LIBRARY & RESOURCES
Click here to view our library via "Library Thing"
The Lethbridge Astronomy Society Library has over 700 books pertaining to astronomy and space science and a number of DVDs. In addition, the library has both current and back issues of astronomy periodicals such as Sky and Telescope, Astronomy Magazine, and Canada's own Sky News magazine. Members are able to sign out library items for use at home.
Anyone is welcome to browse the LAS library catalogue by visiting Library Thing website. You can search the catalogue by entering your search term in the "search library" field located in the upper right hand corner of the page. (Make sure you use the "search library" field and not the "search site" field which is located directly above. Otherwise you'll be searching the entire Library Thing website instead of just our collection. You'll find lots of books related to your search, but we can't promise they'll be in our library!)
Anyone is welcome to browse the LAS library catalogue by visiting Library Thing website. You can search the catalogue by entering your search term in the "search library" field located in the upper right hand corner of the page. (Make sure you use the "search library" field and not the "search site" field which is located directly above. Otherwise you'll be searching the entire Library Thing website instead of just our collection. You'll find lots of books related to your search, but we can't promise they'll be in our library!)
Recommended Introductory Books
Nightwatch, by Terence Dickinson. The best book for anyone starting out in astronomy or with a casual interest in the night sky. And it's by a Canadian. Several copies of this book are available for signing out in the LAS library.
The Backyard Astronomer's Guide by Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer. The next book to read after graduating from Nightwatch. Co-Author Alan Dyer is an honorary member of the Lethbridge Astronomy Society! Several copies of Backyard Astronomer's Guide are available for signing out in the LAS library.
Binocular Highlights by Gary Seronik. The LAS recommends spending time viewing objects with binoculars before committing to purchasing a telescope. This is a great introduction to binocular astronomy. And, as with the other books listed so far, this one is also by a Canadian! We have a copy of this book in the LAS library.
Night Sky of North America Pocket Guide , published by National Geographic. This guidebook, the ninth in the National Geographic Pocket Guide series, provides a go-to reference for everything filling the dark canvas above us. A basic guide to the solar system, distant galaxies, exoplanets and deep space, satellites and spacecraft, the big bang, meteor showers, and moon phases, this book also features scores of sky and constellation charts for stargazers. Each of the 147 featured topics includes a photograph or explanatory illustration or graphic. Interesting facts and tips throughout offer a quick guide to observing the night sky with the naked eye, from the Big Dipper and the North Star to auroras and eclipses.
Websites
The Lethbridge Astronomy Society is on Youtube; here you will find various playlists of videos including documentaries on space, science and choosing your first telescope.
Visit the Lethbridge Astronomy Societies Facebook page to keep up to date on the latest events and club news.
NASA website; keep up to date with the latest news from NASA's various missions, probes, and images.
This website contains the entire Messier Catalogue, it shows images of each object within the catalogue, gives a brief description of each object, along with some history.
Amazing Sky Photography The website of author, astrophotographer, and Honorary LAS member Alan Dyer. Stunning images!
Cloudy Nights, is an excellent forum style website, were people from around the world can discuss and ask questions about astronomy.
Astronomy Apps
SkySafari 7 basic/pro versions. Available on Apple App Store and Google Play. SkySafari is an app that shows you 120,000 stars, 222 of the best-known star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies in the sky; including all of the Solar System's major planets and moons, and more than 200 asteroids, comets, and satellites. SkySafari 7 Pro includes over 100 million stars, 3 million galaxies down to 18th magnitude, and 750,000 solar system objects; including every comet and asteroid ever discovered. Plus, state of the art mobile telescope control.
Stellarium is virtual planetarium application available for both mobile and desktop. Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
Astrospheric provides advanced weather tools for professional astronomers and astrophotographers in North America and supports hundreds of astronomical societies with tools that help members stay connected.
My Aurora Forecast & Alerts. My Aurora Forecast is the best app for seeing the Northern Lights in Canada and the rest of the world. Built with a sleek dark design, it appeals to both tourists and serious aurora watchers by telling you what you want to know - whether that is exactly how likely you are to see the aurora borealis or details about the solar winds and high-resolution sun imagery.
We have acquired funding for an inflatable, portable planetarium with the generous support of the Community Foundation of Lethbridge and Southwestern Alberta and the City of Lethbridge. We are extremely grateful - without their support this project could not happen.
The British Fulldome Institute is a provider of content designed for planetarium projection. From them we have accessed a broad inventory of content.
Astrophotography Software
The following astrophotography software is used by many of our members who do astrophotography. There are countless amounts of software to use to help with astrophotography; the following list includes the most commonly used.
Photoshop is used to adjust exposures and to finalize astrophotos.
A free Photoshop alternative called GIMP does many of the same functions as Photoshop.
DeepSkyStacker is a freeware for astrophotographers that simplifies all the pre-processing steps of deep sky pictures.
Sequator is a simple stacking software
PixInsight is an advanced image processing software platform. It has been designed specifically for astrophotography and other technical imaging fields. PixInsight is a modular, open-architecture system where the entire processing and file handling capabilities are implemented as external installable modules.
PHD2 is telescope guiding software that simplifies the process of tracking a guide star, letting you concentrate on other aspects of deep-sky imaging or spectroscopy.