all things “spacey”.  This week’s is hosted by the ever-erudite Paul Glister over at Centauri Dreams. As he says, the Carnival is a place “in which people wiht their eyes on the stars go to work to explain the latest findings.” Check it out!

Another daily stop is Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy blog.  Phil’s writing ranges from astronomy and space science to filtering out the “woo-woo” science that passes for “critical thinking” among practitioners of such arcane arts as astrology and mystical pseudo-medical practices. He also takes on fuzzy thinking among those who don’t quite understand science (like some of our less-learned politicians and media practitioners), as a professional skeptic. Reading Phil’s work is like giving your brain a ‘wash and brush’ — clearing out the cobwebs.

Media-wise, there are some good informational sites out there purveying science news.  Of course, Science News comes to mind. We’re long-time subscribers to the print version.  Sky & Telescope Magazine and online site are good “go to” places for astronomy information. So is Astronomy Magazine and web site. In the past couple of years, I’ve been doing some work for a unique online video magazine and news source called Astrocast.TV. We do night-sky tutorials, explorations of deep-space astronomy, cover newsworthy events in the burgeoning private space industry, and offer insights about Earth science. Universe Today offers daily insights into all kinds of science, written by journalists and scientists.

There are number of really good mission-based sites out there that I check out as often as I can.  Hubblesite is one, featuring the latest and greatest from the Hubble Space Telescope.  The European Southern Observatory is another — those guys are working scientific wonders in the mountains of Chile.  Gemini Observatory regularly releases cool images from its telescopes in Hawai’i and Chile.  The National Radio Astronomy Observatory gives us the radio view of the cosmos, while the Spitzer space Telescope folk share the infrared universe. Over at the x-ray end of the electromagnetic spectrum is the Chandra  X-ray Observatory. If planets are your thing, then the Mars Mission Web page is a good start for all things Red Planet. The Cassini Solstice Mission pages offer frequent looks at the planet Saturn, where planetary scientists are continuing a years-long exploration via long distance.  Close to the Sun, the Mercury MESSENGER mission is ramping up to give us a long-term closeup look at Mercury.  The pictures should be coming later today (Tuesday, March 29) The Kepler page keeps us up to date on the latest planetary discoveries around other stars.

This is just a small taste of what’s out there if you want to explore the wealth of information we know about the cosmos.  Happy surfing!