Vine Maple - Nisqually River Valley-  In the lower forests around Mount Rainier, vine maples carry heavy loads of mosses and lichens. Sunlight, filtered through leafy canopies, glows from every angle. This scene along the Nisqually River Valley typifies the variety of vegetation found within the old-growth forest. - by Ron Warfield - PhotoTripUSA.
Humpback Whale reaching for the sky. - Korean Animal Picture Archive.
Lenticular Cloud over Mount Rainier - Mount Rainier makes its own weather. This spectacular altocumulus stacked lenticular cloud portends the approach of a very wet winter storm. Moisture carried in air currents continually forms new cloud on the windward side of the Mountain as the air rises to pass over the obstruction. The cloud evaporates on its leeward side as the air drops and warms after clearing the Mountain. Hence, the lens (or flying saucer) shaped cloud hovers over the mountain as the winds flow through. - by Ron Warfield - PhotoTripUSA
The Big Corona Credit & Copyright: Fred Espenak (NASA /GSFC) - Explanation: Most photographs don't adequately portray the magnificence of the Sun's corona. Seeing the corona first-hand during a total solar eclipse is best. The human eye can adapt to see features and extent that photographic film usually cannot. Welcome, however, to the digital age. The above picture is a combination of twenty-two photographs that were digitally processed to highlight faint features. The outer pictures of the Sun's corona were digitally altered to enhance dim, outlying waves and filaments. The inner pictures of the usually dark Moon were enhanced to bring out its faint glow from doubly reflected sunlight. Shadow seekers need not fret, though, since as yet there is no way that digital image processing can mimic the fun involved in experiencing a total solar eclipse. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA) NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply. A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC & Michigan Tech. U.
The Colorful Orion Nebula Credit: Gary Bernstein (U. Michigan); Copyright: U. Michigan, Lucent - Explanation: The Great Nebula in Orion is a colorful place. Visible to the unaided eye as a fuzzy patch in the constellation of Orion, this image taken with the Big Throughput Camera shows the Orion Nebula to be a busy neighborhood of young stars, hot gas, and dark dust. The power behind much of the Orion Nebula (M42) is the Trapezium - four of the brightest stars in the nebula. The eerie blue glow surrounding the bright stars pictured here is their own starlight reflected by nearby dust. Hot oxygen and hydrogen gases cause the extended green and pink glows, respectively. Dark brown dust filaments cover much of the region. The whole Orion Nebula cloud complex, which includes the Horsehead Nebula, will slowly disperse over the next 100,000 years. Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA) NASA Technical Rep.: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply. A service of: LHEA at NASA/ GSFC & Michigan Tech. U.
Mount Rainier from Inspiration Point - The Mountain soars to 14,411 feet above sea level. A hundred years ago, John Muir became so excited by this view at Inspiration Point that he decided then & there to climb the Mountain. Today, photographers from around the world arrive at this viewpoint and spend hours gazing up at the icy bulk of the greatest peak in the Cascade Range. Magnificent Mt. Rainier - by Ron Warfield - PhotoTripUSA