Southern Skies

Beginning of the week is paper sorting time, and once again something interesting has come up in the arXiv blog: a detailed report on how an "outburst" of a star called η Carinae around 1845, when it became the brightest star of the sky for a few years, has entered the oral tradition of the Australian Aborigenes! Interesting read...

You think you've seen it all (in your telescope)?

Compared to actual experimental physics, I have a tendency to think of astronomy as boring. Come on, it's not as if you can quickly flip a switch on your warp drive, have a close look what's really out there and tinker with it a bit. But, every now and then something amazing is discovered, as this stunninly beautiful spiral with a size of 1/3 light year. A gigantic sprinkler, lit by background galactic starlight... There's more information on it directly on the Hubble space telescope website, including the original paper discussing the discovery. Great!