Moon and Venus hovering over Swiss Alps

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Sometimes a morning sky can be a combination of serene and surreal. Such a sky perhaps existed before sunrise this past Sunday as viewed from a snowy slope in eastern Switzerland. Quiet clouds blanket the above scene, lit from beneath by lights from the village of Trübbach. A snow covered mountain, Mittlerspitz, poses dramatically on the upper left, hovering over the small town of Balzers, Liechtensteinfar below. Peaks from the Alps can be seen across the far right, just below the freshly rising Sun. Visible on the upper right are the crescent Moon and the bright planet Venus. Venus will remain in the morning sky all month, although it will likely not be found in such a photogenic setting.

Photograph by David Kaplan

Afghan Soldier, Green Mist

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An Afghan army recruit marches during a graduation parade after an oath ceremony at Ghazi military training centre in Kabul. Feb 3.

Photograph by Ahmad Masood, Reuters

Robotic Rainbows

Robo-Rainbow is one of Akay: Karl Adam Warrol's “Instruments of Mass Destructions”, a.k.a. “complicated technical solutions to aide in simple acts of vandalism”.


Karl's rogue tech and admittedly complex machinations result in a beautifully drawn rainbow.

robo-rainbow from mudlevel on Vimeo.

See akayism.org for more projects.

The Bahamas in Technicolour

Runtime: 2:51

The Bahamas in Technicolor from Ryan Lightbourn on Vimeo.

Credits and artist's website

Hang En Cave, Vietnam

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Going underground, expedition members enter Hang En, a cave tunneled out by the Rao Thuong River. Dwindling to a series of ponds during the dry months, the river can rise almost 300 feet (91 meters) during the flood season, covering the rocks where cavers stand.

Photograph by Carsten Peter.

The High Desert and the Geminid Meteor Shower

Photographer, Henry Jun Wah Lee writes:


The Geminid meteor shower was spectacular this year. For this event, I headed out to the Eastern Sierras, around the Alabama Hills, and to Joshua Tree National park for 3 nights and 2 days. I was lucky enough not just to film the meteor shower under mostly clear skies, but I also filmed some amazing sunrise shots as well.

Because I was filming the night sky, I slept on location while the camera was clicking away. It’s a magical feeling falling asleep with nothing over my head but the sky and the universe.

Runtime: 03:18

Fleeting Light: The High Desert and the Geminid Meteor Shower from Henry Jun Wah Lee on Vimeo.

This picture was taken with a camera worth $150 (By NASA)

On May 29, looking southward from a vantage point about 350 kilometers above the southern Indian Ocean, astronauts onboard the International Space Station watched this enormous, green ribbon shimmering below. Known as aurora-australis or southern lights, the shifting, luminous bands are commonly seen at high northern latitudes as well, there known as the aurora borealis or northern lights.


What's more impressive was that the shot was taken using a cheapo 7 Mega Pixel camera used by one of the crew.