Anyone have a favorite Astronomy site or book?

[DrPop]

I'm itching to do a little more studying, been awhile...I've been so focused on the practice, running a business, etc, of late. I have several books on the subject, but just hanging out here and wondered if anyone has a favorite Astronomy web site to recommend or a favorite book I should consider adding to the collection? I'd like to get into some astrophotography sometime as well, but I know from a little past experience that it's way harder than it looks. Also can be a little expensive, and quite time consuming. :D

[YoDude9999]

I love anything that has to do with space, planets and astronomy, I just love it. In this instance however, I'm woefully afraid I cannot offer anything you would likely find of interest.

Telescopes can be built for a very reasonable modest cost however. It doesn't take a lot to build one. Basically, a mirror, prism and an eyepiece with some structure to hold the three components together is all it takes and the results can be very surprising!

[trigggl]

I have a subscription to the Sky & Telescope E-newsletter.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/newsletters

[Steve Bohlen]

I have a subscription to the Sky & Telescope E-newsletter.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/newsletters

Ditto on the newsletter. Always something very interesting there.

Nightwatch by Terence Dickinson is great. More of a 'first book' for backyard astronomers. Awesome stuff.

Been meaning to hit amazon myself in order to pick up some more astronomy material. Interested in what folks have to say here as well.

[Fire$torm]

I've always wanted to build an 8~12 inch reflector telescope. I used to peruse the Edmund Scientific catalogs planning my build. But that was many years ago. This thread has rekindled my interest.
Anyhow, cruising the net turn up Edmund's "Scientifcs Sky Talk" (http://www.scientificsonline.com/scientifics-sky-talk) Monthly newsletter. Written by James Mullaney, former assistant editor at Sky & Telescope magazine.

Now if I win the Lotto........

[CudaStream]

Astronomy is something I've always wanted to get into as a hobby but for one reason or another I just haven't done it. I tried a couple times to take a class at the local community college but it is a really really hard class to get into. Last month I did visit the small observatory at Sun River, OR and spent some time looking at solar flares. Quite a wonderous thing looking out into the universe. :-)

[Crazybob]

www.Astronomy.com is one. I also like http://www.spaceweather.com/. Of course you have your NASA pages which will link you to JPL, http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/. If your looking for current solar measurements, you have http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SWN/ and http://www.spacew.com/index.php. Although last time I was on that site, it seemed the message board had been taken over by thugs who just wanted to spam it. Used to be a great site during active solar outbreaks. Plus, if you have JAVA, I just can't seem to stop playing with this. Use your mouse to put a satellite in orbit and see if you can make it stable. Or just bombard the Earth or Moon with satellites.:) http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/applets/satellites.html

[lem]

try these sites
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/
http://www.nasa.gov/

[DrPop]

Thanks, those are some good ones. About it being harder than it seems- it's like that for me too. I always think it's something I'd like to really get into, and then other stuff always comes along. :)