As I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for the Orion Nebula. For me, nothing was sweeter than to see the latest HST image of this starbirth region unveiled on Wednesday before a packed press room. It’s stunning and the small version I’ve put up here doesn’t do it justice. To get the real scoop on this lovely image, you should click here and download the biggest copy of it your computer can handle. It’s THAT good.

I flew home on Wednesday night because I’m teaching a four-week class on communicating astronomy at Williams College and I needed to be back for Thursday’s class. The students and I spent part of our class time yesterday going through some of the many press releases I gathered at the AAS meeting. It gave them valuable insight into what science stories look like when they come out of the research fire hose, before they get into the press. Here’s a sampling for you to browse through—and I’ll post more in the next few days.

Astronomers Discover Fastest-Spinning Pulsar

NASA’s Spitzer Finds Possible Comet Dust Around Dead Star

Are Diamonds Responsible for Mysterious Red Light in the Galaxy?

Huge Superbubble of Gas Blowing Out of the Milky Way

Astronomers Spot the Orion Nebula’s Successor

Monster Black Holes Grow After Galactic Mergers

Happy Reading for now!