photo credit: bjornman

It is the International Year of Astronomy and you are all invited. Since this is the first week of the new teaching year at my University, and this is my (theoretically) last year of my Astro degree, what better time than now to quickly talk about all my favourite celestial endeavours that are happening this year.

• ->  How to make a telescope out of a kilometer cube of pure ice. One of the most ambitious projects I have seen in this modern epoch, and yet it receives a backseat to less fruitful endeavours.

• ->  The AEGIS project is a utilisation of the worlds three largest land-based telescopes plus the orbital Spitzer and the aging Hubble to analyse a ultra-high resolution strip of the sky smaller than your little finger nail. 56k users beware, these images are approximately 20mb each (and there are a lot of them) but I promise you, the result is fucking breathtaking and truly humbling.
   
• ->  How do scientists use such a stupidly high res photo? Why, on the worlds highest resolution monitor bank, of course! Anyone up for a game of Crysis?
   
• ->  If you like your astro pictures to be more “Desktop Worthy”, then The World At Night project is another fantastic undertaking. Go now and start your wallpaper crusade!
   
• ->  Want to know how to take those photos yourself? You would be amazed just how simple it is (and how expensive it can become once the addiction gets its claws in)
   
• ->  I am amazed that my favourite blogospheric misanthrope has not made mention of his inspired avatar.

Last but not least, I promise this is the last time I mention Windows 7; this guide is a glimpse of how to make the new OS really work.

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