Images Dated 29th June 2004

Comet spacecraft

Comet exploration spacecraft, computer artwork. The unmanned probe (upper frame) is approaching a comet, a body of ice and dust from the outer parts of the solar system. Comets are studied because they contain material from the early stages of the formation of the solar system. Several probes have been launched to study comets. The Stardust probe has collected samples of dust from Comet Wild-2, and will return to Earth in 2006. The Rosetta probe is another mission to study a comet, and it should reach its target in 2015

© VICTOR HABBICK VISIONS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Mammoth ivory sculptures

Mammoth ivory sculptures. Female figures carved from tusks of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius). The woolly mammoth was a large, elephant-like mammal with a thick, hairy coat. The tusks of the male woolly mammoth reached 3 metres in length. It lived on the steppes of Siberia and in much of Europe up until about 10, 000 years ago. Woolly mammoths died out as Eurasia warmed up at the end of the last ice age and forests spread across the steppes. These figures, which date from the Palaeolithic period (500, 000-10, 000BC), were found during an archaeological excavation in the village of Kostenki in the Rostov region of Russia

© RIA NOVOSTI/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Burrowing CLAM

AU-13-dav
Burrowing CLAM
Orpheus Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Tridacna crocea
Auscape
Please note that prints are for personal display purposes only and may not be reproduced in any way

© David Wachenfeld/ardea.com

Australasia, Australasian, Australia, Australian, Blue, Clam, Clams, Fish, Fishes, Great Barrier Reef, In Water, National Parks, Nature Reserve, Oceania, Reef, Reefs, Shell Fish, Shell Fishes, Single, Under Water, Wild Life