Astronomical Societies
Professional Astronomy Organisations
Amateur Societies
Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
- Astronomical Society of Coonabarabran Inc.
- Astronomical Society of New South Wales
- Macarthur Astronomical Society Inc
- Newcastle Astronomical Society
- Shoalhaven Astronomers
- Sutherland Astronomical Society
- Sydney City Skywatchers (BAA) (NSW)
- Western Sydney Amateur Astronomy Group Inc (WSAAG)
- Wollongong Amateur Astronomy Club
South Australia
Queensland
- Astronomical Association of Queensland
- Brisbane Astronomical Society
- Redlands Astronomical Society
- South East Queensland Astronomical Society
- Southern Astronomical Society
Victoria
- Astronomical Society of Albury-Wodonga
- Astronomical Society of Victoria Inc
- Astronomy Benalla
- Ballarat Astronomical Society
- Latrobe Valley Astronomical Society
- Mornington Peninsula Astronomical Society
- Mount Burnett Observatory
- Astronomical Society of Geelong
Tasmania
Western Australia
Commercial Suppliers
The following list of suppliers has been obtained from advertisements in magazines. A listing on this page does not imply any endorsement of the supplier by WSAAG. The list is simply a service to the users of this site. The order of listing is alphabetical to remove any implied ranking from the list.
- Adelaide Optical Centre – SA
- Advanced Telescope Supplies – NSW
- Andrews Communications – NSW
- Astro Shop – NSW
- Astronomy Alive – VIC
- Astronomy and Electronics Centre – SA
- Bintel – NSW, VIC
- Frontier Optics – NSW
- OpticsCentral – VIC
- OZScopes – VIC
- SDM Telescopes – VIC
- Sirius Optics – QLD
- Telescopes & Astronomy
Discussion Forums
- IceInSpace – Very active Australian forum.
- Cloudy Nights – A well respected US based forum.
Education
- SAO – Swinburne Astronomy Online – Postgraduate Degree Programs In Astronomy.
- Sydney Observatory – Astronomy Courses – Continuing education courses designed to introduce Astronomy without mathematics.
- Sydney Observatory – A museum about astronomy with night viewings.
- Western Sydney University Observatory – Provides public lectures and observing programs.
General Information
- Astronomy Picture of the Day – A different picture each day with an explanation.
- Lunar Photo of the Day – A different lunar picture each day with an explanation.
- Heavens Above – Site providing tracking information for satellites and sky maps for your location.
- Star of the Week – Site containing comprehensive details for many stars.
- Zooniverse – Home to many astronomy and non-astronomy interactive projects.
- Sixty Symbols – Site containing many short astronomy and physics videos.
- Deep Sky Videos – Site containing many short astronomy videos.
- Use of Colour Filters – Article on the use of colour filters by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Observing Reference Material
- Interactive Sky Charts – Site containing interactive sky charts and catalogues for deep sky observers.
- Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand – Site containing useful information for Southern Hemisphere observers.
- Limiting Magnitude Charts – A page on estimating the limiting magnitude of your observing site.
- Deep Sky Hunter Star Atlas – Site containing a printable atlas for deep sky observers.
Observing Themes
- Herschel 400 – A list of deep sky objects that are a natural extension of the Messier list.
- Astro-Tom.com – Site containing a list of deep sky objects and tips on their observation.
- Lunar 100 – Site containing a list of lunar objects to observe.
- NGC / IC Project – The NGC/IC Project is an attempt to correctly identify all of the original NGC and IC objects.
Telescope Tuning, Mounts, Aligning and DIY
- Wooden Parallelogram Binocular Mount – An all wood parallelogram binocular mount.
- Parallelogram Binocular Mount – Parallelogram binocular mount constructed with rectangular hollow section tubing.
- Collimating a Newtonian Reflector – Video tutorial on collimating a Newtonian reflector.
- Drift Alignment – Site containing a step by step guide to using the drift method for polar alignment.
ATM (Amateur Telescope Making)
- BBAstroDesigns – Site containing useful information on telescope design.
- Stellafane – Site containing ideas and designs for telescopes.
Software – Shareware or Freeware
- RTGUI – Windows application that produces observing lists and can control some Goto telescopes.
- NightCal – Windows application that produces a monthly calendar of the moon phases, sunrise/set, moonrise/set and conjunctions.
- Virtual Moon Atlas – Windows application that provides information on the features of the moon.
- PocketStars – Planetarium software for Windows, smartphones and PDAs.
- Cartes du Ciel – Planetarium software for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.
- StarCalc – A Windows based planetarium package that is expandable to use common databases.
- Stellarium – A planetarium package for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.
- Voyager and SkyGazer – Planetarium software packages for Windows and Mac OS X users.
- Keith’s Image Stacker – Image processing software for the Macintosh system.
- AstroPlanner – Software for observation planning, visualisation and logging.
Solar System
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Minor Planet Center – The official body that deals with astrometric observations and orbits of minor planets (asteroids) and comets.
- The Nine Planets – Site with information on just about every object in the solar system.
- The Asteroid Belt – Site containing basic information on the asteroid belt and other solar system objects.
- ICQ Comet Information – Site containing information on comets and tips on observing comets.
- International Meteor Organization – Site containing observing methods, results and news on meteors.
- Visual Satellite Observer’s Home Page – Site containing information on satellites and satellite observing techniques.
- Royal Observatory of Belgium – Solar Influences Data Analysis Center
- Space Weather Advisory Outlook – Website of the NOAA / Space Weather Prediction Center.
- Lunar and Planetary Institute – Site containing photos and maps of the moon and planets.
- Sky and Telescope Lunar 100 – Article on the Lunar 100 observing list.
- Lunar 100 Map – Site containing a map of the Lunar 100 observing list.
- Shoestring Astronomy Lunar 100 – Site containing the Lunar 100 observing list and images.
- The Lunar 100 – This site contains a summary chart of the Lunar 100 observing list.
- Lunar 100 – This site has a summary map and a list with images of the Lunar 100 observing list.
- Google Moon – This site has detailed images of the lunar surface with information on the lunar landings.
Deep Space
- CCD Images of Messier Objects
- LEDAS: digitized sky survey – Site containing images of astronomical objects selected by name or coordinates.
- STScI Digitized Sky Survey – Site containing images of astronomical objects selected by name or coordinates.
- American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO)
- International Supernovae Network
Magazines
- Astronomy Now Online – An online astronomy news site.
- Astronomy Magazine – An online astronomy magazine.
- Australian Sky and Telescope – An Australian based monthly magazine.
- Sky and Telescope – US based astronomy magazine.
- Sky at Night Magazine – UK based astronomy magazine.
Buy And Sell
- Astro Buy and Sell – Australia’s Best Classifieds for Used Telescopes and Accessories.