About three months ago, I bought my first real telescope. Not knowing a thing about astronomy, I started up my search engines and typed in the word "astronomy." Bingo! It's all over the place. But one small problem. Some were written by rocket scientists; others took so long to load I was able to read two or three books on the subject.

These sites are for beginners. If you're interested in "backyard astronomy," even if you just have a pair of binoculars, they are all worth the trip. Remember, bring your kids into the backyard with you. You can amaze them with a little knowledge and make yourself out to be an astronomy whiz.

This is a perfect place to start, as this is a great beginner page. It shows what to, how to, and where to look to see planets, stars, and galaxies.

It explains what you need to get started and what kinds of clubs you can join to learn more about astronomy. What attracted me most about this site was that if was written in a way that even a novice astronomer could understand.

This is actually a center in the Bay Area to purchase telescopes and binoculars, but their site is full of information about telescopes. I never knew how many different styles of scopes there were out there until I read their page.

If you are interested in purchasing a scope, like I was, this will explain everything you need to know about scopes for viewing, or astrophotography. It will also show you how to use a simple pair of binoculars for viewing anything from the Moon to Mars.

This is one of two great magazines about the stars. Besides being able to read current articles from the magazine, (without having to purchase it), it will show you current sky events. This will include where to see "Hale-Bopp" (almost gone), Venus, star clusters, galaxies, and nebulae.

This is the second of the two great astronomy magazines you should take a look at. This one gives you more info about what's in the magazine than anything else, but it's still worth the visit. It will also link you to "Sky Online," which has comet pages, meteor pages, tips for backyard astronomers, and astronomy software for your computer.

This software is invaluable for star watching. You can get lost with books and star charts, but the software is simple and easy to use. A lot of it is "shareware," so you can try before you buy.

The Hubble Space Telescope is out there taking the most incredible pictures I've ever seen. This site is dedicated to going where no one has gone before.

It explains all about the Hubble Space Telescope including its history, missions by the Space Shuttle to repair and update the telescope, current science instruments on board, and pictures, pictures, pictures. Great for wallpaper!

This is the "Mother Of All Astronomy Web Sites!" I have yet to read the whole site. It is called a "Multimedia Tour Of The Solar System." It truly is. I have never enjoyed or learned so much about our Solar System as I have been since reading this site.

It not only covers the planets in our Solar System, it also includes all their moons. Not to mention other Solar Systems, space craft, and other small bodies out in space. Bookmark this one and don't try to finish it all in one sitting. It's like a good book. Sit back and enjoy.

"Happy Surfing" :o)