Happy Trails
Photograph by Alex Cherney, TWAN
Amateur astronomer Alex Cherney captured these star trails as they blazed above Lake Tyrrell, a salt lake in Victoria, Australia in October 2011 and posted to The World At Night website December 25, 2012.
(See pictures of another Australian salt lake, Lake Eyre.)
Published December 31, 2012
Tokyo From Space
Image courtesy DLRThe sprawling Japanese capital Tokyo looks like a funky computer chip in this image taken by Germany's Earth-observing satellite TerraSAR-X and released December 20.
Launched in 2007, the satellite's radar sensors map Earth from 319 miles (514 kilometers) up in a near-polar orbit.
Published December 31, 2012
Extreme View
Image courtesy SDO/NASANASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory snapped this extreme ultraviolet view of an active region on the sun as it rotated into view from December 16 to December 18. Ultraviolet light makes it easier to trace the whorls and loops created by superheated gas, or plasma, and the sun's magnetic field lines.
Active solar regions such as this create space weather that, when aimed at Earth, can disrupt satellite communications and electronics. (See more pictures of solar activity and space weather.)
Published December 31, 2012
Saturn’s Dark Side
Image courtesy SSI/Caltech/NASAThis image of the unlit side of Saturn's S rings, released December 24, was taken with visible light by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
The shadow of Saturn's innermost major moon, Mimas, is visible as a black oval south of the rings' shadow. For those with completely dust-free computer monitors, Janus, another Saturnian moon, is visible as a tiny white speck above the planet's north pole. (Learn about Saturn's major moons.)
Published December 31, 2012
A River Runs Through It
Image courtesy ESA/JAXAThe European Space Agency released this picture—taken by Japan's satellite ALOS—of Italy's longest river on December 14.
The Po river and its surrounding fields divide Italy into its northern and southern regions. The Japanese used ALOS, which they lost contact with in late April 2011, to generate precise land maps, monitor disasters, and conduct resource surveys. (Read an excerpt from National Geographic magazine about the Po river.)
Published December 31, 2012
Glacial "Broccoli"
Image from DigitalGlobe/Getty ImagesThe Moshniy glacier, located on the Russian archipelago Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean, calves chunks of ice and debris into a pattern reminiscent of broccoli in an image released December 20.
Novaya Zemlya was a sensitive military area during the Cold War, and was also the site of the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated. The energy released by the 50-megaton "Tsar" bomb was ten times that of all the explosions set off during World War II.
Published December 31, 2012
Image courtesy Caltech/SSI/NASA
Published December 31, 2012
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NIRBHAYA: A city that registers two rapes a day was shocked into outraged protests when this 23-year-old was gangraped and brutalized in a moving bus. The large-scale protests forced the govt to promise a review of rape laws setting up of fast-track courts to deal with rape.
ARVIND KEJRIWAL: Having remained a loyal lieutenant to Anna Hazare through 2011 and the first half of 2012, Kejriwal came into his own in the second part of the year. After taking on many including Robert Vadra, Nitin Gadkari and Reliance Industries with daring 'exposes', he formed the Aam Admi Party.
MARY KOM: In an Olympic in which Indians won their largest tally of six medals, including two silver, there were many heroes but none who captured the public imagination more than M C Mary Kom. The 29-year-old mother of two from Manipur, the only woman boxer to have won a medal at every World Championship, won the Olympic bronze and a billion hearts.
VINOD RAI: Undoubtedly the most high-profile of all the CAGs India has ever had, Rai remained in the headlines for much of the year with CAG reports unveiling many a scam. The most talked-about of them was clearly the scam in allotments of coal blocks to private firms, which became infamous as Coalgate.
NARENDRA MODI: Winning the Gujarat assembly elections for the third successive time and with a near two-thirds, Modi has driven home the fact that he remains unbeatable on home turf. He has also established himself firmly as the front-runner in the race to determine who will lead the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
SAVITA HALAPPANAVAR: The tragic death of Karnataka-born Savita after a miscarriage in an Ireland hospital triggered a global outcry. The fact that the hospital refused to abort the fetus, leading to her death through septicemia, provoked protests against anti-abortion laws and a debate through the Catholic world. Ultimately, Ireland amended its abortion laws.
AAMIR KHAN: Long seen as a choosy film star who invested a lot in his projects, Aamir shone in a new role this year with his TV show Satyamev Jayate. Focusing on social ills like honour killings, caste and gender discrimination and alcoholism, the show became a Sunday must-watch for many families.
MAMATA BANERJEE: Last year, the feisty Bengal leader dealt the Left a blow from which it is still reeling. This year, she trained her guns on the Congress, accusing it of being 'anti-people'. She quit the UPA in September against the decisions to allow FDI in multi-brand retail and hike in fuel prices.
AKHILESH YADAV: Mulayam Singh Yadav's son shepherded the Samajwadi Party to an unprecedented victory, winning 224 seats in the 405-member House. His promise of a new, modern SP, which would not allow the 'goonda raj' of the party's earlier stint in power clearly clicked, but he has largely failed to deliver on that promise.
HONEY SINGH: The 28-year-old Punjabi rapper has been around for several years, but really hit the big league this year. Not only did songs from his album International Villager top lists such as the world iTunes and BBC Asian charts, he became Bollywood's highest-paid pop artiste when he was reportedly paid Rs 70 lakh for a song in Mastaan.
