WikiSky has a lot of information and images, but not as much as some professional astronomer’s tools. If you are really curious about some object you found on sky map and you want to trace it to the source, try NASA’s SkyView online tool. Well, it may be not that easy to navigate as WikiSky, but it is a great tool.

Check out the gallery of what SkyView’s users found there: http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov/userimages/gallery-1.html. I saw there many familiar objects, including our famous “spaceships” and many other “suspicious objects”.

One good thing about all that “spaceships” story, is that many people raised they eyes to the sky, some curious ones did investigation and got some knowledge, some found out about all the beauty and mystery about astronomy. And for me, who loves astronomy and science in general, it is a good thing. After all it is one of the main reason we created and continue working on WikiSky project

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If you want to add this interface to your page, simply add this line of code at the end of your html file, before </body> tag:

<script type='text/javascript' src='http://sky-map.org/js/astroOverlay'></script>

Moreover, you can simply add this interface right in your browser to any page you are visiting by simply putting following code in browser’s location (URL) following by <Enter>:

javascript:a=document.createElement('script');a.src='http://sky-map.org/js/astroOverlay';a.onload=function(){astroOverlay()};document.body.appendChild(a);void+0

or put that line in your browser’s bookmarks toolbar, and by clicking on it current page you are visiting will be enriched with the AstroOverlay interface (currently doesn’t work in Internet Explorer). The interface is new and we are still working on fixing bugs and user experience improvements. Feel free to give it a try and let us know what’s your experience with this new feature.

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100 Hours of Astronomy is a global astronomy event from 2 to 5 April when you can discover the Universe with the rest of the world!  A project of the International Year of Astronomy, there are free public activities happening all around the world, and online right here.

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Happy New Year to all our visitors.
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy

From Wikipedia:

The International Year of Astronomy is a year long celebration of astronomy, taking place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler’s Astronomia nova in the 17th century. The Year was declared by the 62nd General Assembly of the UN. A global scheme, laid out by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), has also been endorsed by UNESCO – the UN body responsible for Educational, Scientific and Cultural matters.

Both the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO are coordinating the International Year of Astronomy in 2009. This initiative is an opportunity for the citizens of Earth to gain a deeper insight into astronomy’s role in enriching all human cultures. Moreover, it will serve as a platform for informing the public about the latest astronomical discoveries while emphasizing the essential role of astronomy in science education.

Also take a look on Bad Astronomer’s blog post on the topic.

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