The science of the stars or astronomy has always fascinated me. The number, the superlatives that define it speak of the great expanse that the study lives in. However, it’s growing, expanding like no other science is. And a whole lot of information about it can be found at the Internet. Sites like the Sky and Telescope magazine http://skyandtelescope.com/ that has sky maps, astrophotos and observation tips for sky-gazers of all levels are really the needful. A very neat and trendy site and Flash enabled of course, all the current news are here. This is a very good site to begin all your extraterrestrial activities. But if there’s something more elementary that you would like to start with, there’s Astronomy for Kids http://www.dustbunny.com/afk/index.html.
Main links here include Sky Maps, Constellations and Sky Wonders where you can learn about some of the most awe-inspiring and thought-provoking objects that are in the Universe. Everything from eclipses to conjunctions are covered here. There is also the Postcard section where there are some pictures of what the people at the site describe as some of the sky’s most fascinating objects and events. But not all that we read or see about the space and all that’s out there, is correct. And this holds especially true for movies and TV shows. The one site that aims to take care of this mess is Bad Astronomy http://www.badastronomy.com/.
This site tries to clear a lot of misinformation that is spread about astronomy. Sometimes this information is just plain silly, but many times it makes just enough sense that people believe it, like the one that you can spin or make an egg stand on one end during the Vernal Equinox. It is this kind of misinformation that the guy on this site, who claims to be astronomer, teacher, lecturer and all-around science junkie, wants to right. So better refer this site before you decide to voice any brilliant observation about the Moon and Sun.
Reading about the stars is one thing. But seeing them and then tracing their surroundings is another. Of course for that you will need to have a telescope. Or, access the Bradford Robotic Telescope http://www.telescope.org/. Anyone on the Internet can register and ask the telescope to look at anything in the northern night sky. A project of the University of Bradford in England, this online facility is currently open for limited beta testing only. Still, after securing a beta signup password, then clicking on “Click here to register for a new account” on the left menu of this page and you’re up for business. There’s a wait period here, due to the requests received by the site. And anyway, you just cant see the findings of the telescope live. They are mailed to you as photographs to your account. That is why creating an account at the web site is a must.
The Bradford Robotic Telescope installation is part of the Observatorio del Teide site of the Instituto De Astrofisica De Canarias, in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain. The Teide Observatory is the best in Europe and is situated at an altitude of 2,400 metres on the northern part of the volcano caldera.
While clicking through the maze of the world wide web, I bumped into a simply amazing star site. This Father’s Day, you must have given your father a shirt, or a pen or simply one of the usual gifts that you go to the shop and buy. What you wouldn’t have done is go to the site of the International Star Registry http://www.starregistry.com/ and buy your father a star as a Father’s Day gift. That’s right, buy a star.
This site here has the facility to name a star, an actual star. This is actually a gift for the person who has everything? All it takes is a credit card and $54, plus shipping and handling, you can name a star.
The site claims to be naming stars since 1979 and its list of satisfied customers include celebrities, dignitaries and hundreds of individuals worldwide. But this is not only for Father’s Day. Whether it be for your sweetheart or your top sales agent, a star name makes a unique and welcome gift.
The International Star Registry gift package includes a beautiful parchment certificate, available framed or unframed, with the name of your choice, dedication date and telescopic coordinates of the star. You’ll also receive an informative booklet with charts of the constellations plus a larger, more detailed chart with the star you name encircled in red.
In the end, there’s is The Telescope Game http://www.telescope-game.com. Select from one of the 11 countries (though I don’t know what big difference it will make if you click one and not the other) and start playing a game where patience is the biggest test. No textual guides here, simply click the telescope and start playing. You can even download it.
The science of the stars or astronomy has always fascinated me. The number, the superlatives that define it speak of the great expanse that the study lives in. However, it’s growing, expanding like no other science is. And a whole lot of information about it can be found at the Internet. Sites like the Sky and Telescope magazine 
While clicking through the maze of the world wide web, I bumped into a simply amazing star site. This Father’s Day, you must have given your father a shirt, or a pen or simply one of the usual gifts that you go to the shop and buy. What you wouldn’t have done is go to the site of the International Star Registry 
