2009 - The International Year of Astronomy

Cassiopeia A: Chandra Discovers Relativistic Pinball Machine, originally uploaded by Smithsonian Institution.

Happy New Year my friends.

This photograph of Cassiopeia A is from "NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was launched and deployed by Space Shuttle Comlumbia on July 23, 1999."

So it's a visually spectacular introduction to the International Year of Astronomy.

Closer to home, I commend the website and blog of the Sydney Observatory.

For old school stuff, I've got an especially soft spot for the Sydney Observatory's Historic Letters Blog.

NASA also has a pretty cool site featuring the IYA here.