[xoxoxoBruce]

I discovered a thread on Bored Panda containing 39 unusual pictures.
Some I'd seen before, many I had not. Here's a couple of them...

Aurora's are breathtaking cosmic light displays that can be seen from various planets in our solar system. An aurora is the finale to a process that begins with the sun. The sun emits a constant stream of charged particles or solar wind into the solar system. When these winds reach a planet they interact with the magnetic field that surrounds it, and compresses the field into a teardrop shape. The way in which the magnetic field change cause the charged particles to accelerate into the upper atmosphere, colliding with molecules such as nitrogen and oxygen which gives off energy in the form of light. A light ribbon of color is displayed across the sky in an aurora.

Here are some interesting facts about spacesuits, according to NASA:
1. A spacesuit weighs approximately 280 pounds on the ground - without the astronaut in it. In the microgravity environment of space, a spacesuit weighs nothing.
2. Putting on a spacesuit takes 45 minutes, including the time it takes to put on the special undergarments that help keep astronauts cool. After putting on the spacesuit, to adapt to the lower pressure maintained in the suit, the astronaut must spend a little more than an hour breathing pure oxygen before going outside the pressurized module.
3. The reason that spacesuits are white is because white reflects heat in space the same as it does here on Earth. Temperatures in direct sunlight in space can be more than 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. No difference exists in a male's or female's suit, though the female astronaut usually requires a smaller size.
5. The shuttle spacesuit was designed to be made of many interchangeable parts, to accommodate the large number of astronauts with widely varying body sizes. These parts (upper and lower torsos, arms, etc.) are made in different sizes.
6. The body measurements of each shuttle astronaut are taken and recorded. Then the measurements are plotted against the size ranges available for each spacesuit component. The suit components are then assembled. Training suits are usually assembled nine months prior to flight, and flight suits are usually assembled four months prior to flight.

Cool stuff.