Luke Keller

Professor, Physics and Astronomy
School: School of Humanities and Sciences

Details for students enrolled in this course (syllabus, assignments, schedules, etc.) are available on our Canvas web site.

Welcome to the Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe web links page. I am collecting links to useful information and study aids here. If you find any interesting or useful astronomy links send them or post on the Sakai Forum and I will add them here.

Astronomy (free e-textbook)

Astronomy Picture of the Day NASA web site with cool images and descriptions updated daily. Lots of links to more detailed information.

Nebraska Astronomy Applet Project NAAP: Great interactive demos. Use these to help you visualize motion in the celestial sphere and lunar phases! Note that the Flash demos no longer work so you need to download the (free) apps by downloading and installing the file 'NAAP Labs v1.1' (.msi for Windows, .pkg for MacOS). Once you download and install the labs you can access the apps.

Star Walk A really fine stargazing/sky simulator smartphone and tablet/iPad. FREE or upgrade for $2.99. Great way to learn constellations, either alone or with others, and see what's up.

Solar Walk A super solar system simulator smartphone and tablet/iPad app for FREE. Great way to learn about the planets and other solar system bodies and see them in their orbits.

Stellarium Nice free and open source sky simulator. Very powerful, but takes more time to learn. There is also a web version.

Exoplanet A great FREE smartphone and tablet app with information about extra-solar planets (exoplanets) including how they are identified and a data base of know exoplanets.

Lunar phases video Great video by Phil Plait that explains lunar phases. Same material I covered; much better video production!

Lunar Phases Calendar from moonconnection.com. Create you own calendar!

Spectra of Different Atoms Comparison spectra for spectroscopy.

Computer model (simulation based on scientific theory) of stars forming in a giant molecular cloud

Artistic rendering of star and planet formation based on theoretical models and observations