The Eye of Sauron

photo source: NASA/AFP/Getty

Looks like something out of Peter Jackson's concept art department for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, doesn't it?  Nope...this is a photo of a fading white dwarf star at the center of the Hourglass Nebula taken by the good folks manning the Hubble Space Telescope.  And it's looking directly at your soul, so you had better be good, for goodness sake.

I literally could spend days just gazing at the incredible pictures being taken by the Hubble.  Stuff like the Pillars of Creation, or Cosmic Dust Bunnies or the Cone Nebula.  These images are like the fantasy creation of some sci-fi geek/artist that might go into a wall calendar or something.  Or the cover of a sci-fi magazine.  No way they can be real.  Except they are.  There for those of us who are really into space porn.

The best thing about space porn?  You don't get embarrassed when your girlfriend catches you enjoying it.  Until she calls you a geek, and then you do.  Sigh.

EDIT: Seems as if Pearl Jam used this image or one similar to it for the cover of one of their albums back in 2000.  News to me.  I stopped listening to Pearl Jam after Ten. - Earl

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Note: Remember to play the Badgerdaddy Trivia Challenge every day. My space suit pants are tight!