Asteroids

JPL Small-Body Database Browser – NASA/JPL’s authoritative lookup for every known asteroid or comet, giving orbital elements, physical parameters, ephemerides, and 3-D orbit visualisations. 

Minor Planet Center – Database Search – The IAU clearing-house for asteroid and comet observations; provides discovery details, updated orbits, and ephemeris tables on demand. 

NASA “Eyes on Asteroids” – Interactive 3-D web app that lets you track thousands of asteroids and comets in real time, replay past fly-bys, and preview future close approaches. 

NASA CNEOS / Asteroid Watch – Center for Near-Earth Object Studies portal with daily close-approach tables, impact-risk lists, and news on planetary-defense research. 

NEODyS-2 – European Near-Earth Object Dynamic Site offering continuously updated orbits, impact-risk pages, and custom ephemerides for every NEA. 

In-The-Sky.org — Asteroids – Automatically generated list of the brightest asteroids currently visible, with finder charts tailored to any location. 

Heavens-Above — Asteroids – Under “Astronomy → Asteroids” you can create personalised ephemerides and sky charts for major asteroids alongside the site’s satellite tools. 

Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB) – NASA-PDS repository of 34 000+ published rotation light-curves and derived spin/shape data for asteroid research and amateur photometry projects. 

Astronomical League – Asteroid Observing Program – Step-by-step visual/CCD observing award that teaches amateurs how to identify, track, and record asteroid positions and light-curves. 

NEO Earth Close Approaches – Daily-updated list of upcoming near-Earth asteroid fly-bys with size estimates, miss distances, and quick-link orbit visualisers. 

Astronomy - General

Wikipedia – Astronomy – Concise encyclopedia overview of astronomy’s branches, history, and major discoveries.

Space.com – What Is Astronomy? – Popular-science article surveying the key fields of modern astronomy and how amateurs and professionals explore the cosmos.

Space Elevators & Astronomy (Elevators.com) – Introductory essay on space-elevator concepts plus curated links to general astronomy resources. Suggested by Dorothy Mayer and her student Mila (who found this link)- thanks for the great addition!

Astronomy Games for Kids

Space-Themed Games (WordFinderX) – Curated list of free online games that teach astronomy concepts. A great collection of games for kids with an Astronomy Focus. Suggested by Katie Hylton (Thanks, Katie!)

Space & Solar-System Games (Word.Tips) – Educational puzzles and activities focused on planets, stars and exploration. A nice collection of Astronomy and space learning activities for kids. Suggested by Zane Robertson (Thanks, Zane!)

Astronomy in Media

Astronomy in Film & TV (Octane Seating Blog) – Illustrated guide to notable space science moments on screen.A very interesting and entertaining “educational guide centered around astronomy & science and its relationship with film & television throughout history.” Take a look - I think you will enjoy this one! (Thank you Devin Boudreaux!)

Astronomy Resources For Kids (Both young and old!)

Astronomy Resources for Kids (AAA State of Play) – Large collection of beginner-friendly articles, videos and activities. A wonderful collection of astronomy related resources for kids! Suggested by Abigail Lynwood and Eliza from the Lyndhurst STEM Club for Girls in the Lyndhurst School District of New Jersey.  (Thanks Abigail and Eliza - this is a great addition!)

Sleeping Under the Stars & Planets (NapLab) – Kid-oriented guide to constellations, planets and outdoor skywatching.   a nice collection of links about exploring the planets and the solar system, an introduction to the constellations, and general info on astronomy in general. (Thanks to Michelle and Payton who brought this link to my attention!)

Five STEM Space Activities (UCF Online) – Hands-on projects that spark interest in astronomy and space science.  An interesting collection of activities that can be done to foster interests in STEM, Space science and Astronomy! - (Thanks Danielle, for suggesting this!)

Navigating the Stars: A Young Learner’s Guide – Introductory article with additional beginner resources.  A Young Learner’s Guide to Astronomy - with additional resources and links. (Thanks to Ada for suggesting this link!)

Astronomy Publications - Magazines and Periodicals

Sky & Telescope – Flagship U.S. monthly packed with observing guides, gear tests, and peer-reviewed news from professional astronomy. 

Astronomy Magazine – Popular-science glossy that mixes breaking research, night-sky charts, and equipment columns for hobbyists of every level. 

BBC Sky at Night Magazine – UK companion to the world’s longest-running TV show, featuring how-to imaging projects, gear reviews, and interviews. 

Astronomy Now – Britain’s oldest monthly astronomy title (since 1987), noted for in-depth instrument reviews and practical observing articles. 

StarDate Magazine – Bi-monthly sky-watching guide from McDonald Observatory, famed for concise almanacs and accessible astronomy features. 

Amateur Astronomy Magazine – Quarterly, reader-written journal showcasing projects, star parties, and wide-field imaging from the global amateur community. 

The Planetary Report – The Planetary Society’s colorful quarterly spotlighting planetary science, mission updates, and citizen-science advocacy. 

Mercury Magazine – Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s digital quarterly blending astronomy research, education, and outreach stories (free PDFs for members; select articles open). 

Astronomy Technology Today – Free online magazine focused on hardware: detailed telescope, mount, and accessory reviews plus DIY upgrades. 

Journal of the AAVSO (JAAVSO) – Peer-reviewed quarterly publishing original variable-star research by amateurs and professionals (all issues free online). 

Astrobites – Daily “research digest” blog summarizing new papers on astro-ph; written by grad students for undergrads and advanced amateurs. 

Astrophtography - Gear

Astro Imaging Cameras

ZWO ASI Cameras (Official) – ZWO’s ASI line has become the de-facto standard for amateur imaging, ranging from beginner-friendly APS-C models (ASI533/2600) to full-frame ASI6200 for advanced work.  All cameras share a uniform driver, deep cooling (-35 °C ΔT), AR-coated windows, and native support in every major capture program, making integration painless whether you shoot planets at 500 fps or 10-minute narrowband subs.

QHYCCD – Astronomy & Scientific Cameras – QHY’s portfolio covers everything from ultra-fast planetary rigs (QHY5III series) to large-format deep-sky monsters like the QHY600M/Pro with 60 MP.  Hallmarks include sealed sensor chambers with desiccant tubes, built-in DDR3 buffer to prevent USB dropouts, and model variants tuned for astronomy, spectroscopy, or C-mount all-sky imaging.

Atik Cameras – Built in Portugal and the UK, Atik’s Horizon-II OSC and the 4-Series mono CCDs remain workhorses for imagers who value simplicity and low noise.  The company also bundles free capture/stacking software (Artemis Capture, Dawn), so a first-time owner can go from unboxing to calibrated image without extra purchases.

SBIG / Diffraction Limited – The storied SBIG brand—now under Diffraction Limited—focuses on observatory-grade Aluma and STXL cameras with huge sensors, regulated TECs, and optional internal filter wheels guiding through their own built-in guide chips.  These cameras anchor countless university and survey telescopes thanks to unmatched reliability and support.

Starlight Xpress – SX invented the tiny Lodestar guider, but their Trius and Ultrastar mono cameras still punch above their weight, leveraging low-noise Sony CCDs and compact sealed bodies that cool with nothing more than a 1¼″-column of air—perfect for lightweight rigs or Hyperstar setups.

Finger Lakes Instrumentation (FLI) – FLI’s Kepler, MicroLine, and large-aperture PL cameras bring scientific-grade electronics (RMS read noise < 4 e-) and massive sensor options (up to 50 mm diagonal).  Each unit is milled from a solid aluminum billet and vacuum-purged, making them a favorite for remote observatories and research labs that demand multi-night, zero-failure performance.

Telescopic Watch – Best Astro Cameras 2025 – An independent buyer’s guide that benchmarks the latest CMOS/CCD models, explains sensor specs (QE, full-well, read noise), and recommends a “best in class” pick for every budget tier—ideal if you’re choosing between ASI/QHY siblings or weighing mono versus OSC.

Guide Cameras

ZWO Mini Guide Cameras – The 1¼″ “Mini” series (ASI120MM Mini, ASI220MM Mini) stuffs a sensitive mono sensor, ST-4 port, and USB2 power into a lipstick-sized barrel.  Drop one into any 30-50 mm guidescope or OAG and you’ve got fuss-free autoguiding that plugs straight into popular software or ASIAIR.

QHY5III Series – QHY’s USB 3.0 guide/planetary cams (5III462, 5III485) hit hundreds of frames per second while outputting 12-bit data—handy for lucky imaging Saturn or grabbing bright guidestars through an OAG at f/10.  A front-threaded C-mount and included 1¼″ nose make adaptation painless.

Starlight Xpress Lodestar X2 – Still the gold standard for OAG users: its Sony ICX CCD delivers unmatched sensitivity, so you nearly always find a star—even in narrowband filters or on 3 m focal-length scopes.  A single USB cable powers and controls it, reducing cable snags on rotators.

Filters

Astrodon Filters (Farpoint) – The benchmark for parfocal LRGB and 3 nm narrowband sets: razor-steep bandpasses, > 95 % transmission, and coatings that never pinhole or degrade—expensive but the last filters you may ever buy.

Chroma Astronomy Filters – US-made, hard-coated 3 nm and 5 nm filters that match Astrodon in performance but in a larger range of diameters (including 50 × 50 mm unmounted) and quick custom runs for observatories.

Astronomik Filters – Trusted mid-tier brand offering everything from CLS light-pollution filters to 6 nm narrowband sets that are AR-coated on both sides and cut from homogeneous glass, minimizing halos on bright stars.

Baader CMOS-Optimized Filters – New “Ultra-Narrowband” 3.5 nm Ha/OIII/SII sets and LRGB filters designed to eliminate pesky CMOS microlens reflections while staying firmly in the affordable bracket.

IDAS LPS Filters – Ion-assisted multilayer coatings block sodium/mercury lines yet keep star colors intact; their NBZ dual-band filter is a cult favorite for OSC imagers hunting nebulae from the suburbs.

Optolong Dual/Narrowband – L-eNhance (dual Ha/OIII) and L-eXtreme (tighter 7 nm dual band) squeeze impressive contrast from one-shot color cameras—excellent bang for the buck if you’re starting out under streetlights.

Cloudy Nights – 2024 Narrowband Shoot-Out – Side-by-side test images and quantitative bandpass plots for the latest budget, mid-range, and premium filters, letting you see real-world halo control and star color.

Filter Wheels

ZWO EFW Series – USB-powered wheels in 5- or 7-slot versions (1¼″, 36 mm, 2″) that bolt directly to ASI cameras and OAG-L, giving mono imagers a seamless, all-ZWO optical train.

Mounts

Sky-Watcher EQ Mounts – The HEQ5 Pro and EQ6-R Pro remain sweet-spot choices for deep-sky imaging, with belt drives, 1″ worm errors (~20 arc-sec), and easy firmware updates; the beefier EQ8-R handles 50 lb imaging loads for large OTAs.

Celestron CGX / CGX-L & AVX – User-friendly NexStar hand-control, PPEC, and the “All-Star” polar routine—great for imagers stepping up from star trackers; CGX-L carries 35 kg at ±3 arc-sec native PE once tuned.

iOptron CEM & HEM Harmonic – Center-balanced CEM40/70 for big payloads in lighter heads, or the new strain-wave HEM27 that packs 13 kg capacity into an 8 lb body—perfect for airline travel.

Losmandy GM-8 / G-11 – Machined-in-California classics with all-metal worms and modular RA/DEC assemblies; Gemini 2 GoTo now supports Ethernet and guide-port dithering.

Astro-Physics Mach2GTO – Zero-backlash direct-drive motors, absolute encoders, and 0.3 arc-sec PE; many users shoot 10-minute subs unguided—top of the food chain for portable precision.

Software Bisque Paramount Series – Robotic mounts (MYT, MX+, ME II) with integrated homing sensors, through-mount cabling, and TheSkyX Pro software license—designed for remote automation from day one.

10Micron GM HPS – High-precision absolute encoders + onboard model builder = sub-arc-sec unguided tracking for 20+ minutes.  Perfect for all-sky imaging sequences without a guide scope.

ZWO AM5 Harmonic – Counterweight-free harmonic drive head that still slews at 6°/s; controlled via Wi-Fi and ASIAIR, it brings premium strain-wave tech to the mid-price market.

Focus Motors

ZWO EAF – USB-controlled stepper focuser with built-in temp sensor; plugs straight into ASIAIR and popular PC apps for reliable autofocus on refractors, SCTs, or Newtonians.

Pegasus FocusCube 3 – Self-contained motor + controller (USB-C, Wi-Fi) and OLED screen; swap brackets to fit crayford, SCT, or R&P focusers—makes cable clutter disappear.

PrimaLuceLab SESTO SENSO 2 – Clamps directly to the micro-focus knob, retaining manual feel when you disengage; ASCOM/INDI/Wi-Fi for smartphone tweaks.

MoonLite High-Res Stepper Focusers – CNC anodized crayfords with built-in stepper and clutch—rock-solid for heavy imaging trains, plus plug-and-play with NiteCrawler rotator.

Optec TCF-S3 – Drawtube focuser with internal temp compensation: once calibrated, it nudges focus a few microns per °C so your stars stay tight all night.

Celestron SCT/Edge Focus Motor – Attaches behind the mirror on Celestron OTAs, letting you remote-focus your EdgeHD 8–14″ without mirror shift.

Camera Rotators

Pegasus Astro Falcon Rotator v2 – 18 mm thick, 0.05° precision, and native M68 threads—rotates your entire imaging train for perfect framing or alt-az de-rotation, controlled via USB/ASCOM.

Optec Pyxis 2″/3″ – Rugged, observatory-proven rotator (since 2005) with slip-ring cabling so you never snag wires; integrates tightly with TheSkyX and MaximDL.

MoonLite NiteCrawler – Combo rotator + focuser with sub-arc-sec repeatability—rotate 360° and refocus to 2 µm, perfect for remote observatories or mosaics.

PrimaLuceLab ARCO – Ultra-thin stepper rotator that attaches to ESATTO or SESTO focusers, giving a fully modular focus/rotation stack under Wi-Fi or USB control.

WandererAstro Rotator Pro – Harmonic-drive rotator with large 68 mm aperture but only 19 mm thick; USB-C and Bluetooth for quick framing tweaks from ASIAIR or NINA.

Flat Light Sources

Gerd Neumann Aurora Panels – Electroluminescent “glow foils” in sizes up to 600 mm that deliver beautifully even flats; thin enough to slip into a filter drawer for wide-field lenses.

Optec Alnitak Flat-Man / Flip-Flat – Stand-alone EL panel or robotic cap + flat combo (Flip-Flat) beloved by remote imagers—schedule it to close the OTA and shoot flats before dawn.

Pegasus Astro FlatMaster – USB-dimmable LED panel (120–320 mm) with very high brightness, perfect for narrowband flats that need longer exposures.

Spike-a LED Panels – Bright, rigid acrylic panel with manual or USB dimmer; tough enough for field use and can illuminate large reflectors.

WandererAstro Wander Flat – Slim LED panel with stepless dimming via phone app or USB-C; integral diffuser gives excellent evenness—great for portable rigs.

AstroWorld – Flat Panel Comparison – Side-by-side luminance-uniformity test of EL vs. LED panels, flip-caps, and DIY tracing pads.

Telescopes & Astrographs

Celestron EdgeHD & RASA OTAs – EdgeHD SCTs deliver coma-free, flat fields for galaxies & planets; RASA f/2 astrographs gulp photons for ultra-short deep-sky exposures—both share Fastar-compatible correctors.

Sky-Watcher Esprit APO & Quattro Newts – Factory-tested triplet APOs with matched flatteners (Esprit 80–150 mm) and fast f/4 imaging Newtonians that pair well with coma correctors—value kings of the mid-range market.

William Optics RedCat / GT & ZenithStar – Travel-friendly Petzval and triplet refractors (51–132 mm) with built-in flatteners, rotatable focusers, and all-metal fit-and-finish that belies their price.

Takahashi FSQ / TOA / Epsilon – Optics revered for pinpoint stars: FSQ-106ED Petzval, TOA-130 triplet, and f/3.3 Epsilon hyperbolic astrographs—premium glass for perfectionists.

PlaneWave CDK Astrographs – 12.5″–24″ corrected DK reflectors with carbon tubes or trusses, delivering < 10 µm RMS spots across full-frame sensors—standard kit in university observatories.

ASKAR FRA & FMA Series – Innovative quintuplet astrographs (FRA400, FRA600) that are fully corrected out of the box; the tiny FMA180 rides on star trackers for postcard-wide nebulae.

Astro-Physics StarFire EDF Refractors – Hand-figured triplets (92–175 mm) with 0.72× flatteners giving two-inch-corner stars—coveted by imagers for legendary color correction and resale value.

Telescopic Watch – Imaging Scope Buyer’s Guide – Independent recommendations from entry-level 72 mm doublets to premium 250 mm RCs, complete with real-image examples.

Guide Scopes & Off-Axis Guiders

ZWO Off-Axis Guider – 11 mm thick OAG with M42/M48 threads and adjustable prism—fits between ASI wheels and cameras for flexure-free guiding on SCTs/RCs.

Celestron Universal OAG – Large 12.5 mm prism, rotatable helical focuser, and spacer kit to reach focus with DSLRs or cooled cameras—ideal for EdgeHD owners.

Innovations Foresight ONAG – IR beamsplitter lets you guide using the full field and block mirror-shifts; excellent for long-focus spectrographs or dual-scope arrays.

OPT – Guide Scope vs. OAG Article – Side-by-side pros and cons (flexure, star availability, setup complexity) to help pick the right guiding method for your focal length.

Telescope Flaps, Caps & White Sources

Optec Alnitak Flip-Flat – Motorized dust cap that swings shut after imaging and doubles as an EL flat panel—indispensable for robotic observatories.

PrimaLuceLab ALTO Cover + GIOTTO Panel – Pair the GIOTTO LED flat lamp with the ALTO motor arm to create a smart flip-cap system controllable via Wi-Fi for remote flats and OTA protection.

WandererAstro Flip Panel – USB-C/Bluetooth-controlled hinged cap with integrated dimmable LED flat source; lightweight enough for portable refractors, yet strong for RCs up to 12″.

DIY White-T-Shirt Sky Flats – Field method: stretch a clean T-shirt over the objective and shoot twilight flats—cheap, effective, and still used by veteran imagers in remote dark sites.

Astrophotography — Websites & Blogs

AstroBackyard (Trevor Jones) – Hugely popular backyard-imaging blog with step-by-step tutorials, equipment guides, and processing walk-throughs for every skill level. 

AstroImagery - Karl Perera’s beginner friendly site with lots of Astrophoto content.

Cosgrove’s Cosmos - (You are here!) Patrick Cosgrove’s site for all things astrophotography - Imaging Projects, Observatory construction, Ger, Tools and Tips!

Lonely Speck (Ian Norman & Diana Southern) – Milky Way and night-scape master-class site packed with beginner-friendly gear reviews, planning tools, and post-processing tips. 

Galactic Hunter – Antoine & Dalia Grelin’s tutorial hub featuring deep-sky target guides, processing recipes, and gear reviews, plus a free e-book for newcomers. 

Peter Zelinka – Tutorials – In-depth written guides that complement Peter’s video courses; great for learning star-tracker workflows, deep-sky capture, and image editing. 

Night Sky Pix – “Home of astrophotography tips & tutorials.” Offers an A-to-Z beginner guide, equipment checklists, and clear explanations of exposure basics. 

Nebula Photos (Nico Carver) – Blog version of Nico’s channel with DSLR-friendly deep-sky tutorials, gear tests, and processing articles for modest budgets. 

DSLR Astrophotography – Niche blog focused on squeezing the most out of unmodified or lightly-modified DSLR/mirrorless cameras for deep-sky imaging. 

Light Vortex Astronomy (PixInsight Guides) – Legendary, free step-by-step PixInsight processing tutorials archived and praised across the community. 

Photographing Space – How-to articles on Milky Way, star-trails, and deep-sky DSLR imaging, written in an accessible, motivational style. 

Sky & Telescope – Astrophotography – Free articles from leading imagers cover technique, image-processing, and equipment insights. 

Cloudy Nights – Astrophotography & Sketching Forum – Massive, searchable community archive with practical answers to almost any imaging 

Astrophotography - YouTube Channels

Amy Astro – Beginner-friendly PixInsight tutorials and software walkthroughs delivered step-by-step. 

Astro Backyard - This was the very first Asto Imaging channel I happened onto when starting my own Astrop Photo Journey. Friendly, equipment-agnostic tutorials that walk you through entire imaging sessions from backyard to finished photo. 

AstroBiscuit – Entertaining, budget-minded projects and DIY hacks that prove astrophotography doesn’t have to be expensive. 

Astro Imagery (Karl Perera) – Beginner-friendly videos on capture, processing and gear selection.

The Astro Imaging Channel – Weekly panel discussions and guest presentations on every facet of astro-imaging.

Bill Blanshan – PixInsight Scripts – Author walkthroughs of his free time-saving PI scripts.

Chuck’s Astrophotography – 1 000 + deep-sky videos covering capture techniques, gear tests and detailed processing demos. 

RC Astro (Russ Croman) – Creator of Blur/Star/Noise-XTerminator plugins shares tips and image-processing insights. 

Cosgrove’s Cosmos (YouTube) – My own channel: imaging projects, complete image processing walk-throughs, gear talk and tech tips. 

Cuiv – The Lazy Geek – Advanced automation, ASIAir deep dives and honest equipment reviews. 

Dylan O’Donnell – Observatory vlogs, gear reviews and high-energy astrophotography sessions from Australia. some great and fun content here delivered with Aussie humor and solid technical depth!

Galactic Hunter – Monthly “Target of the Month,” processing guides, and Las Vegas-based imaging adventures. 

High Point Scientific – Retailer-run channel with clear equipment explainers, livestream Q&As, and observing guides. 

Milky Way Mike – Night-scape shooting and editing tutorials aimed at photographers transitioning into astrophotography. 

Nebula Photos – DSLR-centric deep-sky guides, budget rig builds, and clear PixInsight walkthroughs. 

Patriot Astro – N.I.N.A. tutorials, mini-PC builds and workflow automation guides. A great channel with lots of detailed “How To” videos. THE place to go when first learning N.I.N.A. Some great videos on buying and setting up mini-pcs for use in astro imaging. N.I.N.A. software deep dives, mini-PC builds, and workflow automation tutorials. 

PixInsight – Official Channel – Updates, tutorials and conference talks from the PI development team. 

SETI v2 – Free PixInsight scripts demonstrated with real imaging data.  

Visible Dark Astro – Deep PixInsight workflows, live-streamed imaging sessions and product reviews.  

Alyn Wallace – World-traveling night-scape expert sharing Milky Way planning, shooting, and timelapse secrets. 

Chris Woodhouse – AstroShed – Author of The Astrophotography Manual shares image-processing and observatory-build content. 

Atlases & Star Charts

Historical

Linda Hall Library – Digital Star Atlases Collection – High-resolution scans of landmark works such as Bayer’s Uranometria (1603), Hevelius’s Firmamentum Sobiescianum (1690), Bode’s Uranographia (1801), and Cellarius’s Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660). 

Bayer Uranometria (1603) – David Rumsey Map Collection – The first atlas to chart the entire celestial sphere; all 51 engraved constellation plates viewable and downloadable in full detail. 

Flamsteed Atlas Coelestis (1729) – OU Digital Collections – Complete folio plates from the first modern star atlas based on telescopic positions, freely browsable online. 

Bode Uranographia (1801) – Archive.org Facsimile – Monumental 20-sheet atlas plotting 17,000+ stars and boundary lines for every constellation; considered the last of the great pictorial star atlases. 

Burritt’s Geography of the Heavens Atlas (1856) – Beautiful hand-colored constellation maps that popularized star-gazing in 19th-century America; full atlas hosted by the Library of Congress. 

Hevelius Firmamentum Sobiescianum (1690) – AtlasCoelestis Mirror – Digital plates from Hevelius’s post-humous atlas introducing 11 new constellations and exquisite artistic engravings. 

Linda Hall Library – Digital Star Atlases Collection – High-resolution scans of landmark works such as Bayer’s Uranometria (1603), Hevelius’s Firmamentum Sobiescianum (1690), Bode’s Uranographia (1801), and Cellarius’s Harmonia Macrocosmica (1660). 

Bayer Uranometria (1603) – David Rumsey Map Collection – The first atlas to chart the entire celestial sphere; all 51 engraved constellation plates viewable and downloadable in full detail. 

Flamsteed Atlas Coelestis (1729) – OU Digital Collections – Complete folio plates from the first modern star atlas based on telescopic positions, freely browsable online. 

Bode Uranographia (1801) – Archive.org Facsimile – Monumental 20-sheet atlas plotting 17,000+ stars and boundary lines for every constellation; considered the last of the great pictorial star atlases. 

Burritt’s Geography of the Heavens Atlas (1856) – Beautiful hand-colored constellation maps that popularized star-gazing in 19th-century America; full atlas hosted by the Library of Congress. 

Hevelius Firmamentum Sobiescianum (1690) – AtlasCoelestis Mirror – Digital plates from Hevelius’s post-humous atlas introducing 11 new constellations and exquisite artistic engravings. 

Free Digital Star Atlases (Printable / Interactive)

TriAtlas Project (A, B & C Sets) – 300-page PDF atlas series (to mag 12.6) offering wide-field, intermediate, and ultra-detailed charts—excellent all-sky companion for deep-sky observers. 

Deep-Sky Hunter Star Atlas – 110 printable A3 charts down to mag 10.2 (stars) and mag 14 (DSOs) plus 21 zoom maps of galaxy clusters; ideal for serious visual sweeps. 

Taki’s 8.5-Magnitude Star Atlas (PDF) – 146 A4 charts plotting stars to mag 8.5 and 2,900+ DSOs—lightweight but deeper than most commercial pocket atlases. 

Mag-7 Star Atlas – Free, printer-friendly charts to mag 7.25 with 550 deep-sky objects—great grab-and-go atlas for binocular or small-scope sessions. 

Pretty Deep Maps – Hyper-linked PDF atlas covering the entire sky to about mag 18, with 6,700+ charts and 100k-object index for image-identification and planning. 

Skymaps.com – Monthly Evening Sky Map – Free PDF star chart issued each month for northern, equatorial, and southern latitudes, annotated with current planet/comet positions and observing highlights. 

Auroras

NOAA SWPC Aurora Dashboard – Live global oval maps, 30-min forecasts, and 24-h playback showing current auroral activity. 

NOAA 30-Minute Aurora Forecast – OVATION model animation predicting location + intensity of the aurora 30–90 minutes ahead. 

UAF Geophysical Institute Aurora Forecast – K-index outlooks and nightly visibility maps for Alaska, Canada, and beyond from the original aurora-forecasting team. 

SpaceWeatherLive – Auroral Oval & KP – Real-time solar-wind data, KP index history, and intuitive traffic-light alerts for northern & southern lights chasers. 

Soft Serve News Aurora Alerts – Mobile-friendly dashboard giving next-hour KP predictions, Bz trends, and user-configurable email/SMS alerts. 

Aurorasaurus (Citizen Science) – Crowd-sourced aurora reports plotted in real time; verify sightings, get push alerts, and improve forecast models with your observations. 

Tromsø All-Sky Aurora Camera – Live fisheye images from northern Norway updating every minute when dark—handy for gauging real-time activity. 

NASA Space Place – “What Is an Aurora?” – Kid-friendly explainer (with short video) on how solar particles and Earth’s magnetic field create the northern and southern lights. 

Aurora 101 – Geophysical Institute Video (YouTube) – Six-minute primer on auroral science, oval drift, and best viewing tips straight from Alaska’s aurora researchers. 

SpaceWeather.com Auroral News – Daily write-ups on solar flares, geomagnetic storms, and photo galleries of recent aurora displays worldwide.  

Black Holes

NASA Science – Black Holes – NASA’s authoritative overview of black-hole types, formation, and detection methods.

1440 – Black Holes Explained – Accessible summary of black-hole science, recent discoveries, and educational resources.

Black Hole – Wikipedia – Comprehensive reference article covering black-hole physics, observational evidence, and theoretical models.

Book Recommendations

Astronomy

Turn Left at Orion, 5th Ed. – Classic sky‐hopping guide showing exactly how 100 + objects appear in a small backyard scope and how to find them. 

NightWatch, 5th Ed. – Best-selling beginner’s handbook with seasonal star charts, equipment tips, and binocular/telescope targets. 

The Backyard Astronomer’s Guide, 4th Ed. – Photo-rich reference covering gear, observing, astrophotography basics, and planning under any budget. 

Astronomy: A Self-Teaching Guide, 8th Ed. – Step-by-step workbook that builds core concepts from seasons and phases to cosmology. 

The Stars: A New Way to See Them – H.A. Rey’s constellation guide with friendly line drawings and year-round sky maps. 

Deep-Sky Wonders – Sue French’s beloved tour of 100 + deep-sky showpieces and hidden gems from her Sky & Telescope columns. 

Observing Handbook & Catalogue of Deep-Sky Objects – Detailed visual guide to 2,500 galaxies, clusters, and nebulae for serious observers. 

Annals of the Deep Sky, Vol. 1 – In-depth essays blending history and astrophysics for notable stars and DSOs, first of an ongoing reference series. 

Cosmos – Carl Sagan’s timeless, richly illustrated narrative of cosmic evolution and humanity’s place within it. 

Astrophysics for People in a Hurry – Neil deGrasse Tyson distills big-bang-to-black-hole science into brisk, witty chapters. 

The Fabric of the Cosmos – Brian Greene’s lucid tour of relativity, quantum mechanics, and the true nature of space-time. 

Cambridge Photographic Atlas of Galaxies – 250 beautifully imaged galaxies with explanatory text and observing tips for each. 

Astrophotography

The Deep-Sky Imaging Primer, 2nd Ed. – Charles Bracken’s definitive, math-light guide from sensor theory to advanced processing. 

The Astrophotography Manual, 2nd Ed. – Chris Woodhouse’s end-to-end workflow for capturing and calibrating DSLR/CMOS/CCD data. 

Astrophotography (Thierry Legault) – Master-level techniques from wide-field nightscapes to high-resolution planetary and solar imaging. 

Digital SLR Astrophotography – Michael Covington’s DSLR-focused handbook on capture, stacking, and enhancement. 

Getting Started: Long Exposure Astrophotography – Allan Hall’s practical roadmap for deep-sky imaging on a modest budget. 

Getting Started: Budget Astrophotography – Shows how to build a capable imaging rig and workflow without breaking the bank. 

The Art of Astrophotography – Ian Morison’s step-by-step guide covers every astro-imaging genre from Moon to nebulae. 

Wide-Field Astrophotography – Detailed techniques for capturing sweeping Milky Way vistas and large nebula complexes. 

Photographing the Deep Sky – Coffee-table showcase of nebulae and galaxies with behind-the-scenes imaging notes. 

An Amateur’s Guide to Observing & Imaging the Heavens – Bridges the gap between visual observing and advanced imaging in one comprehensive volume. 

A Photographer’s Milky Way Processing Guide – Step-by-step Photoshop workflow for turning raw nightscape frames into striking Milky Way shots. 

Wide-Field Stellar & Planetary Imaging (Long Exposure) – Companion volume diving deeper into long-exposure capture and stack processing.  

History of Astronomy

Coming of Age in the Milky Way – Timothy Ferris’s award-winning chronicle of how human ideas about the cosmos evolved from ancient Greece to modern cosmology. 

The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man’s Changing Vision of the Universe – Arthur Koestler’s sweeping narrative of the scientific revolution from Copernicus to Newton and how “sleepwalking” geniuses reshaped our worldview. 

The Copernican Revolution – Thomas S. Kuhn’s classic analysis of the 16th-century upheaval that moved Earth from the cosmic center and sparked modern science. 

Longitude – Dava Sobel’s riveting account of John Harrison’s clocks and the 18th-century quest to solve the “longitude problem,” blending navigation, astronomy, and politics. 

The Glass Universe – Dava Sobel highlights the “Harvard Computers,” the women whose photographic-plate work revolutionized stellar astronomy at the turn of the 20th century. 

The Day We Found the Universe – Marcia Bartusiak tells the dramatic story of Edwin Hubble, the Hooker telescope, and the discovery that the universe is far larger than the Milky Way. 

A More Perfect Heaven – Dava Sobel’s dual biography/play depicting how Copernicus’s De revolutionibus finally saw print and upended 1,500 years of geocentric thought. 

Finding Our Place in the Universe – Hélène Courtois narrates the modern quest that mapped the Laniakea super­cluster and pinpointed the Milky Way’s “address” in the cosmic web. 

Big Bang – Simon Singh’s lively history of how scientists pieced together the story of the expanding universe—from ancient philosophers to cosmic-microwave discovery. 

Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens – Andrea Wulf recounts the 18th-century global expeditions to observe Venus transits and calculate the scale of the solar system. 

Galileo’s Daughter – Dava Sobel weaves Galileo’s scientific triumphs and Inquisition ordeal with the intimate letters of his cloistered daughter, Sister Maria Celeste. 

Historic Observatories

The Perfect Machine: Building the Palomar Telescope – Ronald Florence’s page-turner on George Hale’s 20-year quest to erect the 200-inch “Big Eye” on Palomar Mountain and how it ushered in Big Science. 

First Light: The Search for the Edge of the Universe – Richard Preston’s lyrical portrait of the astronomers and breakthrough discoveries made with the Hale and early Keck telescopes. 

Cosmic Odyssey: How Intrepid Astronomers at Palomar Observatory Changed our View of the Universe - Astronomer Linda Schweizer tells the story of the men and women at Palomar and their efforts to decipher the vast energies and mysterious processes that govern our universe. Suggested by David Kreiton

Yerkes Observatory, 1892-1950 – Donald Osterbrock chronicles the rise, near-closure, and revival of the “birthplace of modern astrophysics” and its record-setting 40-inch refractor. 

The Monster Telescopes, Erected by the Earl of Rosse, Parsonstown – Facsimile of an 1844 contemporary account detailing construction of the 72-inch “Leviathan” that first revealed spiral galaxies. 

The Story of Jodrell Bank – Sir Bernard Lovell’s insider memoir of designing, funding, and saving the 76 m radio dish that tracked Sputnik and found the first binary pulsar. 

The Arecibo Observatory: A History of Innovation and Discovery – Former director Donald Campbell tells the full saga of the iconic 305 m radar dish—from Cold-War origins to Nobel-winning science. 

The Day We Found the Universe – Marcia Bartusiak recounts Edwin Hubble’s use of Mt. Wilson’s 100-inch Hooker telescope to prove other galaxies and cosmic expansion. 

Mount Wilson Observatory: Breaking the Code of Cosmic Evolution – Allan Sandage’s authoritative, richly illustrated history of the solar and stellar work that made Mount Wilson the world’s premier observatory in the early 20th century. 

Eye on the Sky: Lick Observatory’s First Century – Osterbrock, Gustafson & Unruh weave human stories and scientific milestones of America’s first mountaintop observatory. 

James Lick’s Monument: The Saga of Captain Richard Floyd and the Building of the Lick Observatory – Helen Wright’s engaging narrative of the 19th-century engineering feat that placed a 36-inch refractor atop Mount Hamilton. 

Calculators

Astronomy.Tools - Great collection of calculators for determining the field of view, image scale, camera/scope suitability, etc.

Citizen Science Projects

Galaxy Zoo – Help astronomers classify galaxy shapes in millions of telescope images to study how galaxies form and evolve. 

Planet Hunters TESS – Scan light-curve plots from NASA’s TESS mission to spot the tiny dips that reveal new exoplanets. 

NASA Exoplanet Watch – Use your own small telescope or download public data to refine exoplanet transit timings and add to NASA’s archive. 

Aurorasaurus – Report and verify real-time aurora sightings to improve space-weather models and receive alerts when the lights might appear. 

Globe at Night – Measure sky brightness by comparing star charts and submit readings that map global light-pollution trends over time. 

AAVSO – Variable Star Observing – Join a century-old network of observers who track brightness changes in variable stars for professional research. 

Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 – Blink WISE infrared images to discover overlooked brown dwarfs and perhaps a new outer-solar-system planet. 

Disk Detective – Identify dusty debris and protoplanetary disks around nearby stars, helping astronomers find newborn planetary systems. 

Radio JOVE – Build a simple radio telescope to monitor Jupiter and solar bursts, contribute data, and learn hands-on radio astronomy. 

SETI@home – Donate idle computer time to analyze radio-telescope data in the search for possible extraterrestrial signals (now in hibernation but still a landmark citizen-science model). 

Comets

NASA Science – Comets – Plain-language primer on what comets are, where they come from, and why they sprout glowing comae and tails, with links to current research and missions. 

JPL Small-Body Database Browser – The authoritative NASA tool for up-to-date orbital elements, physical parameters, ephemerides, and 3-D orbit diagrams of every numbered or provisional comet. 

Minor Planet Center – Comet Database Search – IAU clearing-house where discovery details, designation history, and continuously updated orbits for all known comets are published. 

Comet Observation Database (COBS) – Global hub for amateur + professional observers to upload magnitude estimates and light curves; includes searchable reports and automatically generated graphs. 

Weekly Information about Bright Comets – Seiichi Yoshida – Long-running weekly digest forecasting brightness trends, visibility maps, and discovery news for comets down to mag 14. 

TheSkyLive – Comets – Real-time table of the brightest observable comets, updated several times per day and linked to interactive finder charts for any location. 

In-The-Sky.org – Current Comets – Continuously updated listing of upcoming perihelia, perigees, and peak-brightness dates, each with custom altitude/time plots. 

Sky & Telescope – Comet Observing – Magazine portal offering observing guides, monthly highlights, and expert tips on tracking or photographing the latest comets. 

Comet Chasing – Skyhound – Up-to-date finder charts, visibility forecasts, and observing advice aimed squarely at backyard comet hunters. 

AstroBackyard – “How I Photographed the Green Comet” – Practical, step-by-step imaging tutorial (gear, settings, processing) that doubles as a general guide to photographing any bright comet. 

ESA Rosetta Image Archive – Full, high-resolution dataset from Rosetta’s rendez­vous with Comet 67P, ideal for studying comet geology and activity. 

Cometography (Gary Kronk) – Extensive historical catalogue weaving together centuries of observations and stories of every significant periodic or great comet. 

Constellations

StarChild – List of 88 Constellations – Simple table of Latin and English constellation names.

https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/c/Constellation - list of constellations and where they came from.

Constellation-Guide – Hemisphere Star Maps – Simple north- and south-sky charts showing every constellation outline.

Constellations & Mythology – Overview – Accessible primer on the stories behind the constellations. A nice summary of constellation methodology and information for those interested in learning more. Bought to my attention by a reader - thanks, Stacy

Cosmology

https://discover.join1440.com/topics/big-bang - 1440’s overview of concepts around the Big Bang!

WMAP “Introduction to Cosmology” (NASA) – Clear primer on the Big Bang, cosmic evolution, and observational evidence, maintained by the WMAP science team

WMAP “Universe 101” – NASA – A clear, jargon-free primer that walks readers through the Big Bang, cosmic expansion, dark matter/energy, and the Universe’s ultimate fate, with interactive graphics and glossary. 

Ned Wright’s Cosmology Tutorial – Classic online course from a UCLA cosmologist, featuring concise text, FAQ-style explanations, calculators, and up-to-date notes on observational results. 

Planck Mission – ESA – Official site for ESA’s cosmic-microwave-background satellite; includes plain-language summaries of the spacecraft, data releases, and what those measurements tell us about the age, composition, and geometry of the Universe. 

Khan Academy: Cosmology & Astronomy – Free, bite-sized video lessons (with quizzes) covering everything from the scale of the cosmos to dark energy, perfect for self-paced learning. 

Sloan Digital Sky Survey – Education & Outreach – Hands-on activities and lesson plans that let you explore real SDSS data on galaxy redshifts and large-scale structure—great for classrooms or independent projects. 

Particle Data Group “Review of Cosmological Parameters” (PDF) – The authoritative, annually updated overview of the latest precision measurements of H₀, Ωₘ, Ω_Λ, and more—written for scientists but freely available to all. 

HubbleSite – “Looking Deep” & Cosmology Features – Articles, videos, and interactive timelines showing how Hubble observations have reshaped our understanding of cosmic expansion, dark energy, and the early Universe. 

Universe Today – Cosmology Archive – Daily news and explainer articles that translate cutting-edge cosmology papers (galaxy evolution, dark-matter mapping, CMB studies) into plain English. 

Perimeter Institute – Cosmology – Outreach pages highlighting frontier theoretical work on inflation, dark energy, and quantum gravity, plus accessible blog posts and public-lecture videos. 

OpenStax “Astronomy 2e” – Cosmology Chapters – A free, college-level textbook with entire chapters (26 & 29) devoted to the expanding Universe, the cosmic distance ladder, dark energy, and the age of the cosmos.  

Dark Skies

International Dark-Sky Association – Non-profit hub for light-pollution science, dark-sky parks, and advocacy resources.

LightPollutionMap.info – Interactive world map of artificial sky brightness with Bortle-scale overlays.

Data Science and Astronomy

DataSciencePrograms – The Role of Data Science in Astronomy – Article explaining how big-data techniques drive modern astrophysics. (Thanks to Susan and Amelia for suggesting this interesting link!)

Deepsky Object Catalogs

Overview of Deepsky Catalogs

Messier & Other Catalogs – Paris Observatory – Handy table summarising all major deep-sky catalogs.

SIMBAD Dictionary of Nomenclature – Master lookup of every published designation for celestial objects

Messier Catalog

NASA / Hubble Messier Catalog – High-resolution Hubble images and object facts for all 110 Messiers.. NASA does the Messier list with some of the best images ever taken of each object! Descriptions and some finder charts (somewhat crude but useful).

Seasky.org – Messier Guide – Descriptions, finder charts, and observing tips.

Go-Astronomy – Messier Objects – Whole-sky map with images, data, and cross-references. - nice whole sky map, descriptions, and images.

Spanel Planetarium Messier List – Illustrated Messier tour from Western Washington University.

SEDS Messier Database – Classic Messier pages with images, discoverer notes, and catalog cross-links.

in-the-sky.org – In-The-Sky.org’s interactive Messier catalog with data, coordinates, and visibility charts for all 110 Messier objects (filterable by constellation, object type, etc.).

skyatnightmagazine.com – BBC Sky at Night magazine’s complete Messier Catalogue, including images, descriptions, magnitudes and coordinates for finding each object 

Messier Catalog – AstroPixels – Comprehensive table listing all Messier objects with classifications, magnitudes, and coordinates, plus links to a photo gallery project.

Messier Catalogue – FreeStarCharts – Overview of all 110 Messier objects, including descriptions and observing tips for amateur astronomers.

NGC/IC Catalogs

Wikipedia – Full NGC List – Clickable master list with basic data and images.

In-The-Sky.org – Interactive NGC Catalog – Object data plus visibility charts for your location.

SEDS NGC/IC Database – Searchable NGC/IC entries with historical notes. cross-links to more data.

Sky-Map.org – IC Image Browser – IC catalog list linked to multi-survey images.

Emil Ivanov – NGC Photo List – Amateur images and notes for many NGC objects.

Emil Ivanov – IC Photo List – Companion gallery for IC objects.

News@Sky-Map – IC Image Browser – IC catalog entries linked to multi-survey images.

ngcicproject.observers.org – The NGC/IC Project (archived): a comprehensive database aiming to correctly identify all original NGC and IC objects, with collected images and detailed data for each entry 

NGC 2000.0 – HEASARC – Modern compilation of the New General Catalogue and Index Catalogues with updated positions and corrections.

NGC / IC Catalogues – FreeStarCharts – Detailed information on the NGC and IC catalogs, including object types and historical context.

Arp Catalog

NASA/IPAC – Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies – High-resolution scans of Halton Arp’s 1966 atlas with notes on each interacting or disturbed system.

https://arpgalaxy.com/ - A great overview of the ARP’s Catalog and some great cross-links to images and more info.

Bernards Catalog

https://in-the-sky.org/data/catalogue.php?cat=Barnard&const=1&sort=0&view=0&page=2 in-the-sky.org has an online listing of Barnard objects - one of the very few that I have seen.

saguaroastro.org – Saguaro Astronomy Club: “The Best of Barnard’s Dark Nebulae” observing list, featuring data and notes for many of the most famous dark nebulae from E.E. Barnard’s catalog 

Barnard Catalog – In-The-Sky.org – Interactive listing of Barnard catalog objects with data and visibility charts.

Barnard Dark Nebulae Catalogue – DeepSkyCorner – Detailed descriptions and data for Barnard dark nebulae, including object numbers and coordinates.

DWB Catalog

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1969A%26A.....1..270D&data_type=PDF_HIGH&whole_paper=YES&type=PRINTER&filetype=.pdf - Paper covering the emission nebula in Cygnus X, including a catalog of emission object studied.

Caldwell Catalog

NASA / Hubble Caldwell Catalog – Stunning Hubble views of the 109 Caldwell objects with finder info.

Wikipedia – Caldwell Catalogue – Table with object data, discovery details, and links.cccc

in-the-sky.org – In-The-Sky.org’s interactive listing of the 109 Caldwell objects, with data on each object and tools for viewing visibility from different locations. 

Caldwell Catalog – AstroPixels – Detailed table of all Caldwell objects with classifications, magnitudes, and coordinates, plus links to a photo gallery project.

Caldwell Catalogue PDF – Scribd – Downloadable PDF listing all Caldwell objects with descriptions and observing data.

Herschel Catalog

“The Herschels and Their Catalog” (PDF) – Illustrated history of William & Caroline Herschel’s surveying work.

Wikipedia – Herschel 400 Catalogue – Detailed object table with cross-references to Messier & NGC.

Go-Astronomy – Herschel 400 List – Online reference with sortable data and sky map.

Herschel’s General Catalogue (1864) – Archive.org – Original scanned catalog of nebulae and clusters.

Royal Society – Herschel Catalog Scans – PDF facsimiles of Herschel’s 1786, 1789, 1802 nebulae papers. The complete online text of “A general catalogue of nebulæ and clusters of stars, arranged in order of right ascension and reduced to the common epoch 1860.0 (with precessions computed for the epoch 1880.0)” by Herschel, John F. W. (John Frederick William), Sir, 1792-1871

Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae & Clusters (1786 PDF) – William Herschel’s first great nebula catalog (Philosophical Transactions vol. 76 pp. 457-499) scanned in full! A downloadable Scan of "Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars" (PDF). By William Herschel. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 76: 457–499. Bibcode:1786RSPT...76..457H

Catalogue of a Second Thousand of New Nebulae (1789 PDF) – Herschel’s follow-up paper adding another 1 000 objects and remarks on the heavens’ structure. A downloadable scan of the "Catalogue of a Second Thousand of New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars; with a Few Introductory Remarks on the Construction of the Heavens", by William Herschel. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 79: 212–255. Bibcode:1789RSPT...79..212H. doi:10.1098/rstl.1789.0021.

Catalogue of 500 New Nebulae & Clusters (1802 PDF) – Third installment listing 500 more nebulae, including planetary nebulae, with construction-of-the-sky commentary. A downloadable scan of "Catalogue of 500 New Nebulae, Nebulous Stars, Planetary Nebulae, and Clusters of Stars; with Remarks on the Construction of the Heavens", By William Herschel. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 92: 477–528. Bibcode:1802RSPT...92..477H. doi:10.1098/rstl.1802.0021.

https://ia903207.us.archive.org/20/items/jstor-106639/106639.pdf - Anotehr PDF of “Catalogue of One Thousand New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars. By William Herschel, LL.D. F. R. S.”. This one is a little cleaner.

Second-Thousand Catalogue (clean scan, PDF) – High-resolution copy of the 1789 paper suitable for printing or detailed study. his a clener downloadbale PDF of “Catalogue of a Second Thousand of New Nebulae and Clusters of Stars; With a Few Introductory Remarks on the Construction of the Heavens. By William Herschel, L L. D. F. R. S.” from Herschel, William, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Catalogue of Nebulae & Clusters of Stars (1863 PDF) – Sir John Herschel’s consolidated catalog (2 510 objects) that became the basis for the NGC; full 1863 scan.

Herschel 400 Guide – Part I (PDF) – Observing charts and object notes for the first 134 entries of the Astronomical League’s Herschel 400 program.

Herschel 400 Guide – Part II (PDF) – Continuation covering objects 135-267 with finder charts and data.

Herschel 400 Guide – Part III (PDF) – Final volume (objects 268-400) completing the full Herschel 400 observing guide.

Astronomical League – Herschel 400 Program – the official observing program page for the Herschel 400, providing the full list of 400 deep-sky objects (a subset of the Herschels’ discoveries ) along with program details and resources for observers.

Herschel 400 Observing Guide – Cambridge University Press – Guidebook providing detailed information and observing tips for the Herschel 400 catalog.

Hickson Compact Groups

HCG List – Wikipedia – Table of all 100 Hickson groups with positions, redshifts, and member counts.

LBN Catalog

http://cdsads.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1965ApJS...12..163L&amp;data_type=PDF_HIGH&amp;whole_paper=YES&amp;type=PRINTER&amp;filetype=.pdf - This is a link to the original paper written by Beverly T. Lynds on the Catalog of Bright Nebulae.

LDN Catalog

Go-Astronomy – LDN List – Complete coordinates and sizes for all 1,700 Lynds Dark Nebulae

PGC / LEDA

HyperLeda Database – Search 3 million galaxies by name, position, redshift, or diameter; returns detailed photometry and morphology.

Quasars

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_quasars -A list of Quasars in Wikipedia

https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/W3Browse/all/milliquas.html - MILLIQUAS: The Million Quasars Catalog, Version 8

Sharpless Catalog

SharplessCatalog.com – Dedicated site with data, images, and observing notes on all Sh-objects.

GalaxyMap – Sharpless Objects – Interactive Milky Way map with Sharpless nebulae.

PDF Atlas of the Sharpless Catalog – 200-page atlas of Sh objects with charts and survey plates.

Neutral.org – Sharpless Comprehensive List – Data table with alternate IDs and images

http://astro.neutral.org/sharpless/sharpless-catalogue-list.html - This is a great comprehensive list of the Sharpless Catalog.

en.wikipedia.org – Wikipedia overview of Stewart Sharpless’s catalog of 313 H II regions (emission nebulae), with a list of all Sharpless objects and their basic data .

In-The-Sky.org – Sharpless Catalog – Interactive list of 313 H II regions with visibility charts for any observing site.

The Sharpless Catalog – Adventures in Deep Space – Overview and selection of notable Sharpless catalog objects with descriptions and observing notes.

The Local Group

https://www.faintfuzzies.com/Files/LocalGroup%20v2.pdf - The galaxies consisting of our own Local Group!

Uppsala General Catalogue (UGC)

UGC Online (PDF Scans) – Digitised pages of the 12 921-object UGC with positions, sizes and magnitudes for northern galaxies.

vdB Catalog

http://www.emilivanov.com/CCD%20Images/Catalog_VdB.htm - Emil Ivanov’s vdB list - nice reference

vdB Catalog – Wikipedia – Table of 158 reflection nebulae with positions, magnitudes and cross-IDs.

Wolf-Rayet Stars

http://www.pacrowther.staff.shef.ac.uk/WRcat/ An online catalog of all of the known examples of these massive stars!

Forums

https://www.cloudynights.com/ - In my option, this is the best Astro-based forum out there today.

Stargazers Lounge – Large international forum with active imaging, equipment, and processing sections.

History of Astronomy

Historical Astronomy Division (AAS) – A rich portal of digitized books, primary sources, and bibliographies maintained by the American Astronomical Society’s HAD. An excellent first stop for serious historical research. 

Chronology of Early Astronomy & Space Science – NASA GSFC – Scrollable timeline highlighting key milestones from ancient Babylonian records to 20th-century space telescopes. 

Interactive Timeline of Astronomy – The Schools’ Observatory – An engaging, clickable timeline that lets visitors “travel through time” and meet the people who built our understanding of the cosmos. 

Linda Hall Library Digital Collections – History of Astronomy – Free, high-resolution scans of rare celestial atlases, star catalogues, and classic texts, plus short curator essays that put each work in context. 

Adler Planetarium Online Exhibits – 25 Google Arts & Culture exhibits showcasing centuries of astronomical instruments, giant telescopes, and the people behind them. 

Society for the History of Astronomy – Digital Resources – Links to digitized observatory archives, historical star catalogues, and SHA presentations; ideal for deep dives into observational heritage. 

CK-12 “History of Astronomy” Lesson – Concise, student-friendly overview from ancient Greece to the Big Bang; good for readers who want a quick primer. 

Hubble History Timeline (NASA) – Text-based timeline following the space telescope’s journey from 1946 concept to decades of discovery, with links to imagery and science highlights. 

High-Energy Astronomy Chronology (HEASARC) – Year-by-year log of X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy milestones (1900–present) kept by NASA’s HEASARC. 

Moon

Maps

https://cseligman.com/text/moons/moonmap.htm

https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/search/map/Moon/Geology/Unified_Geologic_Map_of_the_Moon_GIS_v2

https://moon.nasa.gov/observe-the-moon-night/resources/moon-map/

Phases

https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/ - Simple Lunar Phase calendar

https://stardate.org/nightsky/moon - Lunar phase calendar and calculator

http://www.astropixels.com/ephemeris/phasescat/phasescat.html  Six Millennia of phases!

General Info

NASA Moon – The one-stop portal for everything lunar: observing guides, Artemis mission updates, science news, images, and downloadable resources. 

Virtual Moon Atlas – Free desktop atlas with high-resolution maps, feature search, customizable lighting, and export tools for planning detailed lunar observing sessions. 

Lunar Photo of the Day (LPOD) – Daily annotated image curated by planetary scientist Chuck Wood, blending stunning photography with bite-size lunar science lessons. 

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) – Mission site with the QuickMap browser, global mosaics, and articles revealing the Moon’s geology in unprecedented detail. 

Lunar and Planetary Institute – Moon Resources – Extensive repository of lunar science papers, maps, mission catalogs, and classroom activities. 

USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature – Moon – Official database of named lunar features with coordinates, diameters, and naming origins—indispensable for selenographers. 

NASA Artemis Program – Overview of the missions, technology, and timelines driving humanity’s return to the lunar surface this decade. 

ISRO Chandrayaan Missions – India’s Chandrayaan-1, 2 & 3 mission pages detailing instruments, discoveries (like polar water ice), and future plans. 

Smithsonian Air & Space – Destination Moon – Virtual exhibit showcasing Apollo artifacts, spacecraft, and personal stories from the race to the Moon. 

Google Arts & Culture – Moon Landing Project – Interactive timelines, 3-D models, and archival photos celebrating Apollo 11 and other milestone missions. 

JAXA Kaguya (SELENE) – Japan’s lunar orbiter site with HD video flyovers, gravity data, and science results on the Moon’s origin and evolution.  

Observatories

Historic Observatories

Leviathan of Parsonstown (Birr Castle) – William Parsons’s 72-inch reflector (1845) was the world’s largest telescope for 72 years and first revealed spiral structure in “nebulae” such as M 51. 

Great Lick Refractor – Lick Observatory – Completed in 1888, the 36-inch refractor was then the biggest lens telescope and enabled seminal discoveries of galaxy rotation and the first asteroid moon. 

Yerkes Observatory (40-inch Refractor) – Dedicated 1897 in Wisconsin, still the largest refractor ever built and dubbed the “birthplace of modern astrophysics.” 

Hooker Telescope (100-inch) – Mt. Wilson – World’s largest (1917-48); Edwin Hubble used it to prove galaxies lie beyond the Milky Way and that the universe is expanding. 

Plaskett Telescope (72-inch) – Dominion Astrophysical Obs. – 1918 Canadian reflector that mapped the Milky Way’s rotation and mass distribution. 

Otto Struve Telescope (82-inch) – McDonald Obs. – 1939 instrument (2nd-largest then) pivotal for stellar spectroscopy and planet-search work. 

Hale Telescope (200-inch) – Palomar – Dedicated 1948; ruled optical astronomy until 1993, discovering quasars, brown dwarfs, and more. 

Lovell Telescope – Jodrell Bank – At 76 m, the largest steerable radio dish in 1957; tracked early space probes and found the first pulsar in a binary system. 

Arecibo Radio Telescope (305 m) – 1963–2016 record-holder for single-dish size, famous for radar-mapping asteroids, pulsar timing, and the Arecibo Message. 

Modern Observatories

W. M. Keck Observatory – Twin 10 m segmented-mirror telescopes on Maunakea; pioneers of adaptive optics and exoplanet imaging. 

ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) – Four 8.2 m unit telescopes (plus 1.8 m auxiliaries) on Cerro Paranal that can combine as an interferometer for milli-arcsecond resolution. 

Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) – 39 m optical/IR giant under construction in Chile; will be the world’s largest eye on the sky by late 2020s. 

Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) – Seven 8.4 m mirrors acting as one 25 m aperture; promises 10× Hubble’s resolution when it sees first light (~2030). 

Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) – Unique twin-mirror 2×8.4 m design on Mt. Graham, Arizona, achieving 22.8 m interferometric resolution for exoplanet and high-contrast imaging. 

Gemini Observatory (North & South) – Two 8.1 m telescopes in Hawai‘i and Chile offering full-sky coverage for optical/IR programs from supernovae to stellar birth. 

Subaru Telescope – 8.2 m Japanese telescope on Maunakea noted for ultra-wide-field imaging (Hyper Suprime-Cam) and surveys of dark matter & high-redshift galaxies. 

South African Large Telescope (SALT) – 11 m effective segmented mirror (largest in the Southern Hemisphere) conducting spectroscopy from exoplanets to distant quasars. 

LOFAR Radio Array – Europe-wide low-frequency radio array probing cosmic magnetism, transients, and the epoch of re-ionisation. 

FAST (500 m) Radio Telescope – China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, now the world’s largest single-dish radio instrument, excelling at pulsar and FRB discovery. 

Vera C. Rubin Observatory – 8.4 m wide-field survey telescope with a 3.2-gigapixel camera to carry out the decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time from 2025. 

Home Observatories

Building a Roll-Off Roof Observatory – All About Astro – Two-part article that walks through site prep, concrete pier, framing, roof rollers, wiring, and the lessons the author learned building a full-size roll-off shed. 

SkyShed Roll-Off Observatory Plans – Free overview of SkyShed’s widely used DIY plans, with material lists and construction tips for an attractive, fully functional backyard roll-off observatory. 

Backyard Observatory Using SkyShed Plans – Instructables – Step-by-step photo diary showing every stage of a wood-frame roll-off build based on SkyShed blueprints. 

How to Make a Simple Backyard Observatory – Sky & Telescope – Classic guide to a compact, low-cost “doghouse” observatory that can be built in a weekend. 

Whispering Skies Observatory Project Blog - By Patrick Cosgrove, of Cosgrove’s Cosmos. A series of blog posts covering his project to create a 4-Pier Roll-Off_Roof-Observatory. From concept, to land search, to design, construction.

Whispering Skies Observatory Project Videos on YouTube. This is the Whispering Skies video collection on YouTube

A Tiny Telescope Observatory – Instructables – Illustrated 15-step tutorial for a miniature roll-off shed designed to survive heavy snow loads. 

My $500 Roll-Off Roof Observatory Build – Cloudy Nights – Forum build log documenting a budget observatory made from a prefabricated metal shed. 

Backyard Observatory Build – Astronomy For Everyone (YouTube) – 30-minute episode following a ground-up backyard observatory project from pier pour to first light. 

Economical Backyard Observatory – Instructables – Low-cost roll-off design using common lumber and corrugated panels; ideal for small scopes or camera rigs. 

Mini Backyard Observatory Build Guide (Playlist) – Three-part video series showing the framing, automation, and first-light workflow of a compact roll-off-roof observatory. 

Build: My Roll-Over Roof Observatory – Stargazers Lounge – UK forum thread with photos and parts list for converting a standard garden shed into a roll-over roof observatory. 

Why I Built a Backyard Observatory – AstroBackyard – Blog post and photo essay of Trevor Jones’s SkyShed POD dome (“Black Dog Observatory”) with cost breakdown and performance gains for astrophotography. 

How to Build a Home Observatory – BBC Sky at Night Magazine – Detailed PDF plans and siting advice for a timber roll-off structure, plus dome-vs-shed pros and cons. 

Planets

General

https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/ Nice overview on planets and planet exploration

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Planets Wikipedia Entry

https://theplanets.org/ Great site that covers the planets in our solar system!

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/planets/ Nova series on the planets!

Planets - In Our Solar System

Mercury

NASA Mercury Overview – Quick facts, interior/surface science, interactive graphics, and latest news. 

MESSENGER Mission – NASA – Full archive of the 2011-2015 orbiter that mapped 100 % of Mercury and revealed its inner core, magnetic field, and ice-filled polar craters. 

Mariner 10 Mission – Historic 1974-75 flyby that returned the first close-up images of Mercury and discovered its huge iron core. 

USGS Mercury Global Mosaic – Downloadable, map-projected basemap at 166 m/px for detailed crater and albedo studies. 

Mercury Fact Sheet – NSSDCA – One-page table of physical and orbital parameters for quick reference. 

Venus

NASA Venus Overview – Essential facts, climate, interior structure, and image galleries. 

Magellan Mission – Radar-mapped 98 % of Venus; mission summary, science results, and global SAR mosaics. 

Pioneer Venus Project – Orbiter & probe data on Venus’s atmosphere and surface from the late 1970s/80s. 

USGS Venus Cartography – High-resolution radar maps, geologic charts, and downloadable GIS layers. 

Venus Fact Sheet – NSSDCA – Key planetary parameters in one place. 

Earth

NASA “In-Depth: Earth” – Overview of Earth science, formation history, and exploration (linked to satellite missions). 

Earth Fact Sheet – NSSDCA – Definitive table of bulk, orbital, and atmospheric data. 

The Blue Marble – NASA Visible Earth – Downloadable, cloud-free global map ideal for Earth-Moon or Earth-planet size comparisons. 

Planetary Fact Sheet Index – Jump-off page to compare every planet’s numbers against Earth. 

Mars

NASA Mars Exploration Program – Mission timeline, science goals, rover/drone status, and multimedia. 

Mars Quick Facts (PDF) – Printable one-sheet of essential stats, gravity, and day-length comparisons. 

USGS MOLA Topographic Map of Mars – Global elevation map from Mars Global Surveyor laser altimetry; perfect for planning imaging targets. 

Mars Fact Sheet – NSSDCA – Authoritative data table for mass, radius, orbital elements, and atmosphere. 

NASA Mars Portal – Gateway to mission news, raw rover images, and multimedia about the Red Planet. 

https://discover.join1440.com/topics/mars - 1440’s excellent overview of the planet Mars, along with a rich collection of articles and videos on topics related to Mars. Very well done.

Jupiter

NASA Jupiter Overview – Fast facts, internal structure, atmosphere, moons, and resource links. 

Juno Mission – Current polar-orbiting probe mapping Jupiter’s gravity, magnetic field, and auroras. 

Galileo Mission – 1995-2003 orbiter that delivered the first probe into Jupiter’s atmosphere and discovered subsurface oceans on moons. 

USGS Astrogeology WMS Layers – Jupiter System – Browse/download basemaps and nomenclature layers for Jupiter and its satellites. 

Jupiter Fact Sheet – NSSDCA – Detailed physical and orbital numbers. 

Saturn

NASA Saturn Overview – Key facts, ring science, moons, and interactive resources. 

Cassini-Huygens Mission – 2004-17 flagship orbiter (plus Titan lander) that revolutionized our view of Saturn and its moons. 

Voyager Flybys of Saturn – Classic 1980/81 encounters that revealed the ring spokes, shepherd moons, and Titan’s haze. 

USGS Saturn & Satellites Foundational Data – Links to global mosaics and DEMs for rings and major moons (Titan, Enceladus, Tethys, etc.). 

Saturn Fact Sheet – NSSDCA – Comprehensive table of physical/atmospheric parameters. 

Uranus

NASA Uranus Overview – Snapshot of the ice giant’s tilt, rings, atmosphere, and moons. 

Voyager 2 Uranus Encounter – Mission images, discoveries, and legacy science. 

USGS Uranus Gazetteer & Maps – Official feature names and downloadable cartographic products for Uranus’s moons. 

Uranus Fact Sheet – NSSDCA – Physical, orbital, and atmospheric data at a glance. 

Neptune

NASA Neptune “10 Things” – Fast facts, composition, storms, and rings of the outermost planet. 

Voyager 2 Neptune Flyby – Image gallery and science summary from the only close encounter (1989). 

USGS Neptunian System Gazetteer – Official nomenclature and links to Triton/Proteus map layers. 

Neptune Fact Sheet – NSSDCA – Up-to-date mass, radius, density, and orbital elements. 

Pluto (I know it’s no longer considered a planet. Call me a rebel!)

NASA Pluto Overview – Key facts, size comparisons, orbit data, and quick-read science highlights for the solar system’s famous dwarf planet. 

New Horizons Mission – Mission hub for the 2015 fly-by that revealed Pluto’s mountains of water-ice, flowing nitrogen glaciers, and blue atmospheric haze. Includes image galleries, data sets, and Kuiper-Belt extended-mission updates. 

USGS Pluto Global Mosaic (300 m/px) – High-resolution, map-projected basemap built from New Horizons LORRI/MVIC images—ideal for studying terrain or planning observation projects. 

Pluto Fact Sheet – NSSDCA – Concise table of physical, orbital, and atmospheric parameters (mass, radius, surface gravity, temperature, pressure, composition). Perfect for quick reference or comparisons. 

HubbleSite Pluto Image Archive – Historic and recent Hubble observations of Pluto and Charon, showing the dwarf planet’s surface variations and seasonal changes pre-New Horizons. 

Pluto Exploration Timeline – NASA – Interactive timeline tracking every Pluto mission from early concepts to New Horizons and future Kuiper Belt objectives, plus links to mission science papers.  

Exoplanets & Planet-Finding

NASA Exoplanet Exploration – Gateway to NASA’s exoplanet program with mission summaries, discovery dashboards, and interactive “What Is an Exoplanet?” explainers. 

NASA Exoplanet Archive – The master database of all confirmed and candidate exoplanets, offering light-curve downloads, transit plots, and handy comparison tables. 

Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia (exoplanet.eu) – Long-running, researcher-maintained catalogue that updates daily with new detections and includes tools for plotting planetary system parameters. 

PHL Habitable Worlds Catalog – Curated list (formerly Habitable Exoplanets Catalog) ranking worlds by habitability metrics, maintained by the Planetary Habitability Laboratory. 

Planet Hunters TESS (Zooniverse) – Citizen-science project that lets volunteers sift TESS light curves to spot new exoplanet transits missed by automated algorithms. 

TESS Mission – Official site for NASA’s all-sky Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, with data releases, discovery stats, and observing sector maps. 

CHEOPS Mission – ESA – Europe’s CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite page detailing its high-precision follow-up of known planets to refine their sizes and densities. 

Open Exoplanet Catalogue – Community-driven, open-source database of every published exoplanet, available in human-readable JSON/XML for custom apps or research. 

Eyes on Exoplanets (NASA/JPL) – 3-D web tool that lets you “fly” to thousands of confirmed planets, view orbits, and compare planetary sizes interactively. 

NASA Exoplanet Citizen Science Hub – Round-up of NASA-affiliated projects (Planet Hunters, Exoplanet Watch, Disk Detective) where amateurs can help discover and characterize new worlds. 

Exoplanet Watch (NASA) – Program that supplies data—or guides you in collecting your own—to measure exoplanet transits and contribute light curves to a NASA database. 

Planning

https://telescopius.com/ - Convenient online resource for planning and target selection

https://www.astrobin.com/ Preeminent Worldwide Astrophography site - great tools for exploring objects by constellation - very useful for planning purposes.

Astroplanner - AstroPlanner is a software application for Macintosh and Windows computers that facilitates astronomical observation planning, visualisation and logging, as well as control of telescopes with computerised go-to mounts or digital setting circle controllers AstroPlanner is shareware and you are welcome to download and try a fully-functional version at no cost. (Thanks to Dave Kreiton for the addition!)

SpaceWeather - News and information about the Earth-Sun environment. Great info and site. Thanks to Dave Kreiton for suggesting this!

Clear Dark Sky Charts – Hour-by-hour forecasts of cloud cover, transparency, and seeing for 6,000+ North American observing sites, plus Moon-phase illumination. 

Platesolving

Astrometry.net (Web Upload) – Upload an image and get an automatic WCS solution with object IDs.

ASTAP – Free, super-fast local plate solver and image-analysis toolkit.

PlaneWave – PlateSolve2 Download – Lightweight stand-alone solver used by many imaging suites.

Quasars

Wikipedia – Quasar – Detailed reference on quasar properties, discovery, and cosmological relevance.

RASC – Visually Observing Quasars (PDF) – Guide to identifying and observing bright quasars with amateur gear.

Wikipedia – List of Quasars – Catalog of notable quasars with coordinates and finder info.

Satellites

Ooma – Communications Satellites & Space Exploration – Intro article explaining satellite types and orbits (good for beginners). (Thanks to Tyler and Kelly for suggesting!)

Heavens-Above – Real-time pass predictions and 3-D visualisation for ISS, Starlink, and thousands of satellites. 

Live ISS Tracking - NASA sight shows the position of he International Spae Station (ISS) at any given moment. Suggested by RIck Albreacht

Societies, Associations & Nonprofits

List of U.S. Astronomical Societies – Wikipedia – Handy directory of regional clubs and national bodies.

Amateur Astronomers Association (NYC) – Active public-outreach club offering lectures, observing, and classes.

American Astronomical Society (AAS) – Professional organization for U.S. astronomers; publishes major journals.

American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) – International network of variable-star observers; free databases and tools.

Astronomical League – Federation of U.S. clubs offering observing programs and awards.

Astronomical League – Club Finder – State-by-state directory of local astronomy clubs.

The Herschel Society – UK group preserving the legacy of William, Caroline, and John Herschel.

International Astronomical Union (IAU) – Global professional body that governs celestial nomenclature.

The Planetary Society – Citizen-powered space-advocacy nonprofit founded by Carl Sagan.

Royal Astronomical Society (UK) – Learned society supporting astronomy and geophysics since 1820.

Rochester Academy of Science – Astronomy Section – Western NY club with dark-sky site, public outreach, and supernova page.

Stellar Vista Observatory - A non profit based in Kanab, Utah. The mission of the Stellar Vista Observatory is to provide observational experiences for people to enjoy, appreciate, and comprehend what we can see in southern Utah’s starry night skies.

Webb Deep-Sky Society – UK-based society focused on deep-sky observing and publication of member research.

Star Charts Online

Stellarium Web – Browser-based planetarium with real-time sky simulation.

TheSkyLive – Planetarium – Interactive chart with planetary positions, comet tracks, and deep-sky database.

Google Sky – Google Maps interface overlaying multi-wavelength all-sky imagery.

Space Exploration

NASA Artemis Program – Gateway page for the return-to-the-Moon campaign, with mission timelines, technology overviews, and Moon-to-Mars plans. 

ESA Human & Robotic Exploration – European Space Agency portal for ISS activities, lunar initiatives, and future Mars missions, plus an interactive ISS tracker and astronaut news. 

JPL Mission Index – Up-to-date catalog of past, present, and planned NASA/JPL spacecraft with launch dates, objectives, images, and status reports. 

Planetary Society – Space Exploration Missions – Non-profit hub that explains why each mission matters, tracks active spacecraft, and offers ways to get involved in advocacy. 

Spaceflight Now – Launch Schedule – Continuously updated global manifest of upcoming launches, with vehicle/mission details and live-coverage links. 

RocketLaunch.live – Real-time launch calendar covering SpaceX, ULA, ESA, ISRO, Rocket Lab, and more, with filters, past-launch log, and mission alerts. 

NASA “Eyes on the Solar System” – Free 3-D web app that lets you fly alongside every NASA spacecraft—past, present, or future—and explore planets and moons in real time. 

NASA “Spot the Station” – Live map and alert service for tracking the International Space Station’s orbit and local sighting opportunities. 

NASASpaceflight.com – Independent news site offering in-depth reporting, insider analysis, and livestreams of launches, test campaigns, and commercial-space developments. 

SpaceX – Launches – Official mission page with upcoming and past Falcon-9, Falcon Heavy, Starship, and Dragon flights, including webcast replays and mission briefs. 

Blue Origin – New Shepard – Overview of Blue Origin’s reusable sub-orbital rocket system for science payloads and commercial crews, with flight history and vehicle specs. 

United Launch Alliance – ULA’s official site covering Atlas V, Delta IV Heavy, and Vulcan launches, mission archives, and vehicle fact sheets. 

Software

Planetarium Software

Stellarium (Desktop) – free and open-source planetarium software for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Cartes du Ciel / SkyChart – free planetarium with advanced chart-printing and telescope-control features.

Kstars - KStars is a free and open-source astronomy software that simulates the night sky. It's a versatile tool for students, educators, amateur astronomers, and astronomy enthusiasts. KStars accurately simulates the sky, including planets, stars, deep-sky objects, comets, and asteroids. It also offers features like adjustable simulation speeds, observation planning, and astrophotography control. Thanks to Dave Kreiton for suggesting this!

Sky Safari - This is a premium software item for the Mac universe - primarily running on IOS, but the recent high end offerings can also be run on MacOS. I’ve never used this, but it seems to have a lot of interesting features and upgrade options. (Thanks to Rich Csenge for bringing this to my attention!)

Guiding Software

PHD2 Guiding – The standard open-source auto-guiding application: easy “Push-Here-Dummy” workflow. The gold standard of guiding software. It does it all, and does it well. Free!

Sequence Control Software

Astro Photography Tool (APT) – Affordable, user-friendly capture automation suite (Windows). This was my first sequence control package. Easy to learn. Demo available but this is premium software but with a very reasonable price.

N.I.N.A. – Nighttime Imaging ‘N’ Astronomy – Powerful open-source imaging sequencer with plug-in ecosystem. An amazing and very cable sequence control suite with plug-in capabilities that bring a large set of expanded capabilities to it. This is Open Source software with no fees. I am late coming to NINA, but I can tell you that I have found it very powerful and pretty easy to learn to use. Frankly - I am now sure why I would spend money on other software with this being available - but that is just my opinion.

Sequence Generator Pro – Feature-rich commercial capture suite popular with deep-sky imagers. Most of my images were captured with this software. This is premium software with a yearly license fee.

Voyager – Premium automation software noted for rock-solid reliability and advanced scripting.

Kstars - KStars is a free and open-source astronomy software that simulates the night sky. It's a versatile tool for students, educators, amateur astronomers, and astronomy enthusiasts. KStars accurately simulates the sky, including planets, stars, deep-sky objects, comets, and asteroids. It also offers features like adjustable simulation speeds, observation planning, and astrophotography control. Thanks to Dave Kreiton for suggesting this!

Pixinsight Image Processing

Pixinsights’s Channel in YouTube. A great set of introductory videos for Pixinsight.

Pixinsight Part 1 of 12  total beginners tutorial. Mitch's Youtube Tutorial Series - a GREAT place to start your Pixinsight journey

https://tinyurl.com/t7z2k7cn - An amazon link to Warren Keller’s Book “Inside Pixinsight”

https://thecoldestnights.com/2020/06/pixinsight-dynamic-narrowband-combinations-with-pixelmath/ - some nice stuff on band

blending and mixing

https://www.youtube.com/c/adamblock - Adam Block’s free Youtube Channel. Adam’s stuff is the best in my opinion.

https://www.adamblockstudios.com/ - This is Adam Block's premium Pixinsight instruction service. VERY pricey - but worth it if you really want to get a better understanding of how to use Pixinsight well.

Cosgrove’s Cosmos 2-Minute Tutorials Series on Youtube. This is a series of short video (ok not quite 2 minutes - some go longer!) that take one apsect of Pixinsight and focuses a short practical tutorial on it. A more organized and curated view of this series can be seen on this website HERE.

https://www.youtube.com/@anotherastrochannel2173 - This is Bill Blanshan’s channel - he creates great Pixinsight Scripts.

https://www.youtube.com/@rrcroman - Russel Croman’s Channel - cerator of great AI software!

Deconvolution

https://astrodoc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sky-and-Telescope-July-2017-Deconvolution-article.pdf - A well-written article by Ron Brecher on the use of deconvolution, which appeared in Sky & Telescope

https://jonrista.com/the-astrophotographers-guide/pixinsights/proper-use-of-regularized-richardson-lucy-deconvolution/ - A really useful article written by Jon Rista, where he describes the use of Wavelet Regularization to handle noise rather than an object mask: 

https://cosgrovescosmos.com/tips-n-techniques/using-deconvolutioninpixinsight-part1-introduction - My own article on the use of Deconvolution - a series in 7 parts

https://www.pixinsight.com/examples/M81M82/index.html - written by Juan Conejero of Pixinsight, offering a Deconvolution and Noise Control Example with M81/82.

Image-Processing Software (Beyond PixInsight)

Siril – Free, cross-platform deep-sky workflow suite (calibration → stacking → stretching) with new AI-assisted color calibration and star removal tools. 

DeepSkyStacker – Classic Windows freeware that excels at registering and stacking long-exposure deep-sky frames, flats, darks, and bias files. 

Astro Pixel Processor (APP) – Commercial but widely used all-in-one package noted for easy mosaic creation, advanced gradient reduction, and excellent multi-band blending. 

StarTools – Signal-tracking image processor that lets you push noise levels safely; includes modules for wipe-gradients, deconvolution, and vivid star mask editing. 

Sequator – Lightweight, free Windows app for aligning and stacking DSLR night-scape frames without an equatorial mount, ideal for Milky Way shooters. 

RegiStax 6 – Popular planetary/solar stacking + wavelet-sharpening program that squeezes detail out of lucky-imaging video sequences. 

AutoStakkert! – Fast, sub-pixel accurate alignment/stacker for planetary and lunar videos; pairs perfectly with RegiStax for final sharpening. 

GIMP Astrophotography Tutorial (YouTube) – Step-by-step video showing a full deep-sky processing workflow in the free, open-source GIMP editor. 

Affinity Photo Astro Workflow Guide – Community thread + video links demonstrating stacking, gradient removal, and star-shaping in Affinity Photo. 

Photoshop Astronomy Tools Action Set (Video Overview) – 15-minute walk-through of the popular one-click action bundle that automates star shrink, noise reduction, and H-alpha boost in Adobe Photoshop. 

Topaz DeNoise AI for Astro – Article reviewing strengths and pitfalls of AI-driven noise reduction/sharpening on nebula and galaxy images. 

BlurXTerminator – AI-powered deconvolution plug-in for PixInsight that sharpens and corrects optical/atmospheric blur without inventing detail. 

NoiseXTerminator – Fast neural-network noise reducer for PixInsight & Photoshop, trained exclusively on deep-sky data to preserve faint structures while smoothing background noise. 

StarXTerminator – AI star-removal tool (PixInsight, Photoshop, Affinity) that separates stars from nebulae/galaxies for independent processing or star-less compositions. 

GraXpert – Free, open-source tool that uses AI to eliminate gradients/vignetting from astro images; works stand-alone or as a PixInsight companion. 

Star Formation & Stellar Evolution

NASA Science – Stars: Basics – Clear NASA primer on how stars form in cold molecular clouds, ignite fusion, evolve through distinct life-cycle stages, and seed the cosmos with heavy elements. 

ESA Science – The Lifecycle of Stars – Illustrated overview of where stars are born, what sets their masses, and how stellar deaths recycle material for new generations. 

OpenStax Astronomy 2e §21.2 “The H-R Diagram & Stellar Evolution” – Free college-level textbook chapter that traces evolutionary tracks across the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram for stars of different masses. 

Stellar Evolutionary Tracks Interactive – Penn State ASTRO 801 – Interactive HR diagram showing how a Sun-like star changes temperature and luminosity from protostar to main-sequence and beyond. 

“Birth of Stars” – Khan Academy Video – Five-minute lesson that explains gravitational collapse, protostars, and the onset of nuclear fusion in an accessible whiteboard style. 

ESA/Hubble – Formation of Stars – Image-rich explainer featuring spectacular Hubble mosaics of stellar nurseries such as the Orion Nebula and Carina’s dust pillars. 

Chandra X-ray Observatory – Stellar Evolution Infographic (PDF) – High-resolution flow-chart summarizing the life paths of low-, intermediate-, and high-mass stars from birth to endpoints like white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. 

Stellar Structure & Evolution Simulator (UIUC) – Web app that lets you evolve stars of various masses on an HR diagram and visualize interior changes over time. 

AAVSO Manual for Visual Observing of Variable Stars (PDF) – Comprehensive 80-page guide to tracking brightness changes in variable stars, a key tool for studying stellar evolution in real time. 

NASA Image Feature – Formation of Stars – Short article highlighting Chandra, Spitzer, and ground-based imagery that reveals triggered star formation inside the Cepheus B molecular cloud. 

The Sun

NASA Science – Our Sun: Facts – Concise NASA primer covering the Sun’s age, size, structure, fusion engine, and role in the solar system. 

Sun – Wikipedia – Comprehensive article on the Sun’s physical properties, internal layers, magnetic activity, solar cycle, and the long history of solar research. 

NASA “Spots, Waves & Wind: A Solar Science Timeline” – Illustrated timeline tracing major milestones in humanity’s study of the Sun, from ancient eclipse records to modern spacecraft. 

SpaceWeather.com – Daily updates on sunspots, flares, CMEs, aurora forecasts, and real-time solar wind data for observers and radio/aurora watchers. 

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) – Official U.S. hub for real-time space-weather measurements, solar storm alerts, and geomagnetic forecasts. 

Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) – Mission site streaming ultra-high-resolution images of the Sun in multiple wavelengths, showcasing flares, prominences, and sunspot evolution. 

Helioviewer – Interactive web tool to browse, zoom, and create movies from archival and near-real-time solar images (SDO, SOHO, Solar Orbiter, etc.). 

Astronomical League – How to Safely Observe the Sun – Step-by-step guide to solar filters, projection methods, and gear for safe visual or photographic solar observing. 

NASA Eclipse Viewing Safety – NASA’s authoritative instructions for eye-safe viewing of partial, annular, and total solar eclipses (glasses, filters, pin-hole viewers). 

Sun 101 – National Geographic (YouTube) – Three-minute video explainer on how the Sun works, why it’s vital to life on Earth, and what happens during extreme solar activity. 

Supernova

Rochester Astronomy – Bright Supernovae – Daily-updated list of current supernova discoveries with finder charts. Unique resource on the latest Supernova reports

IAU Transient Name Server (TNS) – Official, up-to-the-minute database of newly discovered supernovae and other transients. 

Telescope & Gear Reviews

Cloudy Nights – User Review Index – The largest collection of amateur-written telescope, eyepiece, and accessory reviews, sortable by brand and aperture. 

Telescopic Watch – Independent site that has ranked and hands-on tested 300 + telescopes, with candid pros/cons and performance scores. 

Sky & Telescope – Test Reports – PDF archive of S&T’s lab-bench telescope evaluations, covering optical quality, mechanics, and field performance. 

Astronomy Technology Today – Free online magazine featuring in-depth gear reviews, upgrade projects, and how-to articles for hobbyists and imagers. 

AstroBackyard – Gear Reviews – Practical, photo-rich reviews of mounts, cameras, and accessories from a deep-sky astrophotographer’s perspective. 

Space.com – Telescope Buying Guides – Regularly updated “best of” round-ups and individual product tests by an editorial review team. 

High Point Scientific – Astronomy Hub Gear Guides – Retailer-authored, sales-free articles that explain telescope setup, accessories, and real-world gear performance. 

AstroBlender – Telescope Review Playlist (YouTube) – Hands-on video reviews of popular telescopes, mounts, and imaging gear with honest pros and cons. 

Sky & Telescope – Choosing a Telescope Guides – Buyer’s-guide articles that decode specs, compare designs, and spotlight budget-friendly 

Time & Ephemeris Tools

JPL Horizons Online Ephemeris – Generates high-precision positions and velocities for Solar-System bodies (planets, moons, asteroids, comets, spacecraft) for any date, location, or coordinate system. 

USNO Julian Date Converter – Quickly convert calendar dates/times to Julian Dates (and back) with the U.S. Naval Observatory’s official calculator. 

In-The-Sky.org Rise/Set & Finder Charts – Creates customised rise-and-set tables and printable finder charts for planets, comets, asteroids, or deep-sky objects for any observing site. 

Heavens-Above Interactive Sky Chart – Real-time star chart (plus satellite/ISS passes and Iridium flares) centred on your location and time, ideal for planning sessions. 

Timeanddate Astronomy Calculator – Computes sunrise/sunset, moonrise/moonset, twilight times, solar noon, and object altitudes for thousands of cities worldwide. 

Minor Planet Center Ephemeris Service – On-demand ephemerides and orbital elements for asteroids, comets, and irregular planetary satellites direct from the IAU’s MPC. 

IOTA Occultation Predictions – Up-to-date predictions of lunar, asteroid, and planetary occultations with downloadable path maps and timing tables. 

Stellarium Web Online Star Map – Browser-based planetarium that shows the sky from any location and date, with real-time alt-az coordinates, transits, and ephemerides. 

Wolf-Rayet Stars

Wolf–Rayet Star – Wikipedia – Overview of these massive, wind-blown stellar cores.

Swinburne Cosmos – Wolf–Rayet Entry – Encyclopaedia article on W-R spectra, evolution, and subtypes.

Universe Today – Wolf–Rayet Stars – Popular-science explainer with images and key facts.

Weather

https://www.astrospheric.com/ - Astropherics - The best weather site for astronomy and astrophotography. Free level and premium level. The Premiu level is worth it in my mind. CLoud predicitons way out - short term and details smoke plume predicitons.

https://clearoutside.com/  Clear Outside - is associated with the Astronomy.tools website.

https://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/ - Clear Dark Sky -This is a very popular clear night predictive map for the next week.

http://weather.rap.ucar.edu/satellite/ - Weather satellite images of your regions. See where the clouds are!

https://www.weather.gov/idp/ridge2landing - This cool site will show you Live radar maps for your area!

https://weather.ndc.nasa.gov/GOES/ - One of the best sites for getting satiliite views of a larger region and your local region (Provided to me by Gary Opitz - thanks Gary!)

SpaceWeather - News and information about the Earth-Sun environment. Great info and site. Thanks to Dave Kreiton for suggesting this!