NASA's 3D Solar Images

NASA has a system of satellites called "Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory" (ie, STEREO) that is taking 3D images of the Sun.

You need a pair of those red-cyan paper glasses to see the 3D effect, so if you have some of those, go take a look here.

If not, you'll have to be content with this 2D one, instead.

Comet McNought

Sadly, that's not a typo in the title!

My friend Gavin kindly invited me to join him and his girlfriend, Linda, on a trek to obtain a good view of Comet McNaught.

Gavin called Sydney Observatory to check where the optimal vantage point would be. Not surprisingly, they said "Observatory Hill", but that there were no spots left for tonight's sessions.

The decision was made that getting out of the city lights would be the best plan, so we drove down to the Royal National Park.

We found a spot that seemed to have a good view in the appropriate direction and waited for the sun to go down.

As we waited, we watched whisps of cloud appear on the horizon. By the time the sun was down, this had turned into a blanket of cloud that completely obscured the area where we expected McNaught to be :-(.

We drove to a couple of different spots, but with no further success.

Oh well, it was a nice drive and the view was very pretty. In theory, McNaught will be visible up until around the 26th, so there is still a chance we'll get to see it.

What's Up Doc?

A lady named Tammy Plotner has produced a free PDF book entitled "What's Up 2007: 365 Days of Skywatching", which follows on from the one she authored last year.

It's related to a weekly column Tammy writes on an astronomy blog site called Universe Today, which looks to be a good place to find information regarding events in astronomy and space, pitched at the layperson.

As one would expect, it's northern hemisphere focused. However, it is beautifully laid out and contains an astounding amount of information that would make it interesting reading, irrespective of where you happen to live.

If you'd prefer a printed copy, you can order one, via the self-publishing site, Lulu.