Astronomy Education Resources

SkyMaps.com | Quality sky maps for educators to use as handouts.

Heavens Above | A wonderful website that allows you to predict International Space Station, Hubble, StarLink and other bright satellite fly-overs for your specific location. Takes time to explore and implement, but well worth it.

Starry Night Audio Pronunciation Guide | An extensive guide allowing you to see and hear the pronunciation for the constellations and hundreds of celestial objects like stars, planets, and asteroids.

The 44 Closest Stars | A wonderful info-graphic relating the size and color as well as other statistics such as distance and luminosity for our closest stellar neighbors. Our thanks to young astronomer Justin, who suggested this awesome educational source.

Cloudy Nights | The premiere online community for the astronomy enthusiast. They also run a wonderful “classifieds” section where you can find fantastic deals on astronomical equipment.

Astromart | While Cloudy Nights is more “forum” & less “classifieds,” Astromart is just the opposite, making it perhaps the best place on the internet to find pre-owned astronomical equipment.

NASA Solar System Ambassador Program | Event Calendar of wonderful NASA sponsored events around the U.S.

Stellarium | A wonderful piece of “desktop planetarium” software. Best of all, it is free of charge.

Prairie Astronomy Club (Lincoln) | The Prairie Astronomy Club was founded in 1961 as a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging the study of Astronomy and related subjects for the benefit of its members and the general public.

Omaha Astronomical Society | The Omaha Astronomical Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which has essentially been in existence for over 76 years. Conceived in 1938, the original name for the club was “Great Plains Astronomy Club” and it included the Omaha and the Lincoln areas. The club met in the Knights of Columbus building at 20th and Dodge.

Nebraska Space Grant | Funding opportunities for higher education, informal education, research, and teacher training. With Space Grant’s Telescope Check-out Program, formal and informal educators to are able to borrow an automated 6″ reflecting telescope or a small hydrogen-alpha solar telescope for up to two weeks at no charge. Email Branched Oak Observatory’s own Michael Sibbernsen here for information.

Hyde Memorial Observatory | Wonderful weekly programming and Saturday hours all year. Located in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Holmes Lake Recreation Area.

Mueller Planetarium | Explore the wonders of the universe in Nebraska’s finest planetarium. Located in the University of Nebraska State Museum, Morrill Hall.