Crab Nebula by Hubble
nut writes "I just wanted to draw people's attention to the Image Of The Day courtesy of The Hubble Telescope. There's a couple of other pages with a little more info.
I don't know how anyone can doubt the value of putting the Hubble telescope up there when it gives you desktop wallpaper like this :o)"
http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2005/37/images/ a/formats/1280_wallpaper.jpg
Hubble is amazing and all, and has produced some fabulous images (and maybe, just maybe some actual scientific data), but isn't it time to retire the 1 megapixel bird and replace it with a 5, or 16 megapixel, or perhaps a 4 gigapixel satellite instead?
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
It's probably worth mentioning, in case people hadn't noticed, that you can--and I do--have the Hubble Site configured as a "Slashbox", so the current "image of interest" (at present, this Crab Nebula mozaic) will appear as a small image on the Slashdot front page. I've noticed (and grabbed) numerous images this way. Note that this only works, as far as I know, if you have a named account--but you don't need a subscription. Just go to Preferences, click on "Homepage", go down to the "Customize Slashboxes" section, and put a checkmark next to "Hubble Site". You'll be glad you did.
:)
(At least, I assume you'll be glad you did, since, otherwise, why are you bothering to read the discussions about this article in the first place?)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html