Cranbrook Institute of Science

Special Daily Planetarium Programs

A full weekend schedule will be available daily until Labor Day.

Resources

Monthly Star Chart

This is an easy-to-use star chart that shows the sky only for evenings in the month indicated. Download and print it for free, courtesy of Cranbrook Institute of Science. Have fun!

June 2008 Star Chart (1,008 kb)

This month's sky map and images were made using Starry Night Pro software courtesy of starrynight.com.

Planisphere

Download your own Cranbrook Institute of Science star chart and constellation finder for free! This is a planisphere that can be set to display the stars at any time of night and for any night of the year. Download and print the Acrobat PDF files below and follow the assembly instructions on the star chart mask. Have fun! Note: To ensure proper sizing, make sure your print options are not set to "fit to page" before printing.

Planisphere Mask (88,222 bytes)
Planisphere Star Chart (40,227 bytes)

Sundial

Download your own Cranbrook Institute of Science sundial for free! This sundial has been specifically designed for use in southeastern Michigan. Download and print the Acrobat PDF file below and follow the assembly instructions. Please remember to never look directly at the sun!

Sundial (31,816 bytes)

Viewing these PDF files requires Acrobat Reader, a free download from Adobe.

The Sky Tonight

Lunar Phase

Solar Activity

Will the sky by clear?
Below is a link to an indicator that attempts to show at a glance when, in the next 48 hours, clear and dark skies are expected for Cranbrook Institute of Science.

The forecast data comes from a numerical weather model run by Canadian Meteorological Centre.

Click on the link then read from left to right. Locate a column of blue blocks. That is when the sky will likely to be clear and dark.

Cranbrook Institute of Science Clear Sky Clock

Desktop Astronomy

Galaxy Zoo

Galaxy Zoo is a project which harnesses the power of the internet - and your brain - to classify a million galaxies. By taking part, you'll not only be contributing to scientific research, but you'll view parts of the Universe that literally no-one has ever seen before and get a sense of the glorious diversity of galaxies that pepper the sky.

Interactive Sky Chart

Click on the Interactive Sky Chart image to generate a map of this evening's sky as seen from Cranbrook Institute of Science.

For more general information about this week's sky, visit Sky at a Glance courtesy of Sky & Telescope Magazine.

Digital Universe

Since 1998, the American Museum of Natural History and the Hayden Planetarium have engaged in the three-dimensional mapping of data groups ranging in scale from the solar neighborhood to the grand structure of the universe.

This Digital Universe is distributed to you via data products like the Milky Way Atlas and the Extragalactic Atlas.

Using the viewing software, Partiview, you can explore the Universe on your own computer. Fly from the Sun out to the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, and everywhere between.

Purchasing a Telescope

telescope image

Buying your first telescope can be very intimidating. Here are some simple pointers that can make the whole experience enjoyable and rewarding.

Avoid buying a telescope from a discount store, shoppers club, or a TV shopping network. Those telescopes tend to be lower quality instruments.
Buy a major brand name scope from a real telescope dealer with astronomers on staff who will be able to help you after the sale.
Ask your local astronomy club members for the name of the dealer nearest you or for the name of a reputable astronomical products mail-order house with which they have had good experiences.
Remember, a telescope that is cared for properly will last for decades, so it would be wise to buy the best you can afford.
Quality telescopes can be rather expensive items. Even a small telescope, like a 60mm refracting telescope with a 1.25" eyepiece, can cost several hundred dollars.
Bigger lenses or mirrors gather more light, the more light you can gather the more objects you will be able to see.
If at all possible, join an astronomy club and look through lots of telescopes before you buy one. One of the local astronomy clubs is the Warren Astronomical Society. They meet at Cranbrook Institute of Science every first Monday of hte month at 7:30pm.

Astronomy Internet Radio

Join Michael J. Narlock, Head of Astronomy at Cranbrook Institute of Science, for a live Internet radio broadcast at SLOOH.com every Friday, 9 - 10pm.

If you ever miss a program, go to the SLOOH podcast homepage!

Space Exploration

New Horizons

New Horizons is designed to help us understand worlds at the edge of our solar system by making the first reconnaissance of Pluto and Charon - a "double planet" and the last planet in our solar system to be visited by spacecraft.

Deep Impact

Get the latest updates on the Deep Impact mission to study a comet from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Cassini-Huygens

Get the latest updates on the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and its moon, Titan, from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Mars Exploration Rover

Get the latest updates on the Mars Exploration Rover mission to Mars from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Astronomy Podcasting

What is podcasting?

Podcasting is a method of publishing audio broadcasts via the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a feed of new files. Podcasting is distinct from other types of online media delivery because of its subscription model, which uses a feed (such as RSS or Atom) to deliver an enclosed file. Podcasting enables independent producers to create self-published, syndicated "radio shows," and gives broadcast radio programs a new distribution method. Listeners may subscribe to feeds using "podcatching" software (a type of aggregator), which periodically checks for and downloads new content automatically. Some podcatching software is also able to synchronise (copy) podcasts to portable music players. Any digital audio player or computer with audio-playing software can play podcasts. The same technique can deliver video files as well.

Podcast Use

There are several ways to subscribe to a podcast. First, you must locate a podcast to download. There are several websites that maintain directories of available podcasts; two popular sites are Podcasting News and Podcast.net.

When a suitable podcast has been located, it must be downloaded. To accomplish this, a podcast retriever is needed. A few completely free retrievers are Podspider FreeEdition, Doppler, RSSRadio and iPodder.

By way of example, Doppler is a podcast aggregator. It�s a tool to subscribe to RSS feeds which supply downloadable files. Doppler will go out and fetch the files enclosed in the RSS feed and will automatically add them to your preferred media player. And it does this in a very smooth unattended manner.

Once Doppler is installed and running, simply left-click on the feed you want, in our case it's Cranbrook Space Odyssey, and drag it to Doppler. It's that simple. You can then download the file, load it onto your favorite mp3 player or iPod!

Featured Podcasts

Cranbrook Space Odyssey

Cranbrook Space Odyssey is an informative astronomy update that covers a wide range of topics including night sky observing, space science, the latest astronomical discoveries and more!

Science@Nasa

The Science and Technology Directorate at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center sponsors the Science@NASA web sites. The mission of Science@NASA is to help the public understand how exciting NASA research is and to help NASA scientists fulfill their outreach responsibilities.

Special Daily Planetarium Programs

Resources

Monthly Star Chart

Planisphere

Sundial

Desktop Astronomy

Galaxy Zoo

Interactive Sky Chart

Digital Universe

Purchasing a Telescope

Astronomy Internet Radio

Space Exploration

New Horizons

Deep Impact

Cassini-Huygens

Mars Exploration Rover

Links

General

News and Breaking Stories

Observing

NASA, Spaceflight and Astronomy

International Space Station

Astronomical Databases

Sun-Related Information

Meteorite Identification

Local Astronomy Clubs and Observatories

Astronomy Podcasting

What is podcasting?

Podcast Use

Featured Podcasts