[incision]

>WOW, that is amazing. I'm always blown away by stuff like this, where you can actually get a sense of how small we all are and how distant even the closest neighbor stars are.

Same.

If you don't already own a pair, I'd recommend getting a basic pair of binoculars and doing some backyard astronomy. You'd be amazed how much more you can see with even a basic 10x50 pair, even in thoroughly light-polluted skies.

Also SpaceRip [1] collects hundreds of interesting, easily digestible and pretty timely videos.

1: http://www.youtube.com/user/SpaceRip

[alwaysinshade]

> I'd recommend getting a basic pair of binoculars and doing some backyard astronomy

If you've got the spare cash, get image stabilized ones. I could clearly see the moons around Jupiter with my Canon 12x36 IS binos the other night despite my hand tremors. The real party trick is handing them to a friend and telling them to look at the moon. Blows them away every time - to most people it's just a yellowish glowing thing in the sky, rather than a scarred rocky globe.

[RobMcCullough]

Be sure to check out the middle "star" in Orion's sword.

[keemoboy]

Yes, this is great