on-line courses
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 _the nine (eight!) planets
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An overview
of the history, mythology, and current scientific knowledge
of each of the planets and moons in our solar system, compiled by
Bill Arnett.
Each page has text and images, some have sounds and movies, and most
provide references to additional related information.
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_the solar system
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An introductory-level, on-line course from
the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Tennessee.
You will find sections 1 to 8 of particular relevance to PHY105.
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_astronomy notes
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A very comprehensive set of non-mathematical, on-line
astronomical notes with some excellent graphics. Written by Nick Strobel
of Bakersfield College, California. You will find the notes on
Astronomy Without a Telescope and Newton's Law of Gravity
of particular relevance to PHY105.
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_stephen tonkin
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Some nice on-line
astronomy tutorials. You will find the ones on positional astronomy
and time particularly relevant to this course.
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_the geometry of the sphere
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An advanced-level on-line course by John Polking of Rice
University, Texas.
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_skywise
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An astronomical comic strip by Jay Ryan which
appears in Sky & Telescope every month. You may find the pictures help you
to visualise the astronomical phenomena described in these lectures.
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_analemma
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By Bob Urschel. Contains a comprehensive
description of this interesting astronomical phenomenon.
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software
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_planetarium software
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An exhaustive set of links to just about every single piece
of planetarium software available on any computer platform,
compiled by Bill Arnett. Includes CyberSky, the Windows program
used in the lectures to animate the night sky.
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_astronomy software
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Links to astronomical software (much of it free) on the web.
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_distant suns
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A software package which can
be used to view the solar system, including detailed renderings
of planetary surfaces, from any position in space. It also includes
a movie option which enables you to fly-by any planet or group of
planets in the solar system. The full version of the program costs
about 30 pounds, but it is possible to download a pretty useful trial
version for free.
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interactive simulations
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_spherical
geometry
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A java applet to draw triangles on a sphere in your web browser, by
John Sullivan at Illinois.
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_about.com: geography
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Some excellent geographic utilities, such as a great circle distance
calculator, a great circle route drawing program and an accurate
distance calculator which treats the Earth as a geoid.
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_online planetarium
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On-line java-applet-based planetarium. Highly recommended.
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_sun angle
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Java script which calculates the position of the Sun based on
location, date and time.
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_astronomical sky calculator
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Given a location, date, time, and the coordinates of a celestial object,
this cgi-script provides Sun and Moon rise and set times, Moon phase,
galactic coordinates, Julian date, and much more besides.
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_kepler planetary orbits
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Excellent java applet
which enables you to change the parameters of an elliptical orbit and
view the results in real time.
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_solar system simulator
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NASA's solar system simulator can simulate the view of any solar system
body from any location.
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_astronomy workshop
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A collection of interactive
web pages. Of particular relevance to this course are the on-line
orbital viewing programs and the orbital integration programs.
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other links
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_general astronomical links
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A list of general astronomical links supplied by the Astronomy Group
in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield.
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