A repeat win by Martin Pugh. Click on the link to see the rest.
2012 winners : Astronomy Photographer of the Year : Exhibitions : Visit : RMG.
Category: Cool photos
Is This Why Both My Kids Moved to the USA’s Pacific Northwest?
via Purely Pacific Northwest on Vimeo. thanx to Bob Bopp from the Northeast
Here Kitty Kitty…Time For Din Din
The four passengers at the the Werribee Open Range Zoo, in Melbourne, Australia in the jeep must feel a whisker away from death as a lion jumps up on to their hood for lunch. But that’s all part of the attraction. The jeep is a new zoo exhibit which allows visitors to get incredibly close to the lions.
via Getting up close and personal with the lions at Werribee Open Range Zoo | Mail Online.
XP Hasn’t Aged Well
I
nstantly recognizable to most as the default wallpaper in Windows XP. May be the most viewed photograph in history.
Shot by Charles O’Rear on a medium format camera in 1996 and not digitally enhanced or manipulated in any way. The approximate location is 3101 Fremont Dr. in Sonoma, coordinates 38.250124,-122.410817.
In November 2006, Goldin+Senneby took the same picture, titling the piece After Microsoft:
via Photographs: What are the most viewed photos of all time? – Quora.
Fire and Ice and Aurora in Iceland
Sometimes both heaven and Earth erupt. In Iceland in 1991, the volcano Hekla erupted at the same time that auroras were visible overhead. Hekla, one of the most famous volcanoes in the world, has erupted at least 20 times over the past millennium, sometimes causing great destruction. The last eruption occurred only twelve years ago but caused only minor damage
That’s One Big Croc…
Villagers along the Zambezi river in northern Zimbabwe, called in the hunter Steve Curle to get rid of this Nile Crocodile, because it was eating their full-grown cows.
Amazing Micron Pictures
Wellcome Image Awards 2012 | Wellcome Image Awards.
Click on the link above to see the 16 finalists and the winning photo closeup of a living brain.
Catherine Draycott, head of Wellcome Images and a member of the judging panel, said: ‘The Wellcome Image Awards are unique in that the winners are chosen for their scientific and technical merit as much as for their aesthetic appeal.
‘They offer people a chance to get closer to science and research and see it in a different way, as a source of beauty as well as providing important information about ourselves and the world around us.
The other picture here is of a Caffeine Crystal. 
In Focus – National Geographic Photo Contest 2011
In Focus – National Geographic Photo Contest 2011 – The Atlantic.
National Geographic is currently holding its annual photo contest, with the deadline for submissions coming up on November 30. For the past nine weeks, the society has been gathering and presenting galleries of submissions, encouraging readers to vote for them as well. National Geographic was kind enough to let Alan Taylor choose among its entries from 2011 for display here on In Focus. Gathered below are 45 images from the three categories of People, Places, and Nature, with captions written by the individual photographers
Mount Everest-360 panorama view from summit
This fullscreen panorama was published in connection with the 50 year anniversary in May 2003, for the first who reached the top of Everest.50 years ago May 29 1953 The top of Mount Everest was reached for the first time by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.Since then 1.200-1.500 has climbed the top. Nobody knows the exact number. More than 140 climbers died on the way.On May 24, 1989 the Australian photographer and mountaineer Roderick Mackenzie reached the summit. He was no 271 since 1953He made which as far as I know is the only 360 degree panorama From the top. Thanx to Mike Douso
“Kelvin–Helmholtz instability” Covers Florida Condos
Panama City Beach, Florida — Fog rolls up along the shore of Panama City Beach, Florida on Feb. 5th, 2012. Maria found this picture, but Peggy Sadler shared
the link below to the full set.
via PhotoBlog – Spectacular ‘cloud tsunami’ rolls over Florida high-rise condos.