The Moon: A Resource Guide

C. WEB SITES

1. General Moon Web Sites

The Nine Planets Site (Amateur astronomer Bill Arnett has compiled good introductory information and links for armchair explorers):
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/luna.html

Views of the Solar System Site (Engineer Calvin Hamilton has a treasure trove of images, animations, information, and links):
http://www.solarviews.com/eng/moon.htm

Planetary Sciences Site (from NASA’s National Space Science Data Center, includes lots of information, mission guides, a timeline, images, and links):
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planets/moonpage.html

Exploring the Moon (from the Lunar and Planetary Institute, focuses on the science and past and future missions; rich with maps and images)
http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/expmoon/lunar_missions.html

PBS "To the Moon" Site (this site accompanies a NOVA TV program and has a good section on theories of the Moon’s origin, as well as interviews with lunar astronauts):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tothemoon/

2. Web Sites about Specific Moon Missions

Apollo Lunar Surface Journal (Space Historian Eric Jones has complied interviews, maps, photos, video and audio clips, and much more on each of the Apollo landing missions. Even has edited transcripts of the original conversations between the astronauts and mission control.)
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/

Clementine Mission Site (includes the report on the discovery of ice deep in polar craters):
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/clementine/
For a longer discussion of how there can be ice on the Moon, see:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ice/ice_moon.html

Lunar Prospector Home Page (includes not just the results from the recent mission to the Moon, but also a history of lunar exploration, science background, and more):
http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov

NASA Books Online (a nice link to a wide range of books about lunar and planetary exploration, including all the early Moon missions, available at the click of a mouse):
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/online_books.html

3. Web Sites about Observing the Moon

Sky & Telescope Magazine Moon Site (includes articles, observing hints, and a discussion of what "blue moon" means; some of the articles recommended in section B2 above are on-line here):
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/

Inconstant Moon (Kevin Clarke’s rich site full of moon information, observing guides, an atlas, phase calendar, moon music, and much more):
http://www.inconstantmoon.com

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Moon (Akanna Peck’s site shows what’s visible on the Moon tonight and lets you search by feature names; for serious observers):
http://www.shallowsky.com/moon/hitchhiker.html

The American Lunar Society Site (an organization of serious amateur astronomers dedicated to observing the Moon):
http://www.otterdad.dynip.com/als/

Names on the Moon (a guide from the US Geological Survey on how features on the Moon are named):
http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/moon/moonTOC.html

The Digital Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Moon (photographs of the Moon from orbit, which can be explored in a variety of ways on line):
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/research/lunar_orbiter/index.html

4. Web Sites for Keeping Track on the Moon’s Phases

Googol Moon Phase Calendar (lets you print out a month-long pictorial calendar of what the Moon looks like for any month — past, present or future):
www.googol.com/moon/moonctrl.pl.cgi

Moon Calendar (Paul Carlisle’s site, written for school students, displays the phase of the Moon for any date from 3999BC to 3999 AD):
http://www.ameritech.net/users/paulcarlisle/MoonCalendar.html

Phase of the Moon (Akkana Peck’s applet just shows the appearance of the Moon on any given date):
http://www.shallowsky.com/moon.html

U.S. Naval Observatory Phase Calculator (another applet for showing the phase of the Moon on any selected date:
http://tycho.usno.navy.mil/vphase.html

Earth and Moon Viewer (has a sophisticated program for seeing what the Moon looks like from several vantage points):
http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vplanet.html

5. Web Sites for Teachers

Astronomy Activities on the Web (a subject guide from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, includes a number of good activities related to the Moon):
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/activities/astroacts.html

SpaceLink Guide to Moon Resources for Teachers (a compilation of what materials NASA has on the Web for teachers relating to the Moon):
http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/
Curriculum.Support/Space.Science/Our.Solar.System/

The Moon: It’s Just a Phase It’s Going Through (an issue of the "Universe in the Classroom" newsletter for teachers from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific):
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/12/12.html

Phases of the Moon Video Demo (Project ASTRO Tucson has an on-line demonstration of how moon phases work):
http://www.noao.edu/education/phases/phases_demo.html

The Origin of the Moon (A site with paintings by astronomer/artist William Hartmann, explaining the giant impact hypothesis for how the Moon formed):
http://www.psi.edu/projects/moon/moon.html

table of contents

Privacy & Legal Statements | Site Index | Contact Us

Copyright ©2001-2008 Astronomical Society of the Pacific