This picture of the solar chromosphere - the "atmosphere" of the sun - was taken by American amateur astrophotographer Alan Friedman. Aptly entitled "Not The Great Pumpkin" the super high resolution image shows sunspots, giant convection cells and gas that follows magnetic loops piercing the sun's surface
A picture released by NASA shows a mosaic of 330 individual images of the Andromeda Galaxy, also known as M31, taken by the ultraviolet/optical telescope aboard NASA's Swift spacecraft. It is the highest-resolution image of the galaxy ever recorded in the ultraviolet wave length. The Andromeda Galaxy is more than 220,000 light-years across and lies 2.5 million light-years away
NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, captured this colourful image of the reflection nebula IRAS 12116-6001. This cloud of interstellar dust cannot be seen directly in visible light, but WISE's detectors observed the nebula at infrared wavelengths. The bright blue star on the right side of the image is the variable star Epsilon Crucis. The green and red colours represent 12- and 22-micron light coming from the nebula's dust grains warmed by nearby stars
A NASA artist's impression shows how the Arches star cluster appears from deep inside the hub of our Milky Way Galaxy. Hidden from our direct view, the massive cluster lies 25,000 light-years away and is the densest known gathering of young stars in our galaxy. The illustration is based on infrared observations from Hubble and with ground-based telescopes, which pierced our galaxy's dusty core and snapped images of the luminous cluster of about 2,000 stars
This mosaic of images, released by NASA, shows the soil in front of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after a series of short backward drives during attempts to extricate the rover from a sand trap in January and early February 2010. It is presented in false colour to make some differences between materials easier to see. Bright-toned soil was freshly exposed by the rover's left-front wheel during the drives and can be seen with a "sand wave" shaping that resulted from the unseen wheel's action. Insets in the upper left and lower right corners of the frame show magnified views of the nearby inscribed rectangles within the mosaic
An aeroplane flies through the northern lights, at Grotta lighthouse in Seltjarnarnes, Iceland. Photographer Kristjan Unnar Kristjansson has spent the last nine years capturing the kaleidoscopic light show
Suren Manvelyan, a physics teacher from Yerevan, Armenia, has captured macro images showing the human eye in all its glorious detail
The moon rises behind the art deco spire of the old Kansas City and Light building in downtown Kansas City, Missouri
This angel-shaped cloud formation was spotted by Paul Mogford in the skies over Burley in the New Forest, Hampshire. Paul says that the sunshine behind the clouds just added to the "angelic effect"
A video grab of Nick Kraynok, US weatherman on KLST in San Angelo, Texas, as he warned residents about a thunderstorm. The map behind him featured a rather suggestive phallic weather pattern.
Trainee teacher by day and firestarter by night - Tom Barnett, 26, from Hampshire plays with fire by swinging lit wire wool around his head, creating sparks
A kung-fu practitioner does a handstand using only two fingers on each hand in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, China
A young Chinese Shaolin monk leaps through the air, as he performs for visitors during a kung-fu festival at the temple in Dengfeng, central China's Henan province
Some of the world's best snowboarders and freestyle skiers will be appearing at the International Big Air event at Battersea power station in London
Hobbit holes under construction for the new Hobbit film are seen in this aerial picture of the film set for the upcoming Lord of the Rings prequel in Matamata, New Zealand
A life sized Monopoly house has been built in Willowdale, Ontario, Canada. The house is an ironic statement on the global financial crisis. Created by Canadian artist An Te Liu, 44, the 36ft by 44ft work called 'Title Deed' was fashioned out of a condemned home. The artist used friends and volunteers to strip the home of guttering, satellite dishes and windows before covering it in latex block filler paint for that familiar green plastic look
Pumpkin carver Noel Dickover from from Centreville, Virginia, has carved various creative pumpkin designs in the run-up to Halloween. Pictured is the Star Wars Death Star
A skull carved out of an apple by Russian-born, Paris-based sculptor Dimitri Tsykalov. The 47-year-old has turned various fruit and veg, including apples, watermelons and cabbages, into ghoulish sculptures for Halloween
A mushroom farmer from Gongcheng in southern China's Guangxi Province is celebrating after harvesting a bumper crop of giant mushrooms. According to Rong Guiling she has more than 10 fields of white mushrooms of all different species. However, what the fields all have in common is that fact the mushrooms have all grown uncommonly large. Guiling says: "It's hard to find a mushroom which is less than 2kg (4.4 lbs). However, when I bought the spores the person said they were for normal little white mushrooms." Local agricultural experts say the mushrooms' size could possibly be down to the fertilizer she uses, which includes lotus seed shell powder, peanut powder and maize powder
In this image provided by Victoria Police, a car is pictured after it crashed into a bedroom of a house in Melbourne, Australia, in the early hours of Friday. The sole occupant of the house was in another room at the time of the accident and was about to go to bed when the car came crashing through his bedroom
Carolina Salgado of Brazil serves during a match at the Swatch FIVB World Tour 2010 in Sanya, China's Hainan province
An artist's impression of the plan for the 2012 Olympic beach volleyball venue on London's Horse Guards Parade
Turkish soldiers march during a parade marking the 87th anniversary of Republic Day in Ankara
Family and friends gather around Travis Ransom, brother of shark attack victim Lucas Ransom, during a paddle-out memorial near the Oceanside Pier in California. Lucas Ransom, 19, was killed last week in a shark attack while boogie-boarding in the surf line about 100 yards off of Surf Beach
The boogie board used by 19-year-old Lucas McKaine Ransom, who was the victim of a shark attack at Surf Beach on Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. Ransom was boogie-boarding with a friend off the beach, when the shark pulled him under water, the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department said in a statement, quoting the friend. He died shortly afterward from wounds to his leg
People walk past a sinkhole caused by typhoon Megi in Suao, in Taiwan's eastern Ilan county
Members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) participate in a cross lighting ceremony at a Klansman's home in Warrenville, South Carolina. KKK Imperial Wizard Duwayne Johnson said it was the first public cross lighting in 50 years
A woman cleanses a young man at the Temple of San Simon in San Andres Iztapa, Guatemala City. Thousands of devotees will celebrate Saint Simon's day, considered the patron of the most marginal people in society
This is the Roller Buggy, which at the flick of a switch turns from a regular pram into a scooter capable of reaching speeds of up to 10mph. It is the brainchild of award-winning inventor, Valentin Vodev, from Vienna, Austria, to provide an alternative to the car
John Lennon look-a-like Alan Swoffer, poses with the Royal Mint's John Lennon £5 coin, which goes on sale after the former Beatle won a public vote to be the next Great Briton to feature on a coin
Prime Minister, David Cameron has an animated conversation with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at an EU summit in Brussels, Belgium
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi arrives for a European Union summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels
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