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"  Online astronomy platforms have revolutionized a traditional hobby, one in which trekking to a dark spot in the country with a star map used to be the ultimate stargazer experience. Some online sites post images from powerful telescopes around the world; others let viewers take control of the scopes. They all offer novice celestial viewers a look at the galaxy that even the best home telescope will miss. Space has never looked so good. Here&amp;#039;s a guide for a trip around the cosmos.   Slooh With Slooh, subscribers can join guided telescope cruises of the night sky or choose to navigate the galaxy on their own while snapping photos. The site offers an up-to-the-minute look at the cosmos by way of live telescopes positioned around the world, as well as daily missions to specific niches. One night, a tour may be led from a scope in Chile; the next night, from Spain. Plus, members can reserve 5-minute brackets of telescope control time in advance, an appointment they can use to zoom in on phenomena like Jupiter&amp;#039;s white ovals and red storms. But independence does come with a price: a monthly subscription of $5.95. Microsoft&amp;#039;s Worldwide Telescope Though dressed in Microsoft&amp;#039;s standard blue business attire, Worldwide Telescope is no Windows Vista. After an initial web client download, it serves as an exploration platform with pre-imaged tours of the cosmos that Microsoft pulls together from around the Web. The only thing it seems to lack is real-time viewing\u2014but, hey, it is free. LightBuckets LightBuckets has a network of telescopes around the globe and an impressive gallery. And we suspect it&amp;#039;s worth it if you can figure out the point payment plan, which can resemble either a cellphone pay-as-you-go or contract system. Basically, some imaging runs, or peeks at chosen areas of the sky, cost more than others for an allotted period of time\u2014most run about $30 per hour. As another option, you can sign up for routine use at a cheaper rate.    Astrometry.net At Astrometry.net, viewers can use Flickr to upload photos of the night sky\u2014from sources ranging from camera phones to hi-res digital cameras attached to scopes\u2013contributing to scientists&amp;#039; body of space knowledge. With help from the public&amp;#039;s photo skills, researchers hope to scour the galaxy for unexpected occurrences like new supernovae and, in the end, have all the nooks and crannies of knowledge about the night sky in one place. The site is still shedding its academic design and is fast-becoming becoming more user-friendly for those outside the university. The Kepler Mission  NASA&amp;#039;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory offers a breathtaking view of planets outside our own solar system, but inside our galaxy, via the Kepler space telescope. The NASA site offers free access to an interactive gallery filled with movies, exploration simulations, mockup images and data on Kepler&amp;#039;s first discoveries including TrES-2 and two other listed planets. Chandra X-ray Observatory Harvard&amp;#039;s Chandra X-ray Observatory has a gallery chock-full of stellar, mid-mass and supermassive black holes that highlight these galactic mysteries in all their glory. The images are accompanied by information like the size, age and whereabouts of each black hole.    W.M. Keck Observatory  Whether of the solar system or the milky way, the images in Keck&amp;#039;s gallery rock. The observatory nestled at the base of the dormant Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii houses the world&amp;#039;s largest optical and infrared telescopes. Each stands eight stories tall and weighs in at 300 tons\u2014all the better to see space.  Spitzer Space Telescope Ever wondered how a star was formed? CalTech&amp;#039;s Spitzer Telescope breaks down the solar science, revealing star births of all shapes, sizes and colors. Once stars are born, Spitzer tracks and records its infancy.  Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope website remains space&amp;#039;s mecca, with a deep photographic portfolio and fact-laden image tours. Here lie shots from around the solar system, the galaxy and the universe\u2014from dark nebulae to white dwarf stars. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/telescopes/a5720/4349969/>