ESO's VLT reveals the Carina Nebula's hidden secrets.

This broad panorama of the Carina Nebula, a region of massive star formation in the southern skies, was taken in infrared light using the HAWK-I camera on ESO's Very Large Telescope. Many previously hidden features, scattered across a spectacular celestial landscape of gas, dust and young stars, have emerged.

Credit: ESO/T. Preibisch

http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1208a/

Abstract rendering using Cinema 4D.

Cinema 4D, Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Lightroom 5.

Planetary nebulae like the Helix are sculpted late in a Sun-like star's life by a torrential gush of gases escaping from the dying star. They have nothing to do with planet formation, but got their name because they look like planetary disks when viewed through a small telescope. With higher magnification, the classic "donut-hole" in the middle of a planetary nebula can be resolved. Based on the nebula's distance of 650 light-years, its angular size corresponds to a huge ring with a diameter of nearly 3 light-years. That's approximately three-quarters of the distance between our Sun and the nearest star.

The Helix Nebula is a popular target of amateur astronomers and can be seen with binoculars as a ghostly, greenish cloud in the constellation Aquarius. Larger amateur telescopes can resolve the ring-shaped nebula, but only the largest ground-based telescopes can resolve the radial streaks. After careful analysis, astronomers concluded the nebula really isn't a bubble, but is a cylinder that happens to be pointed toward Earth.

Credit: NASA, NOAO, ESA, the Hubble Helix Nebula Team, M. Meixner (STScI), and T.A. Rector (NRAO).

The St Johns Bridge of Portland, Oregon, with Mt Hood in the background.

Shot with a Sony a7rii, and an Olympus Zuiko 200mm f5.

Metabones v, Mefoto tripod.

Adobe Lightroom Classic, Adobe Photoshop CC.

Sunset at Fort Bragg, California.

My first successful HDR. The guy beside me had hundreds of dollars in filters. I hope his shots came out this nice!

Adobe Lightroom 5.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM.

This is one of my favorite spots to take photos in Seattle. I have a previous wallpaper titled Alki Beach Sunrise from 2013 that was taken from this same spot. This particular evening in July 2014 provided some of the best colors I've seen here.

Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM.

Photo Settings: 17mm, f/7, 2.5 seconds, ISO 50.

Simple wave and sunset shot near my home. Just a little vibrance, sharpening, and noise reduction. Tried not to over do it.

Adobe Lightroom 5.3.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM.

Photo Settings: 17mm, f/11, 1/15 second, ISO 50.

NASA and ESA are celebrating the Hubble Space Telescope's silver anniversary of 25 years in space by unveiling some of nature's own fireworks — a giant cluster of about 3,000 stars called Westerlund 2. The cluster resides inside a vibrant stellar breeding ground known as Gum 29, located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina. The comparatively young, 2-million-year-old star cluster contains some of our galaxy's hottest, brightest, and most massive stars. The largest stars are unleashing a torrent of ultraviolet light and hurricane-force winds that etch away the enveloping hydrogen gas cloud. This creates a fantasy celestial landscape of pillars, ridges, and valleys.

Press release: hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/12/full/

Taken at Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada while hiking to the other end of the lake. The colour of the water, canoes and trees made for a nice composition.

Adobe Lightroom CS.

Sony Alpha NEX-7, Sony E PZ 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OSS.

Photo Settings: 47mm, f/8, 1/125 second, ISO 200.

Map: 51.4121, 116.2332

Crater Lake, Oregon, USA during sunset hour.

Rock island is called "ghost ship".

Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.

Photo Settings: 32mm, f/16, 1/5 second, ISO 200.