Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Astronomy Software or Apps

Like what's been said in class, the next five or six weeks will be spent covering a variety of topics on astronomy.  For the first few weeks we'll be focusing on constellations and the moon.  Students will need to be able to identify by sight or picture eight constellations (Canis Major, Canis Minor, Orion, Gemini, Taurus, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Cassiopeia)  that are easily visible in the night sky during February.

Here are some free downloads that may be helpful for you during this month:

 

Computer (Mac or Windows):

Stellarium – the planetarium program that was used during class for our introduction to the eight constellations we need to know.  It's a free download that I've used on both Apple and Windows systems, with no problem.
http://www.stellarium.org/


Android apps:

All of these are free and use many of them.

Solar Dynamics – cool Sun stuff
Sundroid – Moon/Sun rise/set times
NASA – tons of stuff
Moon Phases – moon stuff
Google Sky Map – star charts/constellations
SkEye – another star chart/constellations
S&T Sky Week – short descriptions of daily astronomical happenings
APOD – Astronomy Picture of the Day
Where is Io? –  finds the positions of Jupiter’s four largest moons

 

iPad/iPhone/Touch apps:

Phases - moon stuff
SkyView - star charts/constellations
Star Atlas - star charts/constellations
Moon Globe - moon stuff
Mars Globe - Mars stuff
Planet Finder - planets
MoonMapPro - moon stuff
APOD – Astronomy Picture of the Day
Starquake - cool sun stuff
NASA - tons of space stuff 
Star Walk - star charts/constellations 
Solar Walk - planets/solar system 


Note:  The items in bold/italics are the apps that I tend to use on a somewhat regular basis.

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