Better than Television

While many of you are out skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and just going on with your daily lives, some of us are more of the hibernating variety. So while we load up on recipes to make, books to read, movies to watch, and firewood to warm our hands with, winter is also a good time to explore other hobbies and interests that we don't have time for in the warmer months.

Perhaps it's the crystal clear night skies, or the unwholesome angle of the sun, but wintertime inspires my amateur astronomer side. However, with the often frigid temperatures dissuading me from long evenings outside with a telescope, I've learned to rely on the experts for my star-and-sun fixes. Thankfully, NASA has an amazing Astronomy Picture of the Day archive. With offerings ranging from a video of solar flares to a still of Stardust in Aries (what a great title for something!), the images are fantastic educational entertainment. Each image is accompanied by an explanation by an astronomer that even a lapsed skygazer like myself can understand.

But that's enough talk from me. Warm your hands in front of the following photo of Spicules: Jets on the Sun: