Review of "Skymaps.com"

Ray Etheridge
Western Washington University
Sci. Ed. 481, 5/6/10

Web Resources Paper

Skymaps.com
http://skymaps.com/
Date Accessed: May 6, 2010

Skymaps.com is an excellent site for anyone interested in astronomy. While technically a site that sells a variety of Astronomical resources the heart and soul of the site are the free educational resources that the site has, in particular the user friendly easy to read, download and use Skymaps themselves. Printing out these maps, which is free for educational purposes, is a treasure that no astronomy class should be without. Provided each month and available in a variety of languages and for a variety of locations the maps are easy to use, fun and with a bit of practice very accurate. The Sky Calendar, also free, provides a list of the interesting astronomical events of the month and can be used to plan activities and group outings. While there is not much more free on the site than these two offerings there are plenty of maps, links to telescopes, calendars and other quality items available for purchase, if you are inclined.
Scientist and laymen alike can make use of this site for education purposes such as for guides in viewing the might sky for astronomy projects or just for fun. While there is not much free at this site the Skymaps and Sky Calendar are enough and for those interested in taking the next step the products they offer are good and reasonably priced. Skymaps.com is a simple resource, but an excellent one.