Touch the Sun

In spring 2005, a new and unusual book featuring images of the Sun will become available: "Touch the Sun" is a Braille book with images of the Sun represented in transparent raised textures bonded to the pictures. The book was written by Noreen Grice, author of two other books featuring textured celestial images for the visually impaired: "Touch the Universe" and "Touch the Stars." "Touch the Sun" was funded by a partnership among NASA, the Lockheed Martin Corporation's Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, Calif., and the Stanford Solar Center, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.

The Braille book features images from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft as well as a close-up of a sunspot from the National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak in the Lincoln National Forest, N.M. Raised patterns embossed over the images in "Touch the Sun" translate colors, shapes, and other intricate details of the Sun and space weather, allowing visually impaired people to feel what they cannot see. The book incorporates Braille and large-print descriptions for each of the book's 16 photographs, so it is accessible to readers of all visual abilities. The book is published by the Joseph Henry Press, trade imprint of the National Academies Press (publisher for the National Academy of Sciences).

New:

• Measuring the Rotation of the Sun by Tracking Sunspots: Version for the blind and visually impaired

• Get in Touch with the Sun's Wild Side (NASA Feature)
• Touch the Universe (Hubblesite.org News Feature)
• Touch the Universe (The National Academies Press)
• Touch the Stars (National Braille Press)

Picture credits: SOHO/LASCO, SOHO/EIT, SOHO/MDI, James Bristol (Coloado School for the Deaf and Blind), TRACE/LMSAL