Images Dated 11th December 2003

Optical image of the North America nebula

North America nebula. True-colour optical image of the North America nebula (NGC 7000). This large nebula is about 3000 light years away, and lies in the constellation Cygnus. It is composed mainly of hydrogen gas, which glows due to ionisation by radiation from a young, hot and massive star at the nebula's heart. Hot massive stars live for a relatively short time, so such nebulae are usually of recent origin. The North America nebula is believed to be around 10 million years old. To the right of this nebula is part of the Pelican nebula (IC 5067-5070). This image was produced by digitally combining photographs taken by the Palomar Schmidt Telescope in blue and red light

© CELESTIAL IMAGE CO./SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Petrol constituent n-octane molecule

n-Octane. Molecular model of the hydrocarbon n- octane (formula: C8H18). The atoms are spherical and colour-coded: carbon (blue) and hydrogen (white). n-Octane is a chemical which is distilled from crude oil largely for use in petrol. The n refers to the straight chain form, in which all the carbons are arranged in an unbranched line, as seen here. It is one member of a family of 18 octanes, all of which have the formula C8H18. The "octane number" of a fuel is a measure of how efficient it is compared to a standard. The higher the number, the more efficient the fuel

© LAGUNA DESIGN/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Ferrari F2003-GA Versus Eurofighter Typhoon: Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, right, meets his rival, the pilot of a Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighter

Michael Schumacher (GER), Ferrari, right, meets his rival, the pilot of a Eurofighter Typhoon jet fighter, who went head to head with the Ferrari F2003-GA.
Ferrari F2003-GA Versus Eurofighter Typhoon, Italy, 11 December 2003.
DIGITAL IMAGE

© Sutton Motorsport Images