Images Dated 5th September 2002

Optical image of the Eta Carinae Nebula

Eta Carinae Nebula. Optical image of the Eta Carinae Nebula (NGC 3372). It is an enormous cloud of hydrogen gas (an HII region) 300 light years across, which is ionised and lit up by the ultraviolet radiation of two clusters of young, hot stars. The dark regions in the nebula are clouds of interstellar dust which absorb the light emitted by stars in these areas. The nebula is about 9000 light years away, but still appears four times as wide as the Moon in the sky. In the brightest part of the nebula lies the variable star Eta Carinae (not identifiable here). It was the second-brightest visible star during 1833-45 before fading

© DR FRED ESPENAK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Shuttle photograph of the Middle East

Shuttle photograph of the Middle East taken from the earth-orbiting Atlantis in early April 1991 during mission STS-37. The eastern Mediterranean Sea is at upper left, while the northern Red Sea is at right. The River Nile is visible meandering through the dark band of fertile land which runs across Egypt, the landmass in the lower portion of the frame. Separated from the rest of Egypt by the Gulf of Suez is the Sinai Peninsula, with Mount Sinai itself prominent in the rocky mass on the right hand tip. The Gulf of Aquaba separates Sinai from Saudi Arabia at upper right. The Dead Sea which lies on the Israeli/Jordanian border is visible just above the centre of the frame

© NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Bald Eagle Head showing protective Eye Covering (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Homer, AK

© Bennett, Darren / Animals Animals/Earth Scenes

Adult, Animal, Bald Eagle, Close Up, Darren Bennett, Face, Haliaeetus Leucocephalus, Head, Homer, Nictating Membrane