Many of the photographs in this entry are from APOD, Astronomy Photo of the Day [recommended] or the NASA Image of the Day [also recommended].

APOD 2011 November 18 – A Colorful Side of the Moon

2011 November 18

A Colorful Side of the Moon
Credit: NASA / GSFC / DLR / Arizona State Univ. / Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Explanation: This colorful topographical map of the Moon is centered on the lunar farside, the side not seen from planet Earth.

APOD 2011 December 24 – Eclipsed Moon in the Morning

2011 December 24

Eclipsed Moon in the Morning
Image Credit & Copyright: Roger N. Clark

APOD 2011 December 16 – Red Moon Rising

2011 December 16

Red Moon Rising
Image Credit & Copyright: Oshin Zakarian (TWAN)

APOD 2011 November 27 – Shuttle Plume Shadow Points to the Moon

2011 November 27

Shuttle Plume Shadow Points to the Moon
Image Credit: Pat McCracken, NASA

APOD 2011 December 29 – Conjunction at Sunset

2011 December 29

Conjunction at Sunset
Image Credit & Copyright: Stefano De Rosa

Two Earth Satellites Viewed From Houston  Image of the Day

acquired January 4, 2012download large image (139 KB, JPEG, 1416×944)

This photograph taken from Houston, Texas, juxtaposes Earth’s oldest satellite with one of its youngest.

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Photos of the Moon is a post from: Ah, Wilderness!. Thank you for subscribing. Let me know what you think. peace, mjh

Many of the photographs in this entry and the next few are from APOD, Astronomy Photo of the Day [recommended] or the NASA Image of the Day [also recommended].

Regarding this first image which got a lot of attention: it’s not a photograph, per se. It’s a rendering of data. Mind blowing in more than one way.

Viral Image The Biggest and Bluest Marble – Kara Swisher – Media – AllThingsD

Enjoy:

(Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring)

APOD 2012 January 3 – A Full Sky Aurora Over Norway

2012 January 3

A Full Sky Aurora Over Norway
Image Credit & Copyright: Sebastian Voltmer

APOD 2011 October 28 – October Skylights

2011 October 28

October Skylights
Image Credit & Copyright: Malcolm Park

Fire in the Sky and on the Ground  Image of the Day

acquired September 17, 2011

Amazing Time-lapse Video of Auroras as Seen From the ISS [Video] – How-To Geek

APOD 2012 January 1 – To Fly Free in Space

2012 January 1

To Fly Free in Space
STS-41B, NASA

Amazing Space Photo From Twitter – Peter Kafka – Social – AllThingsD

Here’s one NASA’s Ron Garan beamed to earth yesterday from his perch in the International Space Station.

His caption: “This is what the Moon looked like 16 times today #FromSpace We had simultaneous sunsets + moonsets”

APOD 2011 November 14 – Waterfall, Moonbow, and Aurora from Iceland

2011 November 14

Waterfall, Moonbow, and Aurora from Iceland
Image Credit & Copyright: Stephane Vetter (Nuits sacrees)

The long shadow of Mt. Rainier  Bad Astronomy  Discover Magazine

Here in Boulder we get magnificent sunsets, especially in the summer when the clouds interplay with the mountains to the west. But I have never seen anything like this: the shadow of Washington state’s Mt. Rainier cast along the clouds at sunrise:

That’s amazing. Mt. Rainier is a volcano, climbing to a height of over 14,000 feet (4300 meters).

Love and Joy for the New Year  Image of the Day

acquired December 21, 2011download large image (341 KB, JPEG, 2128×1416)

In November and December 2011, professional and amateur astronomers reveled in observing a sun-grazing comet that dove close to the Sun and survived for a return flight back to the outer solar system. Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) enjoyed their own surreal view of the comet as it appeared on Earth’s horizon on the day of the solstice.

ISS Commander Dan Burbank captured a series of digital photographs of Comet Lovejoy on December 21, 2011, as it rose above Earth’s limb

Nickel Cobalt

This up to 1000 years old snow has metamorphosed into highly pressurized glacier ice that contains almost no air bubbles. Thus it absorbs the visible light despite the scattered shortest blue fraction, giving it its distinct deep blue waved appearance. This cavity in the glacier ice formed as a result of a glacial mill, or moulin.

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Photos of the Earth is a post from: Ah, Wilderness!. Thank you for subscribing. Let me know what you think. peace, mjh

Each week, The Big Picture features one long page full of photos of a current event. These photos are always very professional and gorgeous, appearing in a large format. My one complaint is that scrolling inevitably fails to line most of the photos up correctly; I wish there were a better mechanism for moving between photos.

2012 Marking the New Year – The Big Picture – Boston.com

Around the world people celebrated with fireworks, kisses, blessings, gatherings, cheers, watching the sunrise and plunges into icy bodies of water to welcome in a new year. Here’s a look back at how some of them marked the transition. – Lloyd Young (41 photos total)

Fireworks explode in the sky over Bucharest, Romania, at midnight, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012, during street celebrations of the new year. Large crowds gathered downtown Romania’s capital taking advantage of the dry weather to attend the celebrations. (Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press)

The Year in Pictures Part I – The Big Picture – Boston.com

(36 photos total)

A wave caused by a tsunami flows into the city of Miyako from the Heigawa estuary in Iwate Prefecture after a magnitude 8.9 earthquake struck Japan March 11, 2011. (Mainichi Shimbun /Reuters)

The year in Pictures Part II – The Big Picture – Boston.com

(45 photos total)

A cloud of ash billowing from Puyehue volcano near Osorno in southern Chile, 870 km south of Santiago, on June 5. Puyehue volcano erupted for the first time in half a century on June 4, 2011, prompting evacuations for 3,500 people as it sent a cloud of ash that reached Argentina. The National Service of Geology and Mining said the explosion that sparked the eruption also produced a column of gas 10 kilometers (six miles) high, hours after warning of strong seismic activity in the area. (Claudio Santana/AFP/Getty Images) )

The Year in Pictures Part III – The Big Picture – Boston.com

(51 photos total)

A defaced portrait of fugitive Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi in Tripoli on Sept. 1, 2011 as the fallen strongman vowed again not to surrender in a message broadcast on the 42nd anniversary of the coup which brought him to power. (Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images)

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The Big Picture from The Boston Globe [recommended] is a post from: Ah, Wilderness!. Thank you for subscribing. Let me know what you think. peace, mjh