Orion & Celestron telescopes,  binoculars, microscopes,  parts  & accessories   Free Astronomy Books (.pdfs) The New Heavens George Ellery Hale 1922 10 Years Work (Mt. Wilson) G E Hale 1915 Astronomy Handbook Harold Jacoby 1913 Mathematical Astronomy Barlow & Bryan 1903 Outlines of Astronomy J F W Herschel 1902 A Few Astronomical Instruments photos 1900 Handy Book of Astronomy Lynn 1901 Astronomy With the Naked Eye Serviss 1908 Astronomy Without a Telescope Maunder 1904 Annals v96 Harvard Observatory 1921 Popular Astronomy v24 Goodsell Obs. 1916 Acceptance of Copernicus Stimson 1917 A History of Astronomy Walter W Bryant 1907 19th Century Astronomy Clerke 1902 A Short History of Astronomy Berry 1899 The Starry Messenger Galileo Galilei   Free Telescopes Books The Telescope: Optical Principles Nolan 1904 The Achromatic Telescope William Simms 1852 Pleasures of the Telescope GP Serviss 1901 The Telescope & Microscope Thomas Dick 1852   Free Lenses, Optics & Light Books Light for Students Edser 1921 Theory of Optical Instruments Gleichen 1921 Outlines of Applied Optics Nutting 1912 Thick-Lens Optics Arthur Latham Baker 1912 The Theory of Light Maclaurin 1908 Light Waves & Their Uses Michelson 1903 Lenses & Systems of Lenses Pendlebury 1884 Wave Theory of Light Huygens, Fresnel... Opticks Isaac Newton 1730   Free Moon Books ...History of Apollo... W Compton 1996 online only The Moon in Mod. Astronomy P Fauth 1909 Lunar Science: Ancient & Modern T Harley 1886 The Moon's Rotation Examined T Tyerman 1885 The Moon Edmund Neville Nevill 1876 The Moon Richard Anthony Proctor 1873   Free Lunar Theory Books ...In the Motion of the Moon Newcomb 1907 Mechanics of the Moon Robert Schindler 1906 On the Lunar Theory Hugh Godfray 1885   Free Eclipse & Solar Eclipse Books more Story of Eclipses George Frederick Chamber 1904 Math. Theory of Eclipses R Buchanan 1904 Total Eclipse of the Sun 1869-08-07 USNO Total Solar Eclipse 1870-12-22 USNO 1900 Solar Eclipse Expedition Smithsonian Total Solar Eclipse of 1905 BAA   Free Sun Books The Sun Charles Greeley Abbot 1911 The Sun's Place in Nature J Norman Lockyer 1897 The Sun Charles Augustus Young 1895 The Story of the Sun Robert Stawell Ball 1893 Contributions to Solar Physics J N Lockyer 1874   Free Solar Spectrum Books Solar Spectrum Wave-Lengths HA Rowland 1898 Chemistry of the Sun J Norman Lockyer 1887 Sunbeam and Spectrascope H Townsend 1864   Free Solar Radiation Books On the Sun's Radiation Frank Hagar Bigelow 1918 Researches on Solar Heat Langley 1884 Sunspottery John A Westwood Oliver 1883   Free Solar System Books Organic Environments in the Solar System 2007 online only Story of the Solar System G F Chambers 1912 Solar System: Recent Obs. CL Poor 1908 The Solar System: Lectures Percival Lowell 1903 Order of the Solar System J P Nichol 1842   Free Planet & Planetary Theory Books Ways of the Planets Martha Evans Martin 1912 Astronomical Discovery Herbert Hall Turner 1904 The Procession of Planets F H Heald 1901 Elements of the 4 Inner Planets Newcomb 1895 Math... of Planetary Motions Otto Dziobek 1892 The Planetary Theory C H H Cheyne 1883 Methods of Computing Orbits N Bowditch 1834   Free Venus Books Transit of Venus 1882-12-5&6 E C Pickering Transits of Venus Richard Anthony Proctor 1878 The Transit of Venus George Forbes 1874   Free Mars Books Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars 2006 online only Mars William Henry Pickering 1921 Mars as the Abode of Life Percival Lowell 1908 Is Mars Habitable? Alfred Russel Wallace 1907 Mars and Its Canals Percival Lowell 1906   Free Jupiter Books Observations of Jupiter Sells, Cooke... 1913   Free Saturn Books Saturn and Its System Richard A Proctor 1882   Free Neptune Books Discovery of Neptune Benjamin A Gould 1850 The Planet Neptune John Pringle Nichol 1848   Free Stars & Constellations Books Easy Guide to the Constellations Gall 1910 ...Stellar Evolution George Ellery Hale 1908 The Stars Simon Newcomb 1906 Astro. Spectrum-Photog. Henry Draper 1884 Geography of the Heavens Burritt 1856   Free Double Stars Books The Binary Stars Robert Grant Aitken 1918 Double Star Astronomy Thomas C Lewis 1908 Relative Masses of Binary Stars Hadley 1905 Handbook of Double Stars Edward Crossley 1879   Free Variable Stars Books Observations of Variable Stars W J Luyten 1921 Research... Stellar Photometry Parkhurst 1906 Dimensions of Fixed Stars E C Pickering 1880   Free Parallax Books Determinations of Parallax Henry N Russell 1911 Parallax of Lyrae and 61 Cygni USNO   Free Nebulae Books The Nebulae Archibald Edward Garrod 1882 Architecture of the Heavens J P Nichol 1850   Free Cosmography & Cosmology Books The Earliest Cosmologies William F Warren 1909 Earths in Our Solar System E Swedenborg 1909 Man's Place in the Universe A R Wallace 1903 Cosmos Alexander von Humboldt 1868   Free Nebular Hypothesis Books The Earth's Beginning Robert Stawell Ball 1903 Nebulo-Meteoric Hypothesis H W Pearson 1902 Kant's Cosmogony Immanuel Kant   Free Celestial Mechanics Books Intro to Celestial Mechanics F R Moulton 1914 Mathematical Works George William Hill 1906 Mathematical Tracts George Biddell Airy 1858 The System of the World Pierre S Laplace 1830 Principia Mathematica Isaac Newton Latin Principia Mathematica Isaac Newton English   Free Astrophysics Books The Astrophysical Journal v55 Jan-Jun 1922 Study of Stellar Evolution George E Hale 1908 Problems in Astrophysics Agnes M Clerke 1903 Astronomy & Astrophysics v12 1893 Intro to Physical Astronomy Thomas Luby 1828   Free Spherical Astronomy, Practical Astronomy & Geodetic Astronomy Books Manual of Field Astronomy Andrew Hall Holt 1916 Field Astronomy for Engineers Comstock 1908 Compendium of Spherical Astro. Newcomb 1906 Spherical & Practical Astronomy Chauvenet 1900 Elements of Practical Astronomy Campbell 1899 Geodetic Astronomy John Fillmore Hayford 1898 Online Book Search Engines

Google Sky online, view sky in browser like Google Maps WorldWide Telescope MS freeware, view sky on PC like NASA WorldWind-Google Earth     (May 18, 2009) The fifth and final Space Shuttle servicing mission (STS-125) to the Hubble Space Telescope was launched on May 12, 2009, and, after rendezvous, successfully captured the Hubble with the Shuttle's robot arm on May 13. Work on the Hubble, now 19 years old, was completed on May 18.     During five EVAs, four members of the crew of the Shuttle Atlantis replaced much of Hubble's hardware, including the Science Instrument Control & Data Handler, batteries, and six gyroscopes. They also repaired the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Camera for Surveys, and installed the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph.     Astronauts also installed a docking device which will permit a robotic spacecraft to latch onto Hubble after the telescope's work is complete and direct a controlled re-entry into the Pacific Ocean. The repairs and upgrades should keep the Space Telescope operating through at least 2014. Hubble Space Telescope Search: The Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute has moved their news photo gallery to HubbleSite.org, while still maintaining another image archive at Hubble Heritage. HubbleSite Gallery - Hubble Heritage Gallery - Recent Hubble News & Images You can search HubbleSite.org with their own engine from here, or search either HubbleSite OR Hubble Heritage via Google with the 2nd form below. Be specific; you will get many results. find this: Google Hubble Space Telescope search: find this: in: Hubble Heritage photos & info HubbleSite photo gallery HubbleSite news & news photos See also: QuickShop: Science Gifts Black Holes, Asteroids-Meteoroids, Planets, Mars, & Space MISSIONS: NASA - ESA - JAXA KENNEDY SPACE CENTER: Shuttle Countdown Online KSC Video Feeds webcams galore NASA TV LIVE: RealVideo - Windows Media alternate RealVideo - sound only RealAudio POSTION TRACKING: Shuttle - ISS - ESA LAUNCH SCHEDULES: KSC - SpaceflightNow Space.com - Space-Launcher.com SPACE & ASTRONOMY: JPL Space Calendar   Astronomy News     Starry Night is an interactive planetarium, virtual observatory, spaceflight simulator, time machine, intergalactic tour guide and much more. With Starry Night on your computer, you can explore a vast array of astronomical wonders, both natural and man made.     From the youngest future astronaut to serious amateur observer or astro-photographer, Starry Night has a program that will keep you actively engaged like no other software can.     If you want a full-color photograph of the entire next sky from any place on earth, the best observational tools and data, Starry Night Pro Plus is unbeatable.     The Starry Night store also carries other astronomy software, astronomy DVDs and gifts. Astronomy Freeware: Sky Chart 14.31 MB Celestia 3-D sim 12 MB Virtual Moon Atlas 13.6 MB Open Galaxy to mag 14, 53 MB Alpha Centaure planetarium 8.58 MB C2A planetarium 9.54 MB More Astronomy Freeware Astronomy Search: AstroWeb is a directory of about 3000 astronomy links, regularly updated and maintained at the University of Strasbourg, in France. find this:   Astronomical Image Galleries: Anglo-Australian Observatory European Southern Observatory Ohio State University The Astronomy Picture of the Day, from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Views of the Solar System are photos with good text descriptions by Calvin J. Hamilton, describing the celestial bodies and environments making up our Solar System, including data on the sun, planets, asteroids, meteorites, comets, Oort Cloud, and Kuiper Belt. NASA Planetary Photojournal compiles images of the planets from NASA spacecraft. NASA Space Observatorium has images from and info on NASA's planetary, deep space exploration, and astronomy programs. The NCSA Astronomical Image Library has 4000 images, searchable by sky position, name, wavelength, or bibliographic reference, including VRML, movies, and animations.   Virtual Observatories: The National Virtual Observatory makes it possible "for astronomical researchers to find, retrieve, and analyze astronomical data from ground- and space-based telescopes worldwide." SkyQuery is an online database searching application for serious astronomers. SkyQuery furnishes information about astronomical objects by drawing on 3 databases, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the the 2MASS project, and the First Radio Survey. NASA GSFC SkyView is a virtual observatory that generates images of any part of the sky at wavelengths ranging from radio to gamma rays. Like TerraServer pointed up instead of down, only moreso. Sky View Café is a free Java applet that lets you use your web browser to see many types of astronomical information, in both graphical and numerical form. You can see which stars and planets will be visible tonight, how the next eclipse will look, or when the Moon rose ten years ago (from any point on the globe), and more. The NASA JPL Solar System Simulator allows you to view perspective images to and from 32 planets and moons from any virtual point in the solar system.

  Telescope Making:

Amateur Telescope Making is a collection of unique tricks, hints, and information about other people's scopes and ideas, intended as a resource for both beginning and advanced amateur telescope makers. Beginners should also take a look at the Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston or Mark's Notes for the Amateur Telescope Maker; veterans should check out the ATM (newsgroup) Archives.

  Other Astronomy Websites:

The website of Sky and Telescope has news, sky events info, tips articles for backyard astronomy and imaging, product review articles, downloads, and more.

The Astronomy Magazine website includes news, this month's "sky show", downloadable .pdf articles for beginners, software downloads, and several articles from back issues.

Imagine the Universe, from the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, is an educational site with tutorials and lesson plans on all aspects of astronomy.

Astronomy Workshop is an online astronomy lab, with information for beginners, and java applets to show orbital paths, impact results, etc.

The NASA Astrophysics Data System at Harvard is a bibliographical reference database of over 1.5 million astronomy and physics papers, with links to data and citations.

Earth's Magnetosphere is a non-mathematical tutorial about Earth's space environment of charged particles, with good information for all levels from high school to PhD.'s.

The SETI Institute says they are "to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe." While they are at it, they might Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

Historic Celestial Atlases on the World Wide Web links

Astronomy Search: The DMOZ Open Directory searches for keywords in website titles and descriptions (not page content). You can limit your search to subcategories like Galaxies, Stars, Astrophysics, or Cosmology, or search all Astronomy or Science links.

Google Usenet Newsgroups:
sci.astro (8 groups) - sci.physics (9 groups) - sci.space (7 groups) - sci.space.news - alt.sci.planetary - gov.us.fed.nasa.announce

TIME Magazine, December 13, 1948: Trouble on Palomar     The 200-inch Hale telescope on Palomar Mountain is ailing. Installed last January, it has thus far taken no scientifically valuable photographs of the stars. Dr. Ira S. Bowen, director of the observatory, announced this week that it might not be in working order until next fall.     The telescope's most serious trouble is a "bulge" in the massive mirror. The outer edge, 18 inches inward from the rim, is 20 millionths of an inch too high. This infinitesimal error, observable only by the most refined tests, is enough to make the telescope useless for serious astronomical purposes...     When the mirror left the optical shop in Pasadena, observatory authorities knew that its edge was "high", but they counted on the supports to correct the fault. The bulge turned out to be too big for the supports to handle... For more on Mount Palomar and Edwin Hubble, see Astronomy Articles

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  NASA Books (NASA Special Publications) & Other Astronomy Books Online

Some of the books below are Adobe .pdf files, which are nice for reading materials offline. If you would like to read NASA's .html online books, like most of those below, when you are offline, you can "harvest" the pages and images for free using HTTrack, a very useful freeware website capture and offline browsing tool. HTTrack also works well with groups of .pdf files linked to from a page or directory. Handbook of Space Astronomy and Astrophysics Zombeck, Cambridge (1990) Cosmology: A Research Briefing NRC report (1995) The Foundations of Celestial Mechanics Collins (2004) 11 .pdf files The Fundamentals of Stellar Astrophysics Collins (2003) 18 .pdf files Images of the solar upper atmosphere from SUMER on SOHO Battrick (2003) 12 .pdf files Evolution of the Solar System SP-345 (1976) Chondrules and their Origins papers (1983) Origin of the Moon conference papers (1984) LPI Ranger Photographs of the Moon text & images from SP-61, SP-62, SP-63, SP-111, & SP-112, (1964-66) two 4.6 MB .pdf files & many jpegs LPI Lunar Map Catalog LPI Consolidated Lunar Atlas LPI Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon 675 photos + annotations LPI Apollo Image Atlas almost 25,000 lunar images, + earth, astronauts & hardware Basaltic Volcanism on the Terrestrial Planets (1981) Planetary Geology in the 1980s SP-467 (1985) Atlas of Mercury, SP-423 (1978), from Mariner 10 images Magellan: The Unveiling of Venus JPL 400-345 (1989) The Martian Landscape SP-425 (1978) LPI Geologic Map of Mars Viking Orbiter Views of Mars SP-441 (1980) Voyager 1 and 2 Atlas of Six Saturnian Satellites SP-474 (1984) The Star Splitters: The High Energy Astronomy Observatories SP-466 (1984) Next Generation Space Telescope Engineering Monographs page links to 8 .pdf files Project Orion: A Design Study of a System for Detecting Extrasolar Planets SP-436 (1980) Life in the Universe CP-2156 (1981) The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence SP-419 (1977) Man's Place in the Universe: A Study of the Results of Scientific Research in Relation to the Unity or Plurality of Worlds Wallace (1903) Fundamental Numerical Methods and Data Analysis Collins (2003) 10 .pdf files The Virial Theorem in Stellar Astrophysics Collins (1978) 6 .pdf files De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (in Latin) Nicolaus Copernicus (1543) 7 .pdf files Astronomiæ Instauratæ Mechanica (in Latin) Tycho Brahe (1602) 35 .pdf files Annals of the Astronomical Observatory of Harvard College, Volume VIII Annals of the Astrophysical Observatory of the Smithsonian Institution Volume I Core List of Astronomy Books Bryson (2003) Core List of Astronomy and Physics Journals Bryson (2003) over 100 NASA online books are listed on the NASA News page