Telescope and Camera:
Meade home page
Meade LX200 Instruction Manuals
Almanac Data:
USNO Complete Sun and Moon Data
Sky and Telescope magazine online. Check out the observing section of the site.
Standard Stars:
Landolt Standard Stars
Bright Northern BVRI Standards
Lists of Observing Targets:
Very Extensive Double Star Catalog from USNO
List of Messier Objects with Links to Images from the DSS
ARVAL Catalog of Bright Open Clusters
ARVAL Catalog of Bright Globular Clusters
Finding Charts:
Digitized Sky Survey
To use the DSS to make finding charts, either enter the object name to get the coordinates or enter them yourself (make sure you select the correct epoch - J2000 or B1950). Set the file format to GIF so that you retrieve an image that you can see in your web browser.
You can also use Skyview or the SDSS finding chart tool.
Weather:
And, perhaps the most important pages you'll need to consult...
www.weather.com
Totally coolest site:
Clear Sky
Clock for Philadelphia (specifically, at Northeast Philadelphia
Airport). This is a prediction for the next two days based on
computer models. Pay your money, take your chances. This site also has
several excellent links to satellite
data and other astronomy info as well as star
maps customized for the Philadelphia area. To understand the difficulty of
doing optical astronomy in Philly, see the light pollution
map.