Resources
These are the things we use
If you think something is missing, please let us know!

Learn the Night Sky

Stellarium (web): Free planetarium software. See exactly what's overhead anywhere on any night, past, present, or future. They also have an app.

TheSkyLive: Especially useful for the 3D solar system viewer.

Weather: More Sorcery Than Science

COD Satellite: GOES-East infrared loop zoomed on Big Bend. Shows what's actually building right now, not what's forecast.  This is my last minute tool.

Windy: Meteogram and live radar for the Big Bend area. Good for watching short-term movement as well as forecasting.

Astrospheric: Forecast built for astronomers. Cloud cover, seeing, and transparency, including wildfire smoke, not just rain chance.

BBRO Weather: Local station data from our partner observatory next door.

NWS Graphical Forecast: NOAA's official hour-by-hour forecast for the Star Park's exact coordinates.

Clear Outside: Hour-by-hour cloud, seeing, and sky quality, built for astronomers.


Rocket  Launches and the Jellyfish Effect

Turns out that Big Bend is a great spot for observing rockets.  We can see launches from California, de-orbital burns from Florida, and the occassional Chinese spacecraft. 

RocketLaunch.live:  A very clean launch schedule.

Max Q:  Brilliant for all things rocketry, very useful for trajectories and predicting visibility.  

Podcasts

StarTalk Radio: Neil deGrasse Tyson and a rotating cast of comics and scientists tackle astrophysics, pop culture, and listener questions.

The Actual Astronomy Podcast: Two amateur astronomers, Chris and Shane, talk gear, targets, and what's worth observing each month. Shop talk from fellow visual observers.

Astronomy Daily: Space News Updates: Ten-minute daily rundown of space and astronomy news. Good for staying current between tours.

StarDate: Daily two-minute spot on what to look for in tonight's sky, from McDonald Observatory up the road in Fort Davis.

Star Stuff: Lowell Observatory's podcast, covering everything from black holes to the people and history behind the science.


YouTube

Crash Course Astronomy:  Required material for Astro Mucho guides.  Phil Plait is great and I especially like his book Under Alien Skies.

Social Media

Astro Alexandra:  Best in the game.  She also attended the star party in March of 2025 that led to Astro Mucho's existence.  I was so rusty!