Windows only: Microsoft Research releases astronomy application WorldWide Telescope, software which offers "terabytes" of detailed telescope images of the night sky for exploration right on your desktop. Zoom, pan, and explore the solar system, galaxies and more using WorldWide Telescope. The BBC reports:

Collections include pictures from the Hubble and Spitzer telescopes, as well as the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. ... "Users can see the X-ray view of the sky, zoom into bright radiation clouds, and then cross-fade into the visible light view and discover the cloud remnants of a supernova explosion from a thousand years ago," explained Roy Gould, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics.

Via Gizmodo, here's a demo of WorldWide Telescope at the TED conference back in February.

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If you're interested in astronomy, but want to find out more before investing in your own telescope, the GeekDad blog has a couple of good suggestions for how to get started. It recommends finding a local astronomy club which holds stargazing nights which are open to the public.

Quasar Publishing, publishers of Astronomy Australia hosts a list of amateur astronomy societies here, or a web search for the name of your city and "astronomy club" should do the trick.

If you have an observatory or planetarium near you, check out what they have on offer too. Sydney's Observatory charges $15 for a night visit which is hosted by an experienced astronomer. It also runs paid night classes including one on stargazing skills which includes guidance on how to choose and use a small telescope.

The photographer's note on the image I've used here says it's a telescope image of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) taken from a backyard observatory. 12 hours total exposure time. Neat. :)

Don't have a telescope? Borrow one! [Geek Dad]

If you've become a stargazing junky with either the open source Stellarium or the latest Google Earth, you can now take your stargazing on the road with your cell phone or iPod touch using mobile web site or application Starry Night. First, if you've got a sufficient mobile browser you can check out the iPhone and iPod touch-optimised mobile site (I wasn't able to test it on other mobile browsers, but it relies on some Ajax). On the other hand, if you're using a BlackBerry, Starry Night comes in the form of an installable application. And if you've already learned to navigate by the stars, you can polish all of your stargazing chops on the go while you figure out where you're going.