Internet Links
Local and National Astronomical Societies
Local
- Solent Amateur Astronomers
- Wessex Astronomical Society — Well-established society. Meets in Wimborne and has observing evenings at Durlston (Swanage).
- Weymouth Astronomy Club
National
- British Astronomical Association
- Federation of Astronomical Societies — An umbrella organisation for local societies.
- Royal Astronomical Society
- Society for Popular Astronomy
- The Webb DeepSky Society
Astronomical Organisations
- Astrophysics Data System (SAO/NASA Digital Library portal )
- Heavens Above (Satellite, including ISS and Iridium Flare predictions, Bright Asteroids and Comets)
- IAU Minor Planet Center (Asteroids and Comets)
- International Meteor Organization
- The International Occultation Timing Association
- Solar Dispatch (Aurora Warnings)
- Spaceweather.com (Sunspots, Solar Flares, CMEs, Aurora)
- Winchester Science Centre Superb planetarium and a very good science "exploratory".
Members' Websites
(Any member who wants his/her astronomical website to be included should with details)
- Burford House — Paul Thomas's site, with lots of good-condition used astronomical kit for sale.
- The Astronomical Unit — Steve Tonkin's general astronomy site
- The Binocular Sky — Steve Tonkin's Binocular Astronomy site
Astronomy Courses
- The Astronomical Unit — Introductory and Intermediate Level Astronomy Courses in West Hampshire and East Dorset
Astronomy Education & Science Fair Resources
- General Astronomy Tutorials
- Celestial Bodies and Astronomy
- Space and NASA News
- Ultimate Guide to Science Fair Displays
- Earth and Space Science Fair Projects
- Space and Aviation Lesson Plans for All Ages
Used Astronomy Kit
- AstroBoot — useful for "surplus" bits & bobs
- Secondhand Astronomy Equipment UK — Relatively new Facebook-based group
- Stargazers Lounge Classifieds — you will need to be a member of SGL to use this
- UK Astronomy BuySell — the largest source of used kit; caveat emptor!
Near Earth Objects
- The Spaceguard Centre
- Earth Shield Project
- The Torino Impact Hazard Scale
- Sentry Risk Table
- Impact Analysis Calculator
- Near Earth Objects Information Hub
Stuff in the Sky
- Astronomy Picture of the Day
- Optics Picture of the Day
- Atmospheric Optics
- Deep Sky Videos
- Digital Images of the Sky
- Observing Notes (Currently Available Objects to Observe, by constellation)
Software
Planetarium/Telescope Control
- Cartes du Ciel (Windows, MacOS and Linux; Freeware)
- Earth Centred Universe (Windows)
- Guide (Windows, DOS — runs perfectly in Linux with Wine)
- Home Planet (Windows; Freeware)
- MegaStar(Windows)
- SkyChart (Windows and MacOS)
- SkyMap (Windows)
- Starry Night (Windows, MacOS)
- Stellarium (Windows, MacOS and Linux; Freeware)
- TheSky (Windows, MacOS)
- Xephem (Linux, MacOS; Freeware)
Observation Planning and Logging
- AstroPlanner (Windows)
- DeepSky (Windows)
- DeepSky Planner (Windows)
- SkyTools (Windows)
Imaging and Image Processing
- Astrophotography E-zine
- AstroArt (Windows)
- K3CCDTools (Windows)
- MaxIm DL (Windows)
Spectral Analysis
- VSpec (Windows; Freeware)
General
- AstroTips Frequently updated and very comprehensive repository of astronomical software
- Star Charts and Astronomy Software
- Orrery Store — Beautiful mechanical orreries, and a very nicely implemented Flash orrery that works in both Copernican and Tychonian modes.
