Astronomy is fascinating to most of us, and we enjoy learning about the stars, planets, sun, and more. Let's take our fascination to the Internet and see what it has to offer.

Astronomy Picture of the Day's Educational Links offers an excellent listing of resources in astronomy education. Visit Ask the Astronomer for answers to thousands of astronomy-related questions, or discover elementary school astronomy activities that can be done only with a stick.

What about a search facility specifically for astronomy? Stop by Lycos' Space and Astronomy, where you can browse through their listings or search for the topic of your choice. Fantastic resource!

A listing of astronomy-related websites wouldn't be complete without a site for the Mars Pathfinder. At Mars Pathfinder Project Information, you can view a map of the landing site, read the mission summary, or study an atlas of Mars.

For a multimedia tour of the solar system, visit The Nine Planets. Learn the current scientific knowledge of each of the planets, complete with images, sounds, and movies.

If you're interested in Jupiter, visit the Galileo Home Page, where you can view images and data from Jupiter. Galileo is a spacecraft studying Jupiter's atmosphere, moons, and magnetic environment that arrived at the planet in 1995.

The Comet Observation Page features information on comets currently visible, information on Comet Hale-Bopp, and comet images.

Expanding Universe, a Classified Search Tool for Amateur Astronomy, allows you to browse an endless listing of websites in much the same way you'd browse for books in a library, using a system similar to the Dewey Decimal System. This site is truly amazing and a "must see" for anyone interested in astronomy.

A Practical Guide to Astronomy offers information beginning with the Big Bang and continuing through a study of black holes, the moon, satellites, and even space travel.

For a virtual trip to the moon, stop by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Moon. View the current position and libration of the moon, study a lunar atlas, or surf to other lunar observing pages on the Net.

"Are we alone in the Universe? How did we get here? What is the origin of the Universe? Are there other planets outside our own solar system?" Nasa's Origins Program will search for clues to help us find our cosmic roots.

At National Geographic Online's Star Journey, you can view the nighttime sky using a Star Chart, now overlaid with Hubble Space Telescope Images. Or, visit Star Attractions for a lesson in constellations.

Teachers and children will love this final website, Solar System Mobile. The site features a free solar system paper project that you can print out and color.

Robin Nobles is a freelance writer who can be reached at robinnobles@robinsnest.com.

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