Resources
These are free downloadable resources for amateur astronomers. If you would like to see something here that is not listed, please leave a comment. In keeping with my No Ads policy, I will only link to it if it is absolutely free (not nagware, not shareware, not upgradeware) and easily downloadable. For software, I would prefer it be available in a variety of platforms.
Visual Aids
Star Atlases
- Toshimi Taki’s Mag 6 Atlas: 12 pages, formatted for A3 paper, but works fine on US Letter.
- Toshimi Taki’s Mag 8.5 Atlas: This one is huge. It is comparable to high-end bound atlases you would spend a couple hundred dollars on. You will need close to a ream of paper to print it out single-sided. There are 146 main pages, three detail pages, a manual, and a slew of indexes.
- Johnson’s Mag 7 Atlas: This atlas is a nice intermediate between the two atlases above. It suffered from a lack of indexes, which I correct below.
Planispheres
- Jan Tosovsky’s planisphere software : This download allows you to view the planisphere on your computer, or print out a cut-out kit to make your own.
- Toshimi Taki’s double-sided Planisphere
- Uncle Al’s Kepler Star Wheel
- Uncle Al’s StarWheel (without the Kepler plots)
Other Activity Resources
Software
- Celestia: Tour the solar system in three dimensions. This is a real-time 3D space simulator. Windows/Mac/Linux
- Stellarium: An easy to use planetarium software. Windows/Mac/Linux
- Hayden Planetarium’s Digital Universe: This is a 3D atlas of the universe. It comes in 3 different editions with different features. Windows/Mac OSX/Linux/IRIX
February 13: A scale model of the Earth-Moon system said
[...] A PDF scale drawing is available at http://astrogeek.wordpress.com/resources/ [...]
Don’t Forget your Binoculars « AstroGeek said
[...] Resources [...]
“Resources” page update « AstroGeek said
[...] Resources [...]
DJ Michael said
Hi,
I am in need of someone who can set up a Telescope at a Country Club in Los Angeles. We are having an event called Jazz under the Stars and would like to have someone come up with a telescope and show people, well… stars!
Any ideas?
Michael
astrogeek said
Hi;
I’m up in NorCal, so I can’t help you there. However, you could look up a local amateur club via the NASA Night Sky Network at http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/club-map.cfm
Find the clubs that are local to you, and start calling them until you find someone who can help you out.