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[David Wong]

A brief description, and then A LINK TO THE PHOTO.  Don't post the photo itself.  Please DO NOT post a link to some website saying, "these guys have lots of cool pics!!!"

These are specific pictures that YOU found amazing somehow, nature or technology or space or whatever.

[David Wong]

The nuclear submarine that crashed, in dry dock with the wreckage visible.  Large photo (3.0 MB)

[Epileptic Pirate]

A photo which I find absolutely stunning is this.

It is from the GOODS project, in which over the course of a year the Hubble telescope was focused on a single spot for 90 minutes.  The image penetrates about 12 billion light years, which means that since the big bang is thought to have happened 13.7 billion years ago, some of that stuff is nearly from the begginnings of time.
I just find it absolutely stunning that this much is behind everywhere we look.  From one little point in the sky, there is all this.

[David Wong]

Massive arial shot of the WTC attack aftermath, courtesy of Honest Abe.  3.7 MB

[assimilatedtransient]

Northern lights

I don't think this picture needs much of an explanation. There's something inherently humbling about seeing the Aurora Borealis.

Ebola

This shot shows the grave where four people who died of ebola will be buried. The gravediggers and doctors who help prepare the bodies have to throw their gloves and facemasks into the grave to dispose of them because the virus is so pervasive.

[Drizzt]

A bullet going through an apple.

I just think it's incredible that they were able to capture something that happens so quickly.  There's something awesome about the way that the bullet appears to be motionless and floating next to an exploding apple.

[oball]

A series of photos from the Trinity test.

0.016 seconds

0.025 seconds

0.053 seconds

0.062 seconds

0.090 seconds

2.0 seconds

3.0 seconds

4.0 seconds

7.0 seconds

12.0 seconds

These document the first atomic explosion set off by mankind on the surface of the Earth.  This was when we developed the ability to completely wipe out humanity.

[Igotantsinmypants]

A picture of Iraqi-Kurds voting in the Iraqi election

- From Australia no less.

This is amazing to me because it's the first time an entire people have been able to legitimately vote for their government. Based on studying human history, this process always amazes me. Of course I'm a big nerd.

Plus the traditional Kurdish clothes are fantastic.

[Swordfish]

http://www.angelfire.com/rock3/swordfish/space.html

This was sent to me in an email about a year ago. I've had to put this pic on an html page as angelfire don't like direct image links.

This photo was taken via satellite, on a cloudless day. This picture is of Europe and Africa when the sun is setting. Half of the picture is in night, half in daylight. The bright dots you see are the cities lights. The top part of Africa is the Sahara Desert. Note how the lights are already on in Holland, Paris, and Barcelona, and how it's still daylight in London, Lisbon, and Madrid. The sun is still shining on the Straight of Gibraltar, and the Mediterranean Sea is already in darkness. England, Ireland, Scotland are bright green. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean you can see the Azores Islands; below them to the right are the Madeira Islands; a bit below are the Canary Islands; and further south, close to the farthest western point of Africa, the Cape Verde Islands. Note how the Sahara is huge and can be seen clearly both during daytime and nighttime. To the left, on top  is Iceland, totally frozen and snow capped Norway to the right. This picture is so clear you can see the ocean floor in some areas.

[Otis P Jivefunk]

Photo of a jellyfish taken very close up.  I've always liked this photograph, as marine life fascinates me.  It can be totally bizarre and alien to us, yet it shares our planet and, indeed, was here long before we climbed down from the trees.

Here

[David Wong]

A picture of Iraqi-Kurds voting in the Iraqi election

- From Australia no less.

This is amazing to me because it's the first time an entire people have been able to legitimately vote for their government. Based on studying human history, this process always amazes me. Of course I'm a big nerd.

Plus the traditional Kurdish clothes are fantastic.

I'm sure you know I want you all to refrain from posting "rebuttal" pics now that the dreaded, thread-derailing "I" word has been mentioned.  

"Oh, yeah?!?!  Here is an 'amazing' photo of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners!!!!"

"Well, here is an 'amazing' shot of Saddam's mass graves!!!!!"

That's obviously not what this thread is for.  It's a fun picture, now let's resist the temptation to turn it into a debate.  Thanks.

[David Wong]

Here is a similar picture to the satellite shot above, a scan of nighttime shots of each country showing miniscule city lights glowing on land.  Africa is so dark...

[sharamik]

A picture of Iraqi-Kurds voting in the Iraqi election

- From Australia no less.

This is amazing to me because it's the first time an entire people have been able to legitimately vote for their government. Based on studying human history, this process always amazes me. Of course I'm a big nerd.

Plus the traditional Kurdish clothes are fantastic.

I'm in london at the moment, and today is the first day of Iraq elections: I have just seen a convoy of cars drive past my flat with "kurd" written all over them, flags flying out their windows and horns blaring. It was fucking awesome- gutted I didn't have a camera handy.

[Vermillion]

Photo of a jellyfish taken very close up.  I've always liked this photograph, as marine life fascinates me.  It can be totally bizarre and alien to us, yet it shares our planet and, indeed, was here long before we climbed down from the trees.

Here

Seconded.

Nudi of the week!

That stands for Nudibranch, the ocean dwelling sea slugs of renown, of course.

More are here: http://slugsite.us/mdm_ps.htm

[Wickbam]

I'd just like to say about the photographs of the continents that they're not actually taken on a "cloudless day", which is total rubbish, since from space, such huge swathes of the Earth's surface will always have some cloud cover.  There are actually composites of thousands of thousands of photographs that have been taken at different times (though perhaps around the same time of day), assembled together.

It's still one of the coolest pictures to see, though.

[David Wong]

Disturbing picture of a MASSIVE pile of debris and human corpses washed up by the tsunami.  Unreal.

[Otis P Jivefunk]

A rather impressive picture of a supernova.

For those who don't know, a supernova (I think) is when a star collapses in on itself, blowing a massive hole in space - taking out whatever planets were in orbit around it.  Like most things space related, I am overawed by it.

[Igotantsinmypants]

Here is a similar picture to the satellite shot above, a scan of nighttime shots of each country showing miniscule city lights glowing on land.  Africa is so dark...

Here is a similar photo of Western China, the Koreas and Japan. Try to find North Korea.

And here's just Korea. Quite the difference.

[eight]

A series of before/after satelite photos of tsunami affected areas.

Not disturbing, in the sense that the photo further above is disturbing, but awe-inspiring, if you could ignore the human (and wildlife) consequences.

[shermanmarch]

Pete Cabrinha on a 70 ft wave, the largest wave ever ridden
It's hard to believe it was possible for a human to do it.