"The Complete Sky and Telescope: Seven Decade Collection" consists of 10 DVD-ROMs, one each for the first four decades, and two DVDs each for the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

A bonus CD-ROM provides a fully searchable index for the entire archive. Users can also easily search for specific articles or references within a given decade by a smaller index on that decade's DVD.

"We have been thinking about this DVD box set for years, and we're thrilled that it has become a reality," says Sky and Telescope editor in chief Robert Naeye.

"This digital archive will be an invaluable resource not only for professional and amateur astronomers, but also for journalists, historians, and teachers."

The DVD archive contains 818 monthly issues of Sky and Telescope, consisting of 69,792 pages. The archive is both PC and Mac compatible. The archive is easy to use; a single mouse click flips a page like a real magazine.

The pages also have zoom and scroll functions. The archive's pages can be easily printed, and color photos and illustrations appear in their full glory. The archive includes all advertisements (most of which are searchable), making it easy to follow trends in the telescope industry.

"The back issues of Sky and Telescope offer a real-time history of 20th-century astronomy and space exploration. There are thousands of timeless pages devoted to making and using telescopes, and thousands more on observing," says S and T senior editor Dennis di Cicco, who has worked at the magazine since 1974.

"Pick any topic of interest to amateur astronomers, and you'll likely find more pages about it in the S and T archive than in any book!"

"This is a virtual universe of knowledge and a permanent archive to fuel your passion for astronomy and space flight," says Naeye.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Washington DC (SPX) Aug 16, 2010 - A new report by the National Research Council identifies the highest-priority research activities for astronomy and astrophysics in the next decade that will "set the nation firmly on the path to answering profound questions about the cosmos."

The decadal survey - the Research Council's sixth - prioritizes activities based on their ability to advance science in key areas, and for the first time also takes into account factors such as risks in technical readiness, schedule, and cost.

The report identifies space- and ground-based research activities in three categories: large, midsize, and small. For large space activities - those exceeding $1 billion - an observatory the report calls the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) is the top priority because the space telescope would help settle fundamental questions about the nature of dark energy, determine the likelihood of other Earth-like planets over a wide range of orbital parameters, and survey our galaxy and others.

For large-scale, ground-based research initiatives that exceed $135 million, the first priority is the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), a wide-field optical survey telescope that would observe more than half the sky every four nights, and address diverse areas of study such as dark energy, supernovae, and time-variable phenomena.

"Powerful new ways to observe the universe and bold ideas to understand it have created scientific opportunities without precedent," said Roger Blandford, chair of the committee that wrote the report and Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford.

"The program of research that we recommend will optimize the science return for future ground-based projects and space missions in a time of constrained budgets and limited resources."

The recommended research activities are encapsulated by three science objectives: deepening understanding of how the first stars, galaxies, and black holes formed, locating the closest habitable Earth-like planets beyond the solar system for detailed study, and using astronomical measurements to unravel the mysteries of gravity and probe fundamental physics.

Along with WFIRST, other priorities in the large-scale space category recommended in the report are an augmentation to the Explorer program, which supports small- and medium-sized missions that provide high scientific returns; the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), which could enable detection of long gravitational waves or "ripples in space-time"; and the International X-Ray Observatory, a large-area X-ray telescope that could transform understanding of hot gas associated with stars, galaxies, and black holes in all evolutionary stages.

Other recommended ground-based research projects include the formation of a Midscale Innovations Program within the National Science Foundation (NSF), which would fill a funding gap for compelling research activities that cost between $4 million and $135 million.

In addition, the report recommends participation in the U.S.-led international Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope, a next generation large optical telescope that is vital for continuing the long record of U.S. leadership in ground-based optical astronomy. The next priority is participation in an international ground-based high-energy gamma-ray telescope array.

For midsize space-based activities, the first priority is the New Worlds Technology Development Program, which lays the scientific groundwork for a future mission to study nearby Earth-like planets. Top priority for ground-based midsize research is the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope (CCAT), which would provide short wavelength radio surveys of the sky to study dusty material associated with galaxies and stars.

Research priorities were selected through an extensive review that included input from nine expert panels, six study groups, and a broad survey of the astronomy and astrophysics community. With the help of an outside contractor, the committee developed independent appraisals of the technical readiness and schedule and cost risks.

In addition, the survey reassessed projects that were recommended in past surveys but not formally started alongside newly proposed projects.

The research recommendations represent a cohesive plan with realistic budgetary scenarios, the report says, with ranges based on current projected budgets for NASA, NSF, and the U.S. Department of Energy - the agencies largely responsible for funding and implementing the research activities.

It also identifies smaller, unranked research initiatives to augment core fundamental research. An independent standing committee should regularly advise the agencies on strategy and progress of the projects and produce annual reports.

The report notes that astronomical research continues to offer significant benefits to the nation beyond astronomical discoveries by capturing the public's attention and promoting general science literacy and proficiency.

In addition, the research serves as a gateway to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers, and a number of important and often unexpected technological breakthroughs. The report makes several recommendations to improve astronomy and astrophysics education and calls for more U.S. participation in international research projects.

related report
AAS Endorses Astro2010 Decadal Survey
The American Astronomical Society (AAS), the major organization of professional astronomers in North America, has endorsed the decadal survey recommending priorities for the most important scientific and technical activities of the next 10 years in astronomy and astrophysics.

These include a balance of small, medium, and large initiatives, with ground- and space-based telescopes across the electromagnetic spectrum. The report of the Astro2010 Survey Committee, more than two years in the making, was released this morning during a briefing and webcast at the Keck Center of the National Academies in Washington, DC.

The Society's endorsement reads as follows:

"The American Astronomical Society enthusiastically endorses the Astro2010 Decadal Survey: 'New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics.' Given recent advances in technology and understanding, this is a time of extraordinary opportunity for research in astronomy and astrophysics. This report is based on a comprehensive community-driven process and presents exciting yet realistic recommendations for the next decade. The AAS urges the astronomical community to support the report and its priorities."

New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics is the sixth in a series of surveys produced every 10 years by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. Many of today's most powerful and scientifically productive ground- and space-based telescopes were built following the recommendations of earlier decadal surveys.

The 23-member Astro2010 Survey Committee, chaired by Roger Blandford (Stanford University), surveyed the entire field, from science to infrastructure, and assessed ground- and space-based activities in astronomy and astrophysics, including both new and previously identified concepts.

Their recommendations for the coming decade are addressed to the agencies supporting the field (chiefly NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy), the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over those agencies, the scientific community, and the public.

"Nothing is more important to our discipline than the release of the decadal survey recommendations," says AAS Executive Officer Kevin B. Marvel. "Congress, the White House, and the funding agencies applaud us for undertaking this effort, and they will use our community priorities to allocate federal resources to astronomy and astrophysics projects."

During its lengthy study, Blandford's committee weighed input from a sizable fraction of the nation's astronomers and space scientists. Nearly 200 served on scientifically or technically themed panels or infrastructure study groups.

More than 300 "white papers" were submitted reviewing our current understanding and future directions in studies of planetary systems, the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies, and cosmology, along with another 100 or so describing new missions, observatories, and projects.

About 150 reports were received concerning the state of the profession, the need for certain types of technology development, and challenges in theory, computation, and laboratory astrophysics. And hundreds of scientists participated in 17 "town hall" meetings that members of the survey committee convened across the country from Hawaii to New England.

John P. Huchra (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), AAS Past-President and Chair of the AAS Committee on Astronomy and Public Policy, is also a member of the Astro2010 Survey Committee. "Every party in the astronomical community had multiple opportunities to provide input," says Huchra.

"I think that's why the AAS was so quick to endorse the Astro2010 report: the Society recognized and admired the inclusivity of the process that led to it."

"This is broadly representative of what U.S. astronomers want to see happen in the coming decade," says AAS President Debra M. Elmegreen (Vassar College), who is also on Blandford's committee.

"The survey report presents many exciting opportunities for our field. In addition to the breakthrough science that would be supported by the recommended projects and missions, there are also many suggestions concerning the astronomical enterprise, including issues such as education and training, diversity, data handling, and benefits to the nation."

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Washington DC (SPX) Aug 06, 2010 - Step outside as evening twilight fades, and from now through the middle of August you'll find three planets shining low in the west - one much brighter than the other two. All you'll need is a clear sky and an open westward view about an hour after sunset.

"Venus will leap out at you," says Alan MacRobert, a senior editor of Sky and Telescope magazine. "Saturn and Mars are fainter, so you may need to wait for the sky to darken a bit more before they glimmer into view."

Venus is the famed "Evening Star," the brightest celestial object in Earth's sky after the Sun and Moon.

Saturn and Mars are only about 1 percent as bright. They form a more-or-less horizontal line above Venus, as wide as three or four fingers held together at arm's length. Saturn and Mars will spend the week sliding to the right with respect to Venus, creating a planetary triangle that changes shape from day to day.

Although the three planets look close together, they're not. Venus is currently 6 light-minutes (73 million miles) from us, Mars is 17 light-minutes (190 million miles) distant, and Saturn is far in the background 85 light-minutes (950 million miles) away.

Three reasons combine to make Venus shine so much brighter than the others. It's the closest to us, it's the closest to the Sun so it's illuminated more intensely, and it's covered with brilliantly reflective white clouds.

As for Mars and Saturn? They look similar in brightness for reasons that cancel out. Saturn is 35 times larger than Mars, but it's much farther both from us and from the Sun.

The crescent Moon joins the twilight planet scene on Thursday, August 12th (when it's below Venus) and Friday the 13th (when it's left of Venus).

"Don't miss this chance to do some easy astronomy from your backyard, balcony, or rooftop," says Sky and Telescope editor in chief Robert Naeye. "It's a big universe, and planets await!"

For more skywatching information and astronomy news, visit SkyandTelescope.com or pick up Sky and Telescope, the essential magazine of astronomy since 1941.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Paris, France (SPX) Aug 05, 2010 - The UNESCO World Heritage Committee, at its 34th session in Brasilia, Brazil, has, for the first time, endorsed a study in science heritage.

The thematic study on the Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy, prepared within the framework of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, presents an overall vision of astronomical heritage and attempts to identify some of the most outstanding examples that are of significance to everyone.

The study is the result of a collaboration between the IAU Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the advisory body to UNESCO regarding cultural sites. The two organisations worked together to produce a detailed account of the rich history of astronomy around the world and the key sites for this heritage.

The document, the full title of which is "Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the context of the World Heritage Convention", identifies broad issues in the assessment of cultural heritage relating to astronomy and includes examples of historical sites, some already on the World Heritage List or national Tentative Lists.

This study was an integral part of the successful International Year of Astronomy 2009, whose activities in 148 countries reached millions of people and increased public understanding and appreciation of astronomy around the world.

The study has several objectives. One is to gain a clearer picture of the character and composition of astronomical heritage around the world. Another is to identify just how to define this type of heritage in the context of the World Heritage Convention.

The report details the main characteristics we should expect from an astronomical heritage site, and compares this to a representative sample of major heritage sites for astronomy around the world.

Sixteen main topics are identified in the report, which covers human history from the Stone Age to the Space Age.

"Astronomy represents a rich and significant part of humanity's shared cultural and natural heritage. Recognising this formally means that we can now identify and clarify astronomical value in the context of the World Heritage Convention," says Clive Ruggles, chair of the IAU's Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage and co-author of the study.

Anna Sidorenko-Dulom, Chair of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 Cornerstone project Astronomy and World Heritage and coordinator of the thematic initiative Astronomy and World Heritage at UNESCO World Heritage Centre adds: "Recently there has been a lot of interest in reviewing the relationship between the heritage of the sciences, the traditional knowledge of indigenous communities, and the World Heritage Convention. In this context, the new Thematic Study provides the foundation for assisting State Parties to harmonise their Tentative Lists at a thematic level and to prepare nominations, including comparative analyses explaining the importance of nominated properties in their national and international context. This raises the serious possibility of including astronomical sites of outstanding universal value in the World Heritage List."

The study therefore has important practical implications for the effective implementation of the World Heritage Convention and for helping State Parties create credible nomination dossiers. But as well as its practical benefits for the management of world heritage, the study is a useful tool for helping to understand humanity's history.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Ithaca NY (SPX) Aug 02, 2010 - In the four centuries since Galileo pointed his handheld cardboard-and-glass telescope skyward and Johannes Kepler described two laws of planetary motion, humans have come to know our solar system almost as intimately as we know our hometowns. So, consider the challenge in reviewing all of planetary science since 1610 ... in 4,000 words or fewer.

Joseph A. Burns, professor of astronomy and the Irving Porter Church Professor of Engineering, was offered that original task by the journal Nature - and took it. (Nature editors ultimately allowed an additional 3,500 words.) His nine-page (plus another page of footnotes) whirlwind tour appears in the July 29 issue.

Burns begins in 1609, the year of Galileo and Kepler (although Galileo actually made most of his paradigm-shifting observations in 1610), and moves through the 17th century, when various solar system bodies were identified and classified. In those times, he notes, astronomy was primarily a practical tool for maritime navigation.

The 17th and 18th centuries brought Halley and Herschel, the characterization of comets, and the discovery of Uranus. Then came the discovery of the asteroid Ceres, the first sensing of infrared and ultraviolet radiation, and the detection of stellar parallax (the apparent shift in the position of a star viewed from Earth at different points in orbit).

The majority of Burns' retelling focuses on the last 50 years - when, initially spurred largely by politics and nationalism, humans became active explorers in space.

"Few citizens today realize how poorly known the solar system's members, including the Earth, were before the space era," he writes. "Simply put, astonishingly few facts were available." As recently as 1966, for example, scientists actively debated whether there was vegetation on Mars.

When Burns entered the field in the late 1960s, the space age was in full swing. "I became addicted to space exploration by the gradual and seductive disrobing of all the inner planets," he writes. From the Mariner missions to Mercury, Venus and Mars to the Viking landers on Mars and the Voyager Grand Tour, "it truly was an incredible time," he said.

Politics have changed and the pace has slowed since then, he writes, but new discoveries keep coming.

"The way that you can have a whole array of bodies formed around our sun out of the same sorts of materials - physics and chemisty are the same everywhere, and you get planets and satellites that look so remarkably different and are so astonishingly beautiful - I'm continually amazed," he said.

"Exploring the solar system is much like it must have been for the adventurers who came to the New World centuries ago, or when you go traveling - you turn around a corner and you never know what you're going to see or what you're going to learn. And that's the way it's been."

Looking to the future, Burns predicts a deepening understanding of the solar system's origins, a more detailed familiarity with its components, and missions that are more collaborative and democratic - but perhaps not as revolutionary. And the first manned mission to Mars, he adds, might be many decades or even centuries away.

"Some policymakers consider that the early 21st century is the time to develop outposts on Mars, but such action seems premature for various reasons - financial, technical and sociological," he writes.

But if Martian outposts are not feasible quite yet, he said, the coming years are likely to bring a deeper understanding of the origin and evolution of the solar system, our place in it, and the worlds beyond it.

"I think really the future is in finding other Earthlike planets around other stars and perhaps life there," he said. "And just the way that our understanding of our immediate surroundings has changed, that will change our perspective on life and our species."

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Washington DC (SPX) Jul 29, 2010 - The new movie Agora chronicles the life, challenges and death of Hypatia, a 4th Century woman astronomer whose contribution influenced and shaped modern science and our understanding of the world and the universe. Mabel Armstrong, author of the award-winning book Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars, tells Hypatia's story with the joy that a great science teacher (which she was) can bring to an old subject.

When Hypatia was born, her father, Theon, was a professor of mathematics and astronomy in Alexandria. He believed, as many Greeks did, that it was possible to raise a perfect human being. So he gave his daughter the best possible education, including studies in mathematics, languages, rhetoric, and natural philosophy-or science.

Upper-class women of the time were usually secluded, expected to devote themselves solely to their husband and children, but Hypatia found a job at the most famous institution in the ancient world, the library at Alexandria. She taught mathematics, physics, and astronomy, and wrote many books about these subjects-thirteen books on algebra, her favorite subject, and another eight books on geometry.

She also designed an astrolabe, an instrument used to measure the positions of the stars, another important tool for sailors, which let them locate specific stars and use the stars' positions for navigation. She used her astrolabe to calculate the positions of specific stars, and then published her data in tables. Sailors and astronomers used her tables of positions of the stars, Astronomical Canon, for the next 1200 years.

In her classes and public lectures, Hypatia exhorted people to think critically. "Reserve your right to think," she said. "For even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all."

When Hypatia sided with Orestes, the Roman governor of Egypt, in a power struggle with Cyril, the head of the Christian Church in Alexandria, her enemies decided to silence her. An angry mob, some say sent by Cyril, attacked and murdered her. They beat her with stones, cut her with clam shells, and finally burned her body.

The death of Hypatia, and the loss of the world's largest collection of scientific and mathematic writings, were factors that contributed to the halt of scientific advances in the West halt for nearly a thousand years.

"Astronomy was never just a man's field," Ms. Armstrong says. "Women have always studied the night sky."

Her book Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars, which has received critical praise internationally, examines the remarkable accomplishments of 21 women who struggled with society's narrow ideas on the appropriate roles for women and the incredible challenges each met in her own way.

She describes the stories of some of the fascinating women who dared to look toward the stars-from the earliest known woman astronomers, to Hypatia of Alexandria, to Astronaut Sally Ride and all the fascinating, brave women in between.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Austin TX (SPX) Jun 23, 2010 - The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory is kicking off a campaign to promote awareness of the causes, effects, and solutions to light pollution - stray light shone into the sky where it's wasted, rather than down on the ground where it's useful.

The Observatory will be promoting dark skies awareness through its nationally syndicated StarDate radio program, its Spanish-language radio program Universo, and through online video and summer programs on-site at its home in West Texas.

Stray light cast into the sky by poorly designed security and street lights, porch lamps, and neon signs fill the sky with so much light that they obscure the rest of the universe beyond, including the beautiful Milky Way, and hides all but the brightest meteors. Only a handful of bright stars and planets shine through it.

"McDonald Observatory is fortunate to have the darkest night skies of any professional observatory in the continental United States," said Dr. Tom Barnes, McDonald Observatory Superintendent.

"The sky out here makes this a great place for big telescopes and research. For years, we've put on public programs and worked with schools to bring the wonders of the universe to as wide an audience as possible. Now we want to share the message that dark skies are what makes our work possible, and preserving dark skies is worthwhile for everyone."

Light pollution isn't only a problem for astronomers and skywatchers. The International Dark-Sky Association estimates Americans lose $10 billion each year paying for light that is wasted - as it's shone into the sky, instead of down on the ground where it's needed.

This wasted light isn't making people safer in parking lots and outside their homes. And this unusable light is powered by wasted electricity, unnecessarily adding thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually.

McDonald Observatory's dark skies efforts are funded by a gift from Premack.com of San Antonio.

"It's important to us to get the word out about correcting light pollution, about how you can take action to preserve dark skies, and about how you can save money by using responsible lighting," Ruthie Premack said.

"This is not only a problem for astronomers, but for everyone - for wildlife and for people who live in cities where the dark skies are drowned out by wasted light," Paul Premack said.

"You can make a difference by being wise about the kinds of lighting you use to light the outside of your homes, and by supporting city and county lighting ordinances."

For many years, McDonald Observatory has worked with nearby communities like Jeff Davis County, Marfa, and Alpine on lighting ordinances to keep skies dark and streets safe.

The Premacks' donation also helps to fund summer programs for Boy Scout groups at McDonald Observatory. The programs will include a demonstration of best lighting practices, and Scouts will receive red flashlights that preserve dark-adapted vision for skywatching.

As well, the half-dozen workshops for K-12 teachers held at the Observatory this summer will include dark skies information, best-practices lighting demonstrations, and provide red flashlights to about 100 teachers.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Canberra, Australia (SPX) May 04, 2010 - Using a CSIRO radio telescope, an international team of researchers has caught an enormous cloud of cosmic gas and dust in the process of collapsing in on itself - a discovery which could help solve one of astronomy's enduring conundrums: 'How do massive stars form?'

Dr Peter Barnes from the University of Florida says astronomers have a good grasp of how stars such as our Sun form from clouds of gas and dust, but for heavier stars - ten times the mass of the Sun or more - they are still largely in the dark, despite years of work.

"Astronomers are still debating the physical processes that can generate these big stars," Dr Barnes says.

"Massive stars are rare, making up only a few per cent of all stars, and they will only form in significant numbers when really massive clouds of gas collapse, creating hundreds of stars of different masses. Smaller gas clouds are not likely to make big stars."

Accordingly, regions in space where massive stars seem to be forming are also rare. Most are well over 1000 light-years away, making them hard to observe.

Using CSIRO's 'Mopra' radio telescope - a 22m dish near Coonabarabran, NSW - the research team discovered a massive cloud of mostly hydrogen gas and dust, three or more light-years across, that is collapsing in on itself and will probably form a huge cluster of stars.

Dr Stuart Ryder of the Anglo-Australian Observatory said the discovery was made during a survey of more than 200 gas clouds.

"With clouds like this we can test theories of massive star cluster formation in great detail."

The gas cloud, called BYF73, is about 8,000 light years away, in the constellation of Carina ("the keel") in the Southern sky.

Evidence for 'infalling' gas came from the radio telescope's detection of two kinds of molecules in the cloud - HCO+ and H13CO+. The spectral lines from the HCO+ molecules in particular showed the gas had a velocity and temperature pattern that indicated collapse.

Mopra Research Scientist at CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, Dr Kate Brooks, said the Mopra telescope excels at giving a picture of the complex chemistry of cosmic gas clouds.

"Much of its time is used for large projects like this, and almost all Mopra projects are international collaborations."

The CSIRO telescope observations were confirmed by observations with the Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ATSE) telescope in Chile.

The research team calculates that the gas is falling in at the rate of about three per cent of the Sun's mass every year - one of the highest rates known.

Follow-up infrared observations made with the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope (also near Coonabarabran, NSW) showed signs of massive young stars that have already formed right at the centre of the gas clump, and new stars forming.

Star-formation in the cloud was also evident in archival data from the Spitzer and MSX spacecraft, which observe in the mid-infrared.

Gas cloud BYF73 was found during a large-scale search for massive star-forming regions - the Census of High- and Medium-mass Protostars, or CHaMP. This is one of the largest, most uniform and least biased surveys to date of massive star-forming regions in our Galaxy.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Paris, France (SPX) Apr 22, 2010 - The Cat's Paw Nebula, NGC 6334, is a huge stellar nursery, the birthplace of hundreds of massive stars. In a magnificent new ESO image taken with the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, the glowing gas and dust clouds obscuring the view are penetrated by infrared light and some of the Cat's hidden young stars are revealed.

Towards the heart of the Milky Way, 5500 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Scorpius (the Scorpion), the Cat's Paw Nebula stretches across 50 light-years. In visible light, gas and dust are illuminated by hot young stars, creating strange reddish shapes that give the object its nickname.

A recent image by ESO's Wide Field Imager (WFI) at the La Silla Observatory (eso1003) captured this visible light view in great detail. NGC 6334 is one of the most active nurseries of massive stars in our galaxy.

VISTA, the latest addition to ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Chilean Atacama Desert, is the world's largest survey telescope (eso0949). It works at infrared wavelengths, seeing right through much of the dust that is such a beautiful but distracting aspect of the nebula, and revealing objects hidden from the sight of visible light telescopes.

Visible light tends to be scattered and absorbed by interstellar dust, but the dust is nearly transparent to infrared light.

VISTA has a main mirror that is 4.1 metres across and it is equipped with the largest infrared camera on any telescope. It shares the spectacular viewing conditions with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), which is located on the nearby summit. With this powerful instrument at their command, astronomers were keen to see the birth pains of the big young stars in the Cat's Paw Nebula, some nearly ten times the mass of the Sun.

The view in the infrared is strikingly different from that in visible light. With the dust obscuring the view far less, they can learn much more about how these stars form and develop in their first few million years of life. VISTA's very wide field of view allows the whole star-forming region to be imaged in one shot with much greater clarity than ever before.

The VISTA image is filled with countless stars of our Milky Way galaxy overlaid with spectacular tendrils of dark dust that are seen here fully for the first time. The dust is sufficiently thick in places to block even the near-infrared radiation to which VISTA's camera is sensitive.

In many of the dusty areas, such as those close to the centre of the picture, features that appear orange are apparent - evidence of otherwise hidden active young stars and their accompanying jets. Further out though, slightly older stars are laid bare to VISTA's vision, revealing the processes taking them from their first nuclear fusion along the unsteady path of the first few million years of their lives.

The VISTA telescope is now embarking on several big surveys of the southern sky that will take years to complete. The telescope's large mirror, high quality images, sensitive camera and huge field of view make it by far the most powerful infrared survey telescope on Earth. As this striking image shows, VISTA will keep astronomers busy analysing data they could not have otherwise acquired. This cat is out of the bag.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Paris, France (SPX) Mar 04, 2010 - The delicate nebula NGC 1788, located in a dark and often neglected corner of the Orion constellation, is revealed in a new and finely nuanced image released by ESO. Although this ghostly cloud is rather isolated from Orion's bright stars, the latter's powerful winds and light have had a strong impact on the nebula, forging its shape and making it home to a multitude of infant suns.

Stargazers all over the world are familiar with the distinctive profile of the constellation of Orion (the Hunter). Fewer know about the nebula NGC 1788, a subtle, hidden treasure just a few degrees away from the bright stars in Orion's belt.

NGC 1788 is a reflection nebula, whose gas and dust scatter the light coming from a small cluster of young stars in such a way that the tenuous glow forms a shape reminiscent of a gigantic bat spreading its wings. Very few of the stars belonging to the nebula are visible in this image, as most of them are obscured by the dusty cocoons surrounding them.

The most prominent, named HD 293815, can be distinguished as the bright star in the upper part of the cloud, just above the centre of the image and the pronounced dark lane of dust extending through the nebula.

Although NGC 1788 appears at first glance to be an isolated cloud, observations covering a field beyond the one presented in this image have revealed that bright, massive stars, belonging to the vast stellar groupings in Orion, have played a decisive role in shaping NGC 1788 and stimulating the formation of its stars.

They are also responsible for setting the hydrogen gas ablaze in the parts of the nebula facing Orion, leading to the red, almost vertical rim visible in the left half of the image.

All the stars in this region are extremely young, with an average age of only a million years, a blink of an eye compared to the Sun's age of 4.5 billion years.

Analysing them in detail, astronomers have discovered that these "preschool" stars fall naturally into three well separated classes: the slightly older ones, located on the left side of the red rim, the fairly young ones, to its right, making up the small cluster enclosed in the nebula and illuminating it, and eventually the very youngest stars, still deeply embedded in their nascent dusty cocoons, further to the right.

Although none of the latter are visible in this image because of the obscuring dust, dozens of them have been revealed through observations in the infrared and millimetre wavelengths of light.

This fine distribution of stars, with the older ones closer to Orion and the younger ones concentrated on the opposite side, suggests that a wave of star formation, generated around the hot and massive stars in Orion, propagated throughout NGC 1788 and beyond. This image has been obtained using the Wide Field Imager on the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory in Chile.

]]> Fri, 03 SEP 2010 15:38:11 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D