Astronomy Education Resources

Links to a variety of our favorite resources for astronomy students, enthusiasts, and educators.

  • SkyMaps.com Quality sky maps for educators to use as handouts.
  • Heavens Above A wonderful website that allows you to predict International Space Station, Hubble, StarLink and other bright satellite fly-overs for your specific location. Takes time to explore and implement, but well worth it.

  • IAU Constellation Charts and Pronunciation Guide Official figure, boundary, and pronunciation guides for the 88 constellations. The images are technical, high quality, and freely usable under the Creative Commons license.

  • Starry Night Audio Pronunciation Guide An extensive guide allowing you to see and hear the pronunciation for the constellations and hundreds of celestial objects like stars, planets, and asteroids.

  • The 44 Closest Stars A wonderful info-graphic relating the size and color as well as other statistics such as distance and luminosity for our closest stellar neighbors. Our thanks to young astronomer Justin, who suggested this awesome educational source.

  • Orion Telescopes and Binoculars Perhaps the most ubiquitous telescope dealer in the world. Their online catalog, complete with beginner buying guides, is a treasure-trove of information whether you make a purchase or not.

  • Cloudy Nights The premiere online community for the astronomy enthusiast. They also run a wonderful “classifieds” section where you can find fantastic deals on astronomical equipment.

  • Astromart While Cloudy Nights is more “forum” & less “classifieds,” Astromart is just the opposite, making it perhaps the best place on the internet to find pre-owned astronomical equipment.

  • NASA Solar System Ambassador Program Event Calendar of wonderful NASA sponsored events around the U.S.

  • Stellarium A wonderful piece of “desktop planetarium” software. Best of all, it is free of charge.

  • Prairie Astronomy Club (Lincoln) and the Omaha Astronomical Society. Fantastic Eastern-Nebraska astronomy organizations.

  • Nebraska Space Grant Funding opportunities for higher education, informal education, research, and teacher training. With Space Grant’s Telescope Check-out Program, formal and informal educators to are able to borrow an automated 6″ reflecting telescope or a small hydrogen-alpha solar telescope for up to two weeks at no charge. Email Branched Oak Observatory’s own Michael Sibbernsen here for information.

  • Hyde Memorial Observatory Wonderful weekly programming and Saturday hours all year. Located in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Holmes Lake Recreation Area.

  • Mueller Planetarium Explore the wonders of the universe in Nebraska’s finest planetarium. Located in the University of Nebraska State Museum, Morrill Hall.

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