Alachua Astronomy Club: What's Up?

	Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc.	Member Astronomical League	Member International Dark-Sky Association
	What's Up?	Member Astronomical League	Member International Dark-Sky Association
	29°39' N, 82°21' W Altitude: 50 Meters (more or less)		Updated Oct. 4, 2008
(Click logo for home page)	Founded: September 1987		(Developed with Netscape 4.x)

What's Up in the Sky?

What's This?

And This? This page has links for what's up in the sky including:

[Constellations] [Deep Sky] [Moon Phases] [Observing Reports] [Satellite Predictions] [Sky Calendars/Maps] [Solar Images/Space Weather]
[Programs to Optimize Observing]
[Weather Predictions for Astronomy] and more.

Darkness Hours!

Click Image for Tables or Graphs
Giving Moon Phases, Moonrise/Set,
Sunrise/Set, Twilight & Darkness
(for Gainesville, FL).

Get official local USA time accurate to 1 sec or better

Also see our Facilities Page
for lists of observatories including remote
(e.g., Bradford Robotic Telescope, SLOOH Observatories)
and virtual (e.g. Google Moon, Google Sky and the WWT)

Please send additions and corrections to webmaster@floridastars.org.

Evening Sky Map and Calendar (from Skymaps.com) — available as both pdf and zip files

This Weeks Sky at a Glance
[ from Sky & Telescope ]

Interactive Observing Tools
(incl. Sky Tonight Almanac; Algol Minima; Moon's Phase; Jupiter's Red Spot Transits; Jupiter, Saturn & Uranus Satellites; Mars: Which Side Visible)

Click for Weather
(From Weather Underground)

Also see
UF's Physics Weather Station

Current Sky Map

Courtesy of Weather Underground
and Distant Suns

eZipSky — Provides detailed viewing instructions in real-time by cell phone text message (& also on web) for almost every naked-eye object in the sky, incl. planets, brightest stars, satellites, International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, Iridium flares, and more.

Night Sky Info — Weekly news about the night sky and articles on selected astronomical topics

Sky Maps — Recommended books & products for skywatchers including free monthly sky calanders & maps

Moon Phases:

Monthly Moon Phase Calendars
(Gainesville sunrise/set, moonrise/set, times of new, full and quarter moons)
U.S. Naval Observatory
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Moon
(What's up on the Moon tonight)
Inconstant Moon (Explore Moon for each day of month)

Current Moon Phase From
U.S. Naval Observ.
(If box appears black,
Moon is near new phase!)

Deep Sky
Current Solar Images

Big Bear Obs.

Full Size or Half Size

SOHO
(Solar/Heliospheric Obs.)
Latest Images

Space Weather

News about The
Earth-Sun Environment

Constellations and Messier Objects

SEDS (incl. more constellation links):
– Constellations
– Messier objects
Stellar Scenes (from Tokyo, Japan)
– Data Base for 88 Constellations
– Data Base for Messier Objects

Skywatcher's Diary (Abrams Planetarium, East Lansing, Michigan)

Solar System Live Orrery (Interactive—Orbit positions of planets)
Solar System Simulator (Create color images of planets & satellites for any date)

Weather Underground (Sunrise, Sunset & Moon Phase; Sky Maps;
Local Weather)

Satellite Predictions

Simple Satellite Flybys: A New Service from SpaceWeather.com. Enter your own zip code (such as Gainesville, FL) and get your satellite flybys for the next ten nights.

NASA Satellite Tracking Page (Find when the Int'l Space Station, the Shuttle, Hubble Space Telescope, MIR, etc., will be visible)

Satellite Visibility Predictions for Gainesville, Florida (Find when satellites or an Iridium satellite flare are visible)

[Above predictions from Heavens-Above, a private company founded to further development of the German Space Operations Center (GSOC)]

Note: Gainesville satellite predictions for lat. 29°39' N, long. 82°21' W
(UF's O'Connell Parking Lot--see "history of logo")

For other locations, go to the Heavens-Above Satellite Predictions - Start Page.
(This page allows you to enter your location manually or select from Heavens-Above data base)

Space-Track (The Source for Space Surveillance Date)

Visual Satellite Observer's Home Page

Observing Reports

AAVSO Send your variable star reports to the American Association of Variable Star Observers

AL The Astronomical League has over a dozen observing clubs

ALPO Send lunar and planetary reports Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers

AMS Send meteor reports to the American Meteor Society

IOTA Send occultation reports to the International Occultation Timing Association

NAMN Send meteor reports to the North American Meteor Network

Small Telescope Observations What to See with a Small Telescope. An attempt to answer this question by publishing observing reports from astronomers who use telescopes that are 150mm or smaller.

Observing Program Aids

Programs to Optimize Observing Using STARMULT 1.1 (Courtesy Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes)

Table of Optimum Observing Parameters: Includes Optimum day of the year, Rise time (above the specified elevation), Culmination time, useful Hours (above the specified elevation), Set time (below the specified elevation), Moon distance (deg.) and Moon illumination (%).
Altitudes: gives altitudes at middle-dark-time and hours spent above a selected altitude for a list of objects throughout a specified year. Useful information to optimize your observing is also provided, such as airmass, distance from the Moon and days of Full Moon.
Altitude vs. Time Plot: Plots altitudes against time for a list of objects. Useful information to optimize your observing is also provided, such as Sun and Moon parameters, airmass, sidereal time and, if very different from UT, the solar time of the proper Time Zone.

Weather Predictions for Astronomy: Clear Sky Chart

Click for Gainesville (UF Teaching Observatory) cloud cover, transparency, seeing & darkness or
Other USA/Canada/Mexico locations including:
Other Florida Locations, Cedar Key, Chiefland Astronomy Village, Rosemary Hill Observatory or Moondance Hill

	Return to AAC Home Page
	For comments and suggestions send e-mail to webmaster@floridastars.org © Copyright 2000-2008 Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc.

What's This? And This?	This page has links for what's up in the sky including: [Constellations] [Deep Sky] [Moon Phases] [Observing Reports] [Satellite Predictions] [Sky Calendars/Maps] [Solar Images/Space Weather] [Programs to Optimize Observing] [Weather Predictions for Astronomy] and more.	Darkness Hours! Click Image for Tables or Graphs Giving Moon Phases, Moonrise/Set, Sunrise/Set, Twilight & Darkness (for Gainesville, FL).
	Get official local USA time accurate to 1 sec or better Also see our Facilities Page for lists of observatories including remote (e.g., Bradford Robotic Telescope, SLOOH Observatories) and virtual (e.g. Google Moon, Google Sky and the WWT)
	Please send additions and corrections to webmaster@floridastars.org.