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Astronomy: Astronomy: Comets, Planets and all that stuff

© Wayne Dawe

(Note: The Internet is a dynamic place and web sites can come and go quite quickly. This is one of my older and some of the links may not work anymore. If you find that this is the case I invite you to look at some of my more recent articles. My links section has my favorite links from past articles and is checked regularly for non working links. Wayne)

There are so many great astronomy resources on the Word Wide Web it can be really hard to decide which ones to list. Most kids have a great interest in space and the stars and though most of these sites aren't specifically designed for kids the information and pictures should entertain both young and old.

To help winnow down the list and get you started I'll start off with www.halebopp.com. I'd be surprised if you haven't heard of comet Hale-Bopp. For a while astronomers thought it might be quite spectacular but for now it appears that while it will be visible to the naked eye it may make as good a showing as was originally predicted. www.halebopp.com has information about the comet, some interesting pictures and links to other space related sites.

Another great astronomy related site is the Henrietta Leavitt Flat Screen Space Theatre. This is a virtual planetarium with great pictures and text, rotating shows and even a gift shop. The planetarium near where I lived recently closed down, which made me unhappy since I've always been a bit of a space nut, the Flat Screen Theatre fills a bit of that hole for me.

It's been pretty difficult to miss the spectacular space pictures that pop up periodically, the latest HST pictures can be viewed at this link. More spectacular space images and other space information can be found at the Observatorium which is a site maintained by NASA. Both sites have a wealth of space information, the main NASA site has space shuttle mission details and so much more.

The last site I'm going to throw your way this article is Exploring Space which while not exclusively astronomy based is a must see for kids (and anyone else) looking for information about space.

Don't forget to visit Suite 101's monthly astronomy column.

For those who are tired of being monitor potatoes and want to know more about astronomy most universities and colleges have small telescopes and often hold open houses which allow the general public to look through their equipment. Many cities and towns will also have an active community of amateur astronomers who will often meet, set up their telescopes and are quite happy to impart some of their enthusiasm about space to you or your kids. Your local telescope dealer can usually give you more information.

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