October Gallery

Optical image of the constellation Scorpius

Scorpius constellation. Optical image of the constellation Scorpius, the Scorpion. To the left are the bright star clouds of the central Milky Way. The head of the scorpion is made up of the vertical line of three white stars at upper right. To their left is the bright orange star Antares (Alpha Scorpii), which marks the scorpion's heart. The body and tail sweep towards lower left as a straggly line of stars, before curling upwards again to form the scorpion's sting, marked by the bright star Shaula (Lambda Scorpii). The scorpion's claws were once represented by the stars that now form Libra, out of the frame to the right

© JOHN SANFORD/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

18 Oct 1998

© De La Harpe, Roger / Animals Animals/Earth Scenes

Blue, Colorful, Comparison, Dry, Landscape, Large, Namib Desert, Namibia, Red, Roger De La Harpe, Sand, Sand Dune, Shadow, Sky, Sossusvlei, Tree

Artwork of Europas surface with Jupiter in sky

Europa. Computer artwork of an ice field on the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa. Jupiter is prominent in the sky, its rings can just be seen (from far left to far right). Europa is one of the four main (Galilean) moons of Jupiter. The surface of Europa is covered in thick ice floes and is subjected to bombardment from meteorites. The energy of an impact melts the surrounding ice. Water then flows over the impact crater before re- freezing, leaving the surface mainly smooth. Europa is the second closest to Jupiter of its 16 known moons

© JULIAN BAUM/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY