Astronomy is one of the classic sciences and can be a fascinating hobby for not only adults, but kids as well.  Exploring the heavens feeds the imaginations of young minds like few other topics, and if your child has found an interest in astronomy you may have taken the next step in buying them a childrens telescope.  Once you've bought your child a telescope and they are ready to begin their observation of stars and planets, there is another important tool and that is an online interactive sky chart.

Basically, just as if you were navigating a new city or country by car, navigating the night sky requires some sort of road map so that you can find what you are looking for.  For this reason, sky charts have been developed for years by astronomers to map the night sky, including stars, planets, galaxies, and constellations.   Thus anyone with a space telescope can find interesting things by using this sky chart to navigate accordingly.

A key element to any sky chart is its relativity to the observer.  Obviously a map of the sky is only a relevant to where you happen to be on the earth.  Thus sky maps are meant to be calibrated to the observers horizon and zenith, or fixed position relative to the sky.  In addition, since the sky is constantly changing based on the earths rotation around the sun and other celestial movements, a sky chart is usually based on the season of the year.

Sky charts traditionally have been paper documents and maps, but today they are online interactive application that you can download and use on your computer.  For example, the Interactive Sky Chart at skyandtelescope.com is a Java based application you can download and use once you register on their site.  You'll then have a great application you can use or your child can use with a beginner telescope.

Another great sky chart is the one at KidsAstronomy.com.  Their What You Can Find in the Sky Tonightpage allows you to do things like enter in a month and time, then print the corresponding start map that you can use with your refractor telescope.  This is especially good for kids because its simple and easy to use.

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A great sky resource that includes interactive videos specific to each month can be found at HubbleSite.org.  Listen to the instructor go through what can be seen in the sky for this month, including constellations, planets, and galaxies.  This is also great for a beginner who wants a simple overview of the sky and some ideas for what can be seen in the sky before buying a telescope.

Finally, our favorite online interactive sky chart is at Astroviewer.com.  This easy to use application has features like allowing the user to select their city for a long list of major US cities, which then is used as the locator reference.  This is much simpler than selecting a longitude and latitude, and also allows the tools to develop a more specific sky map for the user.  You then can use tabs with star maps, overviews of where the planets are relative to the solar system, and planet visibility charts so you can see what planets are currently visible in the night sky.