Once you’re done, enjoy the pictures that follow.

Photo by Joshua Strang. This image was taken over Alaska, and was voted Wikipedia Commons Picture of the Year for 2006.

Photo courtesy of NASA. This image, taken from the International Space Station in February 2, 2003 shows green and red aurora. Depending on conditions, the ISS can travel through, above, or below aurora.

Photo by Don Pettit, ISS Science Officer in 2003.  Here’s another instance of the ISS going head to head with a green aurora.

Photo by Bud Kuenzli, courtesy of NASA.  This photo, taken over an Alaskan lake captures not just an awesome aurora, but a shooting star and the the Pleiades. You can find the original description here.

Sweet and to the point.  Enjoy.  This picture comes courtesy of National Geographic.  They have a great website full of these kinds of images.  Go check it out.

Here we have an intersection of science and politics.  President Obama, First Lady and Mr. Vice President on the right.  Cool moon car front and center.  (Click for full image)

This photo is a tribute to the Everglades news I noted today.  I found it on Flickr, it was taken by some brave dude who was no more than a few feet away.  I’m not sure if this amounts to bravery or stupidity because I’m from California.  Out here, we have mountain lions and coyotes, and I let them eat off my hand.

Did you catch today’s Product of the Day?  Again, this really isn’t about pure science, rather, it’s applied science.  And since this is my blog, I say that counts.  Enjoy.

Sigh, talk about a dream job. Given a host of different lenses and top of the line camera equipment, still yet massively impressive subjects, almost perfect lighting and likely free reign over the whole lot, the “job” of NASA photographer has got to be one of the best around. This picture was taken a few days back as the shuttle Discovery reached the launch pad in preparation for a May 31 launch. Let’s hope for some halfway decent shots next time.

Just kidding.

Source: NASA

What’s hundreds to thousands of times more intense and larger compared to a backyard storm? Try one on Saturn. This one, recorded by Cassini, has been ongoing for the last few months and has no signs of abating. In the meantime, it’s pumping out intense radio outbursts that can be captured even after passing around the horizon. Ok, it’s no Jovian big red spot, but it does make for an interesting pic, yeah?

Source: JPL

This comes courtesy of Woods Hole. A few weeks ago I wrote about the discovery of a plumbing system in Greenland’s ice sheets which allows meltwater to drain to the ground, kilometers below, facilitating the movement of ice toward the ocean. Well, here’s a picture of one such fracture after one such draining incident. Enjoy.

Source: Woods Hole

While over a decade has passed since I last solved a physics problem, I truthfully admit that some of the above from Einstein’s lecture notes are strangely familiar. They’re on the topic of Kinetic Theory & Statistical Mechanics and they’re in German.

This, and many other high-resolution scans from Einstein’s own pen are available for you to peruse at the Einstein Archives. So, enjoy!

Source: Einstein Archives Online

Talk about good timing.  A day after my Aurora post, this appeared on NASA’s picture of the day.  If you don’t subscribe to it, you probably haven’t seen this, so, enjoy!

Source: NASA

Here’s a view a little closer to home. This comes from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, it’s what the North Pole looks like minus all the ice, plus topographic details both under and above water. Those folks hope to send out underwater robots to seek out new hydrothermal vents in the search for life, as is loosely hypothesized to occur on Enceladus.

Source: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

A while back we started posting “Interesting Pics” outside our standard content management system. Well, a few weeks have passed and we’ve wizened up – now Interesting Pics will have its own category and appear on the main RSS feed. As always, commentary/ feedback is appreciated.

As part of this minor reset, I wanted to start with a perspective we don’t normally get. This is a view of us from Mars. Though it was released from NASA on March 3rd of this year, it was taken last October by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. According to NASA, South America’s on the lower right.

Source: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory