Steve Guenther reminds us that beauty is, indeed, in the eyes of the beholder. And the beholder of the previous Hubble telescope images of far away galaxies is the space station Mir. Here depicted in its own beautiful photograph from NASA.

Top Hubble Photos

The Sombrero Galaxy - 28 million light years from Earth - was voted best picture taken by the Hubble telescope. The dimensions of the galaxy, officially called M104, are as spectacular as its appearance. It has 800 billion suns and is 50,000 light years across.
The Ant Nebula, a cloud of dust and gas whose technical name is Mz3, resembles an ant when observed using ground-based telescopes. The nebula lies within our galaxy between 3,000 and 6,000 light years from Earth.

In third place is Nebula NGC 2392, called Eskimo because it looks like a face surrounded by a furry hood. The hood is, in fact, a ring of comet-shaped objects flying away from a dying star. Eskimo is 5,000 light years from Earth.





The Cone Nebula pictured here is 2.5 light years in length (the equivalent of 23 million return trips to the Moon).





The Perfect Storm, a small region in the Swan Nebula, 5,500 light years away, described as 'a bubbly ocean of hydrogen and small amounts of oxygen, sulphur and other elements'.
Starry Night, so named because it reminded astronomers of the Van Gogh painting. It is a halo of light around a star in the Milky Way.

The glowering eyes from 114 million light years away are the swirling cores of two merging galaxies called NGC 2207 and IC 2163 in the distant Canis Major constellation.



The Trifid Nebula. A 'stellar nursery', 9,000 light years from here, it is where new stars are being born.

Save the Trees

The Sierra Club would like to remind you that the Giant Sequoia, having survived 3,500 years in nature, is still in danger of commercial logging interests in the Giant Sequoia National Monument. President Clinton designated the area next to the Sequoia National Park in California a protected wildlife area in 2000. In 2005, with the support of the Bush Administration, commercial loggers started operating in the area to clear underbrush and, they argued, protect against wildfires.

The Sierra Club is backing a proposal to stop logging and turn over management of the monument to the National Park Service. If you would like to learn more or sign their petition to Congress, go to the Sierra Club website.

Best Wishes 2007

May all your candy wrappers remind you of me. David Blum.

My Dog is Bigger Than Your Dog

My dog is bigger than your dog -- and we have matching sweaters.

Gracie says hello

Waiting on you, Del.