Your online guide to deep space imagery, photos showing the wonders of our universe, and pictures of the earth as seen from space.
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on April 30, 2009 under Discussion | 
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“Your guide to constellations, deep sky objects, planets and events,” Tonight’s Sky is produced monthly by the Space Telescope Science Institute and is the ideal resource for the amateur astronomer. The guide is produced from the vantage point of the northern hemisphere. In June, Venus and Mars draw close before sunrise.
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on April 27, 2009 under Collections, Unmanned Missions | Be the First to Comment
Don P. Mitchell has pulled together hard-to-find space imagery from the Soviet space program. While this is a small collection, it provides a unique historical glimpse into the past. Included are lunar photos datng back to 1959 (Luna-3) along with images returned from Mars, Venus and even Halley’s Comet. Also of interest is a special section, Venera: The Soviet Exploration of Venus.
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on April 10, 2009 under Collections, Deep Space Imagery, Manned Spaceflight | Be the First to Comment
Google Sky
Google Moon
Google Mars
From the people who brought us Google Earth come three cool tools for exploring the beyond.
For Google Sky, Google has teamed with observatories and astronomers around the world to put astronomy at the fingertips of the most casual space fan. Find constellations, planets and distant galaxies through a point-and-click interface. Google Sky is an excellent resource for beginning astronomy for circumstances when a star party might not be feasible.
Google Moon uses images taken by Clementine to display a mosaic of lunar landing sites. Visitors can select a specific Apollo landing site and then navigate to features of interest related to that mission. Several have first-person panoramic views simulating the perspective of our explorer astronauts.
Image: NASA
Google Mars represents the latest addition to the family and uses the same tools found in Google Earth - you can zoom in and out, change the camera view, or spin the entire planet with a click of the mouse. A search box allows you to quickly locate interesting features. Type in the word “face” in the search box, for example, to locate two of the more popular features of the red planet – the “face on Mars” and the “happy face crater.”
There is also an option to “View in 3D with Mars in Google Earth. Through this view, one can apply antique historic maps of Mars or “Live from Mars” streaming from NASA’s Mars Odyssey.
Posted by SpaceSightSeer on January 4, 2009 under Unmanned Missions | Be the First to Comment
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter completed its primary mission and remains in orbit around the red planet viewing the martian surface with a variety of instruments. Although the Beagle 2 - it’s partner lander - was lost, Mars Express has continued to function well, returning useful images and data. The flash-based interface on this site allows visitors to click on interesting features of the martian surface to view some of the best pictures. A traditional image gallery for the mission is also available.
