Despite a tightening of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's budget and the trouble with the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers were starry-eyed over their latest findings, presented at the major annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society, (AAS) January 3 to 7. New images and measurements of stars, galaxies, cosmic microwaves, and mysterious gamma rays, along with an exciting nova explosion, made it a bright year for those working with existing orbiting satellites and ground-based telescopes, though uncertain funding clouds the future.