South Hills Backyard Astronomers: ASTRO-LINKS (local and general interest)

The Summer 2017 UPDATE

!! MON. AUG. 21st, THE GREAT 2017 USA TOTAL SOLAR ECLISPE !!

...for the bst INFO, go >>>HERE<<<

Sky and Telescope Magazine

- this week’s sky at a glance:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance

- top ten telescope questions:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/letsgo/helpdesk/Telescope_Top_Ten.html

Stellarium
(a FREE high quality night-sky simulation /planetarium software program; avb. for PC or Mac)

http://www.stellarium.org/

STAR-MAP downloads (free):

http://www.midnightkite.com/starcharts.html = good basic map for the money (free!)

http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=1052 = higher detail / more complicated

MOON-PHASES Cheatsheet (LINK) = everything you need to know for learning the Moon's cycle

MOON MAP

Here's a very cool and easy to use online Moon-Map (LINK)

GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE IMAGE
updated and animated to show recent weather over the eastern US (LINK)

TIME and DATE.com:
The best resource on the web for info on the calendar and time: (LINK)

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ALLEGHENY OBSERVATORY: http://www.pitt.edu/~aobsvtry/tours.html

Free tours of this historic observatory run April through August,
on Thursdays** and Friday nights. Reservations are required;
call 412/ 321-2400 between 1PM and 5PM Monday through Friday.
**NOTE: The Thursday night tours are given by our own Eric Canali ! ( Nope; not in 2017 - I've been too sick this year / sorry )

"UNDAUNTED" The Forgotten Giants of Allegheny Observatory...
( website & trailer: www.undauntedthemovie.com )
New documentary film, DVD and soundtrack NOW AVAILABLE - REVIEWS...

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Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh (AAAP)
STAR PARTY Schedules

for Wagman Observatory( Deer Lakes Park, North Hills)
and Mingo (South Hills)

You can call the Wagman Observatory at 724-224-2510 or the
Mingo Creek Park Observatory at 724-348-6150 to confirm sky conditions.
Mingo Creek Park Observatory (off Rte. 88 between Finleyville and Monongahela PA *** )

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Spaceweather.com the latest info on sunspot activity, solar storms, and aurora alerts

http://www.spaceweather.com

Messier Objects

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Messier_objects

Sun-Dogs and Solar Halo phenomena

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/halosim.htm

Bad Astronomy.com

METEOR SHOWERS for the rest of 2017...