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Amateur Telescope Makers of Boston
A general interest astronomy club
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Observing

Are you interested in observing? Below is some information and resources to get you started.

Resources for beginners

There are many ways to get started with amateur astronomy, from humble naked eye observing, to simple binoculars, to high power telescopes.

Observer's challenge

The Observer' s Challenge is an international deep-sky observing report, which allows any serious amateur the opportunity to share notes, sketches and images for a preselected deep-sky object on a monthly basis.

From rogerivester.com

Astronomical Events

Astronomical Events

Observing conditions

Whether you plan on observing naked eye, using binoculars, or a telescope, here are some resources to help make your observing session a success.

Conditions at the clubhouse

You can also see current sky conditions at the clubhouse by viewing our sky camera at the bottom of this page.

Sky condition maps

Cloud cover map from Dark Sky.net
Cloud cover

This map, from darksky.net, defaults to cloud cover for the area around the clubhouse. You can also choose to see other weather-related conditions like temperature and dew point.

EPA fire and smoke map
Fire & smoke

This map, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), shows you whether smoke will hinder your observing session. You can enable/disable map layers by clicking on the layers option in the upper right of the browser.

Space weather prediction center from NOAA
Space weather

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather site has many resources, including aurora predictions.

Dark sky finder map from the IDA
Dark sky

This map, from the International Dark-Sky Association, will help you locate a dark site from the "International Dark Sky Places Program."

Clubhouse Sky Camera

North up; East right