Space Blob

Photos of the Week

This handout photo provided by NASA, taken April 12, 2010 by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows an unusual, ghostly green blob of gas appears to float near a normal-looking spiral galaxy. NASA released Monday the Hubble Space Telescope’s first picture of the mysterious giant glowing green blob of gas called Hanny’s Voorwerp. The blob is the size of our Milky Way galaxy and is 650 million light years away. Each light year is about 6 trillion miles. The blob was discovered in 2007 by Dutch school teacher Hanny van Arkel. (AP Photo/Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute)

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Congresswoman Sh... The U.S. Capitol dome backdrops American flags flying at half-staff at the foot of the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. President Barack Obama ordered flags to be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset on Jan. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Space Blob This handout photo provided by NASA, taken April 12, 2010 by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows an unusual, ghostly green blob of gas appears to float near a normal-looking spiral galaxy. NASA released Monday the Hubble Space Telescope’s first picture of the mysterious giant glowing green blob of gas called Hanny’s Voorwerp. The blob is the size of our Milky Way galaxy and is 650 million light years away. Each light year is about 6 trillion miles. The blob was discovered in 2007 by Dutch school teacher Hanny van Arkel. (AP Photo/Hubble Space Telescope Science Institute)
Alpine Skiing Sl... Lindsey Vonn of the U.S. clears a gate during the women's Alpine skiing slalom World Cup race in Flachau, Austria, January 11, 2011. (REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler)
Germany Zoo A southern pochard duck is followed by a young hippo at the zoo in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011. Six of these ducks were introduced to the hippo enclosure at the beginning of this year. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Belarus Tsary Ho... Belarus people perform during a celebration of "Tsary" ("Tsars") rite in the village of Semezhevo, some 160 km (100 miles) south-west of Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. That rite is unique, it was originated from the 18 century and takes place only in this village marking the New Year according to the Julian calendar on January 13. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
British Royal En... An employee packages replicas of the British royal engagement ring at a jewellery factory in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China, January 12, 2011. Chinese manufacturers are cashing in on the British royal wedding craze as they churn out tens of thousands of replica royal engagement rings for the world. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
Winter Weather A morning commuter passes under the trellis row at Christopher Columbus Park in Boston, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. The Boston area is expected to receive well over a foot of snow during a day long winter storm.(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Italy Volcano This picture made available Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011, shows lava overflowing from the eastern rim of the erupting pit crater of Mount Etna, Sicily, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Italy's Mount Etna has come back to life with a brief eruption that sent lava down its slopes and a cloud of ash into the sky, forcing the overnight closure of a nearby airport. The Volcanology Institute in Catania, eastern Sicily, said Thursday that a two-hour eruption overnight sent a little stream of lava down the eastern slope of the mountain. Nobody was injured. (AP Photo/Carmelo Imbesi)
India Hindu Fest... A Hindu devotee performs a ritual in the River Ganges in Allahabad, in Allahabad, India, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. Thousands of Hindu devotees are expected to take holy dips at the confluence of Rivers Ganges, and Yamuna during the month-long Magh mela fair that begins Jan. 14. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Poland Charity Thousands of people watch fireworks in front of the Palace of Culture during a concert ending the annual one day fundraising campaign for sick children, in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. The charity called the Grand Orchestra of Christmas buys every year equipment for children hospitals and wards worth millions of dollars. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
BCS Championship... Auburn's Cam Newton celebrates after the BCS National Championship NCAA college football game against Oregon Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, in Glendale, Ariz. Auburn won 22-19. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Indonesia Whale Veterinarians examine a newly arrived false killer whale in a tank at Ancol Marine Park in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011. The fish arrived Thursday from an ocean park in Taiwan. (AP Photo/Irwin Fedriansyah)
10th Annual No P... A man talks on his cell phone after taking part in the 10th Annual No Pants Subway Ride in New York City January 9, 2011. (REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi_
Statue of the Bl... Devotees carry a cross of the statue of the Black Nazarene to a carriage before the start of an annual religious procession in Manila January 9, 2011. Police said about a million devotees thronged Manila to catch a glimpse or try to touch the centuries-old black statue of Jesus Christ at the annual religious parade. The wooden Black Nazarene, carved in Mexico and brought to the Philippines capital in the early 17th century, is cherished by Catholics who believe it performs miracles. (REUTERS/Erik de Castro)
Festival of Hope Achebelle Debora St. Til, 6, dances at the Festival of Hope, an evangelistic rally lead by Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham, at a stadium in downtown Port-au-Prince January 9, 2011. (REUTERS/Allison Shelley)
Congresswoman Sh... From left, Ellie Steve, 6, Lucia Revves, 6, and Zoe Reeves, 18, gather for a candlelight vigil outside the offices U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., in Tucson, Ariz., Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. Giffords was critically wounded during a shooting at a political event Saturday in Tucson. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Germany Weather People in a boat drive through the flooded streets of Zell at the Mosel river, southern Germany, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011. Melting snow and rain cause flooding along various rivers all over Germany. Signs above are advertising plates of wine taverns (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Auto Show Tom Stephens, Vice Chairman of General Motors, holds up the North American International Auto Show Car of the Year trophy awarded to the Chevrolet Volt Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
India Kite Festi... A participant from Indonesia flies a kite during the International Kite Festival in Ahmadabad, India, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Kite-flyers from 36 countries are participating in the festival which runs from Jan. 9. to Jan. 14. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
Congresswoman Sh... President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama depart after joining government employees on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011, to observe a moment of silence for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and the other victims of an assassination attempt against her. The shooting at a town hall-style event outside a supermarket in Tucson, Ariz., Saturday left six dead, including a federal judge, and critically wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Hyppolite Iron M... The newly reconstructed Hyppolite Iron Market is reflected in a puddle in downtown Port-au-Prince January 10, 2011. (REUTERS/Jorge Silva)
Southern Sudan R... South Sudanese men wait to casts their vote at a polling station in Juba, Southern Sudan, Monday, Jan 10, 2011. Thousands of people began casting ballots Sunday during a weeklong vote to choose the destiny of this war-ravaged and desperately poor but oil-rich region. The mainly Christian south is widely expected to secede from the mainly Muslim north, splitting Africa's largest country in two.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Brazil Floods A man walks through a flooded street after heavy rains in Barra Funda, Sao Paulo, Brazil, early Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Brazilian authorities say heavy rains have triggered mudslides and floods in southeastern Brazil, killing at least 13 people. Sao Paulo state civil defense officials say 11 people died when their houses collapsed because of mudslides and two were killed in flash floods. (AP Photo/ Nelson Antoine)
India Cold Spell... Indian villagers arrive in the city to sell firewood on the outskirts of Allahabad, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Cold weather has killed nine homeless people in India bringing the death toll from three weeks of near-freezing temperatures to 116. Police say the worst-hit state is Uttar Pradesh where about 90 people, mostly poor and homeless, have died during the cold spell sweeping northern India. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
India Sikhs Sikh devotees pay obeisance at a temple on the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh in Jammu, India, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth Sikh Guru. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Apartment Buildi... Firefighters battle a blaze in an apartment building in Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 10, 2011. Firefighters said the building had been evacuated safely and there were no reports of injuries. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Ivory Coast A United Nations convoy is forced to turn back by a group of Young Patriots, youth supporters of Laurent Gbagbo, blocking the road in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. U.N. peacekeepers retreated from a neighborhood where security forces loyal to incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo had opened fire Tuesday, turning around at least nine U.N. vehicles after dozens of angry young men built a blockade out of a table and sticks.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Russia Ethnic Te... Russian police officers cordon off part of Manezh Square outside the Kremlin, with the State Historical Museum in the background, in Moscow, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Russian police on Tuesday arrested dozens of people suspected to be planning a racist rally near the Kremlin walls, as authorities looked to avert a repeat of last month's riots by ultra-nationalists who objected to the presence of non-Slavs in the country. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Haiti Earthquake... Haitians attend a ceremony to remember the victims of the January 2010 earthquake in Titanyen January 11, 2011. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)
Three Steps One ... South Korean Buddhist priests prostrate as they conduct the "Three Steps One Bow" ritual during a ceremony at the Jogye Temple in Seoul January 11, 2011. (REUTERS/Truth Leem)
India Food Infla... Onion traders sit idle as a vendor walks with a sack-load of goods during a strike called by onion traders to protest raids by the Income Tax department, at the Azadpur wholesale vegetable market in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Prices for onions, a diet staple in South Asia, have nearly doubled in recent weeks in India, after unseasonable rains damaged the onion and garlic crops in the western state of Maharashtra. The strike was called off later in the day. (AP Photo/Mustafa Quraishi)
Flood in Austral... A man looks at the rising Brisbane River in central Brisbane, Australia, January 11, 2011. (REUTERS/Mick Tsikas)
Mideast Israel P... Masked Palestinian gunmen from the Islamic Jihad ride a on a vehicle during the funeral procession of Islamic Jihad militant, Mohammed al-Najjar, in the southern Gaza strip town of Khan Younis, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. On Tuesday, a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft killed al-Najjar who was riding a motorcycle in southern Gaza, the Israeli military said. The military added the militant was planning a major attack on Israel. During the two years since Israel's bruising invasion of Gaza to stop daily rocket attacks, airstrikes aimed at individual militants have been rare. (AP Photo/Eyad Baba)
Portugal Financi... Portuguese railway workers holding a banner reading "railway workers on struggle" march during a demonstration Wednesday, Jan. 12 2011in Lisbon. The workers were protesting unemployment and the government's austerity measures aimed controling the country's current financial crisis. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
Chinese New Year An employee works at a Chinese new year merchandising factory in Yiwu, Zhejiang province January 11, 2011. The Chinese New Year will begin on February 3, 2011, and according to the Lunar calendar, is the Year of the Rabbit. The Chinese character next to the worker (L) reads "Happiness." (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
Lithuania Annive... A woman lights candles for the victims at the Lithuanian National Radio and Television on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Day of the Defenders of Freedom "Battle for the Freedom of Nations" in Vilnius, Lithuania, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011. Lithuanians are marking the 20th anniversary of the Soviet crackdown on Thursday. 20 years ago Soviet special forces lay siege to the Vilnius TV tower. Fourteen people died in that siege and hundreds were wounded. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
China's Military Paramilitary recruits practise goose-stepping led by their monitor during a regular training at an army base in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, January 12, 2011. The Chinese character reads, "Strict". (REUTERS/Stringer)
Ariane 5 Rocket A technician works at the mechanical assembly unit on the main cryogenic stage integration of an Ariane 5 rocket at the Astrium site in Les Mureaux, near Paris January 12, 2011. (REUTERS/Charles Platiau)
India Army An Indian army soldier demonstrates the skills of a trained military dog at Akhnoor military station, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of Jammu, India, Thursday, Jan, 13, 2011. The demonstration was held as part of Army Day celebrations which will be marked on Jan. 15. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Germany Tanker C... Firefighters inspect a tanker carrying 2,400 tonnes of sulphuric acid after the barge capsized at the river Rhine near St Goarshausen, south of Koblenz, western Germany, Thursday, Jan 13, 2011. First reports say that no cargo leaked. Two of the four crew members are still missing. The other two could be rescued. (AP Photo/dapd, Torsten Silz)
Brazil Flooding People displaced by landslides fill a stadium being used as a shelter in Teresopolis, Brazil, Thursday Jan. 13, 2011. At least 350 people have died after landslides hit early Wednesday, and 50 or more were still missing, according to officials. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
'Nuestros silenc... A man looks up at one of the 10 giant bronze sculptures entitled 'Nuestros silencios' or ' Our silences' by Mexican artisan Rivelino in Victoria Tower Gardens, next to the Houses of Parliament in London January 13, 2011. The sculptures are touring Europe to recognise the bicentenary of Mexican Independence in 1810. (REUTERS/Luke MacGregor)
Hindu Festival o... A man flies a kite made of 110 Tukkal or paper lanterns for the Hindu festival of "Makar Sankranti", which marks the start of spring, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad January 13, 2011. (REUTERS/Amit Dave(
Bulgaria Protest... Demonstrators hold posters depicting giant ears and a policeman peak cap over the name of the ruling party GERB, during a protest against the illegal eavesdropping and the violation of democratic civil rights and freedoms, in front of the Bulgarian Parliament building in the capital Sofia, Friday Jan. 14, 2011. (AP Photo / Valentina Petrova)
Serbia Orthodox ... A woman and her daughter, left, light a candle at the St. Sava Orthodox church in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011. Orthodox Serbs celebrate the beginning of the new calendar year on Jan. 14, according to the Julian calendar. (AP Photo/ Marko Drobnjakovic)
Pakistan Pope Bl... A Pakistani demonstrator reacts during a rally against recent statements by Pope Benedict XVI about Pakistan's blasphemy laws, next to burning tires in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011. Islamist protesters have demonstrated in three cities against a call by Pope Benedict XVI for Pakistan to scrap its blasphemy laws. The laws stipulate the death sentence for anyone insulting Islam's prophet, Muhammad. Critics say the laws are often used to persecute Christians and other minorities or to settle personal vendettas. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Spain's Economy Men read newspapers at a social center in Madrid January 13, 2011. Spain's economy is capable of growing by 2-2.5 percent annually from 2011 to 2015, but the country must forge ahead on reforms with or without a political consensus, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Tuesday. Among austerity plans announced are a reform of the country's pension system which would raise the retirement age from 65 to 67. (REUTERS/Andrea Comas)
National Archive... A video of late US President John F. Kennedy plays during the launch a new online trove of his official and personal records at the National Archives in Washington, January 13, 2011. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Thailand Celebra... Giant fish balloons float into the air during a celebration at the Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok on Friday Jan 14.2010. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Iraq Al Sadr Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr attends Friday prayers in Kufa, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011. Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has met with Iraq's president as part of al-Sadr's recent push to gain credibility in the country's political and religious circles since returning from voluntary exile. The meeting between the radical cleric and President Jalal Talabani is significant because it highlights al-Sadr's efforts to portray himself as a mature, disciplined statesman after four years in Iran. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)