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| Astronomy Freeware | About fifty freely downloadable computer programs in four classifications: 1) general astronomy software, 2) satellite trackers and observing, 3)telescope making and telescope software, and 4) planetarium - sky simulation software. The site is maintained by Alan Sawicki. |
| BASIC Source Code from Sky&Tel | Source code for well over a hundred astronomical software programs written in the BASIC computer programming language, as published in various issues of Sky & Telescope magazine. |
| C and C++ Source Code from Project Pluto | A collection of the software routines embodied in the Guide planetarium program published by Project Pluto. |
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Cartes du Ciel
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Cartes du Ciel (sky charts) is a freeware planetarium program developed by Patrick Chevalley. This program is available with text in at least six different foreign languages. The help system in the English version is very extensive, and it is quite understandable. Some of the program's error messages and information windows are expressed in the author's native French. See also RTGUI below. |
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Catalogs of Nearby Stars
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The Astronomisches Rechen-Institut Heidelberg (ARICNS) is an on-line database for providing information on nearby stars. Includes Gliese, GJ, Woolley, HIP, FK, PPM, BS, HR, HD, HDE, BD, CoD, CPD, LHS, LTT, NLTT, LP, Giclas, Vys, Ross, Discoverer, ADS, CCDM, WDS, Variable_stars, White_dwarfs, Constellation (e.g. alpha Cen), Proper_name (e.g. Sirius), Position (RA, Dec), Distance (from the Sun). |
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CelesTrak |
Dr. TS Kelso of the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio makes NORAD Two-Line Element Sets available to the public on this site. Orbital elements for nearly all artificial satellites tracked by NORAD are shown. These elements can be entered into planetarium software or into robotic telescope guiders. |
| Excelsis | Thousands of user "votes" and reviews on hundreds of binoculars, telescopes, and eyepieces including manufacturer's specifications. |
| Kitt Peak Advanced Observing Program (AOP) | 1800 astronomical images (mostly in full color). The catalog designation of the object is part of the file name. Click here for the AOP search engine. |
| Mapblast Latitude & Longitude | Enter a street address and get its exact latitude and longitude. Read values as part of the URL in your browser's address window. |
| Minor Planet Bulletin | Full text and images in PDF format of the Minor Planet Bulletin which is published by the Minor Planets section of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers beginning with the 2004 October-December, Vol. 31, No. 4 issue. Many observations are presented in color. All data and text can be extracted and pasted into Excel or other local applications. For ALPO, click Other Links > Astro Organizations & Associations. |
| NASA Data Mining Resource | NASA's data mining resource for Space Science is a hugh collection of free online info for the interested researcher. |
| NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database | Millions of objects with images, maps, abstracts, photometric measurements plus downloadable tools to work with this info. |
| Planetarium Software |
Bill Arnett maintains a list of over sixty planetarium and sky simulation software programs for Mac and Windows-based computers. Many have active links to the website where the programs can be examined, demonstrated, and/or purchased. A section of this site has active links to web-based planetarium programs which can be activated for simulations of the sky or specialized applications that are customizable for your location and the time and date of your choice. |
| Robin Gatter's star and deep sky cross-reference data | Robin Gatter bills his cross reference lists as being for use in the Meade LX200 Autostar unit, however, anyone who needs to find the Flamsteed or SAO number, Beyer Greek letter or GCVS designation will find this site invaluable. It has 37,000 entries in the cross-reference tables. |
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RTGUI
(Real Time Graphical User Interface) |
Real-Time Interactive Windows Software for Astronomical Observers. RTGUI can stand alone, but it is intended to work as an add-on to Cartes du Ciel (see above). |
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Satellite Images (close-up) of Your Area |
Click "Advanced Find", enter your exact latitude and longitude,
choose "Style=Image", select "Image Size" (small/medium/large), and get a satellite image of the site. Then zoom in to see detail down to one square meter. Download and print the image for free ! |
| SEDS Messier Catalog | The SEDS (Students for the Exploration and Development of Space) database contains images, observational data, and extensive descriptions of all 110 Messier objects. |
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Simbad Database |
The SIMBAD astronomical database provides basic data, cross-identifications and bibliography for astronomical objects outside the solar system. SIMBAD can be queried by object name, coordinates, other criteria (filters), and lists of objects. Links to some other on-line services are also provided. |
Taki's 8.5 Magnitude Star Atlas
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Very well organized atlas of over 88,000 stars down to magnitude 8.5 plus thousands of other deep sky objects. |
| U.S.N.O. Clock | U.S. Naval Observatory's atomic clock. Precise Universal Time. |
| U.S.N.O. Data Services | Links to two dozen sites providing tables and charts of rise and setting times, transits, eclipses, positions, and dates of celestial events. |
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Virtual Moon Atlas |
Freeware lunar atlas written by Christian Legrand and Patrick Chevalley. Simulate the complete lunar globe with photographic texture. |
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Wikipedia Encyclopedia |
A huge collection of freely editable content. Includes links to free dictionary, thesaurus, text books, manuals, quotations, and more. |
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Wolfgang's Steinicke's database |
A full corrected version of the original NGC/IC with accurate positions, cross-identifications, size, mag, Hubble type, etc. Nearly 8,000 entries. |
 Return to Other Links |
| Maintained by Page last updated 10/17/2008 |