This
weathered western red cedar snag exhibits the most extraordinary spiral-grain
that I have ever seen for a cedar tree. The angle of the grain is almost
completely horizontal near the top! Note that a background cedar has straight
grain (top photo). There are different hypothesis for why certain trees develop
spiral-grain. Some hypotheses suggest that spiral-grain helps connect roots on
one side of a tree to a more healthy productive crown on other sides of the
tree. The spiral-grain may also be a response to stress and it can help provide
structural reinforcement against the wind. This may be true for leaning and
asymmetric trees that are affected by strong winds.
It is amazing how much we have been able to develop and increase the quality of photos taken from space (don’t forget the first picture of a black hole ever!).- X Post from IAF
Pillars of the Eagle Nebula in Infrared : Newborn stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula. Gravitationally contracting in pillars of dense gas and dust, the intense radiation of these newly-formed bright stars is causing surrounding material to boil away. This image, taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in near infrared light, allows the viewer to see through much of the thick dust that makes the pillars opaque in visible light. The giant structures are light years in length and dubbed informally the Pillars of Creation. Associated with the open star cluster M16, the Eagle Nebula lies about 6,500 light years away. The Eagle Nebula is an easy target for small telescopes in a nebula-rich part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the snake). via NASA
