Crave

(Credit: Mike Weasner and Mac Observer)

The fact that an amateur astronomer named Mike Weasner was able to take a photograph of Jupiter and its moons is hardly something worth a mention on Crave, but the fact that he did it with his iPhone camera is rather remarkable.

It was aimed through a telescope to create a 267x magnification. He then cleaned it up in aperture on a Mac and posted it to Mac Observer.

Before you rush out and try to duplicate the image, you should know that you've got to have perfect conditions and fairly expensive gear. Still, it's incredible that a 2-megapixel, fixed-focus camera can see more than 500 million miles.

(Credit: Living World)

Ever since we were kids, amateur star-gazing gear never really worked out for us. And we suspect that the same would be true as adults today, whether the equipment costs $70 or $60,000. But maybe there's finally a logical alternative for the astronomically challenged.

Dvice says this Milky Way galaxy 3D model from design firm Living World, created from authentic space data collected by researchers at Japan's National Astronomical Observatory and Osaka University, is a depiction of 80,000 laser-rendered stars--with a price of 1 yen each, which comes to about $770. That's actually pretty reasonable considering that it usually costs at least $20 to name a star that you'll never own.

A view of space from Microsoft's Worldwide Telescope

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft on Wednesday gave TED conference-goers--an audience typically filled with stars like Goldie Hawn or Forest Whitaker--a close-up of real celestial bodies with its new virtual telescope.

Microsoft demonstrated long-awaited software called WorldWide Telescope to an audience at the exclusive Technology Entertainment and Design conference in Monterey, Calif., a four-day confab that started Wednesday. It's unclear whether the demo of the astronomy technology made anyone in the audience cry like former Microsoft evangelist Robert Scoble, but the images (shown above) were certainly stellar.

WorldWide Telescope, similar to the sky feature in Google Earth but much more expansive, is a virtual map of space that features tens of millions of digital images from sources like the Hubble telescope and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a project championed by missing Microsoft researcher Jim Gray (to whom Microsoft dedicated the WorldWide Telescope on Wednesday). From the desktop, the technology lets people pan and zoom across the night sky, zeroing in on the Big Dipper, Mars, or the first galaxies to emerge after the Big Bang. It also lets people call up related data, stories, or context about what they're seeing from sources online.

Harvard University astrophysicist Roy Gould, who demonstrated the telescope with Microsoft principal researcher Curtis Wong, said that that the technology holds promise for research and for humanity.

"The WorldWide Telescope takes the best images from the greatest telescopes on Earth...and in space...and assembles them into a seamless, holistic view of the universe," Gould, of the Harvard Center for Astrophysics, said at the conference.

"This new resource will change the way we do astronomy...the way we teach astronomy....and, most importantly, I think it's going to change the way we see ourselves in the universe."

Microsoft also unveiled a promotional site for the telescope project Wednesday, but the free technology won't be live until sometime this spring. Without the tears, several academics talk up the telescope in video on the site. Here is a sampling of the awe-struck sentiment: "It's the universe that you yourself can voyage through." "It's a magic carpet." "It's an example of where science and science education is going." "My hope is to have it on every kid's desktop."

'mySKY' navigator

(Credit: Discovery Communications)

Phaser remote

(Credit: Phone Phun)

There are certain unnamed Cravers who, we're told, can sit and stare for hours on end at fake stars and planets projected on the wall. And yet there are others who actually enjoy viewing the heavens in reality outside (gasp). For those brave souls, there are several handheld scopes and personal planeteriums that can help navigate the night sky, including some in alien form.

But Meade's "mySKY" is the only one we know of that comes anywhere close to resembling a phaser. This personal guide to the universe can identify 30,000 objects with its color LCD and 500 audio descriptions using a built-in GPS receiver, according to Red Ferret. It may seem a bit pricey at $400, but consider this: The same company also makes a 500-pound star gazer for $60,000.

Two 500kW diesel engines drive this 28-wheeled truck up mountains as it carries antennae to observe the stars.

Could this one-of-a-kind truck be in the next Transformers movie?

Oh, come on. You know a super-duper-mega-blockbuster hit such as Transformers is destined for sequels. In fact, one of the best things about it was the overwhelming believability of it all.

Just kidding. We all know that green-screen alien robots fighting over the Hoover Dam with a hefty dollop of inane dialog and epileptic cinematography pushes the limits of incredulity. But that's part of the fun.

As much as I loved the movie--I thought it was an exhilarating, ridiculous thrill-ride--the fact that all the vehicles were based on real cars, trucks, and helicopters gave the film a bit of much-needed grounding. Optimus Prime was a Peterbilt 379, Bumblebee a 1974 and 2009 Concept Camaro, Starscream a F-22 Raptor jet fighter, and so on.

Gizmodo and Boing Boing recently dragged this mountain-climbing truck from the austere BBC to the attention of the blogosphere, and it looks like nothing if not evil. It's custom-built with 28 wheels, and it's designed to lift and carry 66, 115-ton antennae up to the top of the Chilean Andes for astronomical observation. More than 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) above sea level, the array is expected to reveal secrets from the earliest days of the universe.

That's all well and good, but to my unscientific, raised-in-the-80's eye, a bright yellow, 65.5-foot long truck that clocks in at 130 tons and can carry practically its own weight up some of the world's tallest mountains screams to be remade into a transforming robot and featured in a movie.

A monstrosity like this, with wheels galore and enough strength to lift its own crushing weight needs a good Decepticon name, though, right? Behemoth? Haulicon? Obliterator? Or maybe it's an Autobot named Guru, because it sits on mountain tops?

If you think you've got a better name for it, leave us a note in the TalkBack comments.

(Credit: TakaraTomy)

What is it with these astronomy gadgets that aim to recreate the cosmos inside your living room? I totally dig some of them, like the laser star projector, but some others just go way too far. These are the Furawito floating lamps made by the Japanese company TakaraTomy, and they're a little bit excessive, to say the least. They are, essentially, helium balloons that happen to be shaped like the earth and moon, with LEDs to make them glow. Yeah, totally unnecessary. They cost about $27 apiece--waste of cash.

Plus, you'll need to replenish the helium. That sounds more annoying than just changing a light bulb.

P.S.: In addition to the earth and moon lamps, there are also Fuwarito lights in the shape of a jellyfish and a dolphin. Just in case you aren't a jellyfish-hater like Steve Jobs.

(Via Technabob)

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET Networks)

If you've ever thought that planetariums would make really good nightclubs--and not just because you're nostalgic for the days of Dark Side of the Moon laser shows--you're not alone. Digital-hipster hub Flavorpill is throwing monthly parties this summer at the Rose Center for Earth and Space at New York's American Museum of Natural History, and CNET News.com was there to capture the action at the June edition (which took place last Friday). There was plenty of DJ music, dancing, and fun people--and plus, I can now tell you that it is really, really awkward to almost spill your drink on a 5-billion-year-old meteorite.

For more photos, click here.

Recently we've been digging astronomy gadgets around these parts (and astro-mashups on Webware). Most of the time, they deal with plain old stargazing or the simulation thereof. This Japanese import, however, deals with recreating the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) on your wall, ceiling, or projector screen of choice.

The gadget in question is a 6-inch-tall lamp, retailing for the Japanese equivalent of slightly over $60, which runs on AA batteries and even comes with a sleep timer so that you can use it as a sort of visual lullaby. It obviously isn't an exact scientific reproduction, but for those of us who don't get to see the Northern Lights on a regular basis, it probably has a cool novelty effect. And as always, don't underestimate its potential as a party gadget.

(Via Technabob)

(Credit: Hammacher Schlemmer)

For some years now, we've had a digital telescope gathering dust in a closet somewhere (we're not even sure which one anymore). The reason? We still don't know how to work it.

That's why we're sorely tempted to accidentally donate it to charity and get one of these instead. The "Talking Star and Constellation Navigator" is more our speed--not only does it have a tracking system to find the best viewing angles, but it actually tells you what to do next to find and identify "56 constellations, 66 stars, and 33 deep-sky objects." (We have no idea what a "deep-sky" object is, but it sounds interesting.)

Sadly, it doesn't have frickin' laser beams, but at $70 it's a lot less than most home planetariums.