Night Sky Delight: 10 Awesome Animated and Interactive Astronomy Websites
Four hundred years ago, Galileo was the first person to view the night sky and this was when modern astronomy was born. With the United Nations declaring 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy, take a look at these awesome interactive and animated websites which will give you a little night sky delight.
Solar System Visualizer
screenshot by author
Thanks to some clever flash animation we can see the solar system in motion on this site. Not only that, we can click on each individual planet and watch the track of its own satellites. If you get through all of that, then you can fly out of our solar system and have a look at a few that have been discovered by astronomers.
Amazing Space
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Have you ever looked up and wondered about the constellations above you? This site gives you a guided tour through the January 2009 sky – not only the constellations but their compositions. It also tells you about the events that are happening in the sky this month – including meteor showers. If you are reading this after January 200 you can go the site’s main page and go to the current month. Fabulous!
The New Size of Our World
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If you already feel small when you ponder the size of our solar system and the constellations around us, then this will make you feel tiny! We first see our own solar system in context of the size of the planets compared to the sun. Then the sun is compared to other stars, from Aldebaran, through to Antares and finally VV Cephei, still the biggest star discovered. VV Cephei is then compared to the Milky Way Galaxy, all with a light rock sound track. Be prepared to feel truly dwarfed!
Titan!
screenshot by author
If the first two sites have left you feeling somewhat bewildered at the enormity of space, then perhaps a closer look at one of our close neighbors is in order. Titan, one of the satellites of Saturn, is one of the more interesting close to earth bodies and this site from NASA lets you take a very close look at the features of this moon. An extremely illuminating site, with lots of interactivity to keep you interested.
Cool Cosmos
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We can see a lot of the cosmos, but what if we were to use different parts of the spectrum. This amazing site shows us the M51 universe as it would look under different light, such as radio and infra-red. With infra-red for example you can see the birth place of new stars. Even now new stars are forming throughout the countless universes. An awesome site which could be on your screen for a long time!
50 Years of NASA
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A celebration of the first fifty years of NASA from the first tentative steps with Explorer and Mercury to this century. The whole thing is introduced by a Wall-E type robot which you will either find endearing or a complete aggravation. However, this site is a wonderful resource if you want an accessible way to discover how NASA have explored the solar system and beyond! In fact, all the NASA sites (although very US centric and the NA does stand for North America, after all!) are outstanding. Thanks, US tax payers!
Cosmic Evolution
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This site aims to appreciate the scale and the size of things in space throughout the billions years of history. It follows a year by year (or epoch by epoch) basis, showing what happened when and why it happened. There are plenty of movies to see on this site and it enables a fuller appreciation and knowledge of the cosmos – as we know it through the natural sciences.
Explore Mars
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With a visit to the planet Mars in our reach (at least technologically!) this site aims to show how it can be done, using hundreds of visual aids and pieces of information. Here you will get a thorough idea what a Mars Base will look like – and why – and what will happen when we get a footprint on the red planet. This is also a huge resource about the features of the planet – hugely entertaining and interesting!
Space!
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This site has everything you need to know about space (in the here and now!) than almost any other on the net. If you want immediate news of what is happening above you then this is where you may wish to go! There is lots of multimedia action too, with galleries, videos and more. It also has a top stories section, bringing all contemporary news about astronomy to you in one place. Astronomical!
Space!
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You can trust the BBC, as possibly the world’s largest public service provider website, to give you the goods. Here you will find virtually anything you want to know about astronomy, from deep space, to a study of light travel, to black holes and wormholes. Great stuff! A heap of interactive astronomy stuff here! You might expect this from the corporation that brought you Doctor Who, after all!
So here we end. Please note that this is not an exhaustive overview of the hundreds of sites out there – obviously! There are many omissions – please put your favorites in the comments box below if they are left out above!
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41 Responses to “Night Sky Delight: 10 Awesome Animated and Interactive Astronomy Websites”
On January 3, 2009 at 5:31 am
Wow! This must have taken ages to research. You have done a brilliant job. I know what I shall be doing with the rest of my day. I’ll let you Know which I like the best. Thank you.
Christine
On January 3, 2009 at 5:48 am
Oh yeah… I’m gonna be busy today too.
Well done!
-thestickman
On January 3, 2009 at 5:56 am
A very interesting article. Thanks for sharing it, now I can have alternative sites that could satisfy my fond for outer space facts.
On January 3, 2009 at 7:52 am
That was an amazing journey, good old Patrick Moore. What a brilliant article, thumbs up to you and your hard work RJ! Bookmarked this for regular viewing as there is so much to see!
On January 3, 2009 at 8:20 am
Titan is awesome! ‘m gonna be linking you through blog soon Mr. E!
On January 3, 2009 at 9:04 am
I’m no expert, but as you know, I love all things space. I enjoyed this.
On January 3, 2009 at 9:09 am
I like SPACE. Thanks.
On January 3, 2009 at 9:45 am
Fantastic, RJ! This is the phenomenon (to me anyway) that is behind so much of the poetry I write. Thanx for the info and the pictures.
On January 3, 2009 at 10:39 am
Featured on Webonasia,
http://webonasia.blogspot.com/2009/01/night-sky-delight-10-awesome-animated.html
Wicked work Mr. E!
On January 3, 2009 at 11:43 am
Remarkable article,must add to my favorites,thank you.
On January 3, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I am going to have to forward this link to my father – he wanted to be an astronomer but because of bad vision went into zoology instead, personally I am happy he did because its where i got my compassion for animals, however this is a good link, well done.
On January 3, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Very well written and researched, RJ. You put a great effort into this one and it shows. Love it!
-M
On January 3, 2009 at 2:07 pm
This was such an interesting article and very well done. It must have taken a long time to bring together.
On January 3, 2009 at 2:19 pm
great article and very well put together.
On January 3, 2009 at 3:52 pm
interesting stuff
On January 3, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Damn good article, wonderful information that literally keeps you on your feet.
On January 3, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Much interesting article RJ, good stuff.
On January 3, 2009 at 7:05 pm
A lesson about our planet and space. Very interseting and well presented. I will be back to look at this again.I’m gonna stumble it.
On January 3, 2009 at 9:05 pm
What an extraordinary article*
Blessings.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
On January 4, 2009 at 3:08 am
I can’t wait until we can actually build an interstellar spaceship and travel the stars to distant words and civilizations. Hopefully, it’ll happen before the end of my life. Now that would truly be a sight to behold.
On January 4, 2009 at 3:44 am
Excellent!
On January 4, 2009 at 4:23 am
I like the look of the NASA site R J. Might answer a few conspiracy questions I have. Haha
On January 4, 2009 at 7:00 am
Awesome finds. Interesting stuff.
On January 4, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Wow, glad you showed me the Titan Site. Always been interested this is an awesome resource. Especially after reading a bunch of Vonnegut…
On January 4, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Wow, what a great job! Well done! Thanks for all your hard work and efforts putting this together! It was easy to read and follow, and interesting all the way through. The pictures and links are invaluable and complete it well! Kudos!
On January 4, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Keeping us busy as always RJ. I can’t wait to look at all of these, I usually hit them up as soon as I review.
On January 4, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Wow, how cool. Great article.
On January 5, 2009 at 5:58 am
An exceptional piece! Loads of research you did here.
God bless.
On January 5, 2009 at 4:42 pm
This is truly a well composited piece of work. Very enlightning and humbling.
On January 5, 2009 at 6:58 pm
A very informative article that reflects on the world science, which a very tough subjects. Nice work
On January 5, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Interesting!
On January 6, 2009 at 6:17 am
Great article. Very interesting and informative.
On January 6, 2009 at 10:51 am
excellent! the “explore mars” are the best website! i love everything about planet… when i was a kid, my ambition is to be an astronaut, hehe! my dream is to become the first man who walk on the Moon, but Neil Armstrong made it! my dream now is to reach the sun! lol!
On January 8, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Great Collection! Here’s another one, not very interactive, but
very well done –> http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/
On January 11, 2009 at 9:56 am
Wonderful….will enjoy looking at these sites with my daughters.
Thanks for putting this together!
On January 20, 2009 at 5:42 pm
interesting article.
Cheers.
On January 27, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Space is very facinating.I believe it holds the key to creation itself! It asks for nothing-but gives all to a universe that is so timely and in order.
On February 8, 2009 at 5:01 pm
What’s up with the first sentence of the article?
“Four hundred years ago, Galileo was the first person to view the night sky and this was when modern astronomy was born.”
He was most certainly not the first person to ever view the sky. He was the first “westerner” to apply mathematics to astronomy, which was more generally just called “philosophy.”
On February 9, 2009 at 3:26 am
Oops – it should read – through a telescope… fix on the way! Sorry about that!
On February 26, 2009 at 11:14 am
Nice and informative articles. I am going to visit the first website right away.
On March 9, 2009 at 10:22 am
I’m speechless! This one gets a Stumble.
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