In an entry a long time ago I talked about what to do when the skies are clouded out from rain, snow, smog, light pollution, or whatever else it is that keeps you from stepping out for some stargazing. Reading books is always a cool thing. Right now I’m making my way through Alan Guth’s “The Inflationary Universe,” wherein he explains the birth of the universe. I got started on that because of a conversation I had with a friend a few weeks back about the incredible occurrence of the creation of the cosmos and how science explains it. So, my current “rainy day” activity (and late nights, and Saturday afternoons) is all Steve’s fault. (Steve, you know who you are.)

But, if you aren’t in the mood for a good book, there’s always Web surfing. As usual, there are a great many really cool Web sites that talk about astronomy and space science. I’ve talked about the The Astronomy Picture of the Day, and of course Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy Web site with its attached forum discussion area. And of course, I have mentioned the Gemini Observatory web site, which is being revamped before ourvery eyes. These are in addition to the wonderful sites I’ve linked to over in the left column that take you to the European Southern Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute.

So, there’s no shortage of places to go. Just for grins, here are a couple of new ones for you to explore. The first is the Spitzer Space Telescope. Here’s a little taste to whet your appetite for this new observatory’s work.

The other web page is a subset of the Haystack Observatory educational tutorial website, which contains a lovely radio astronomy “short course” you can browse through to learn a little about the fascinating science being done with the world’s radio dishes and networks. Next time you’re stuck indoors, give it a whirl!