Undead-Castle in Heroes 6

Thar she blows!

ATK

A solid rocket motor that could be used on future NASA launch vehicles is tested Aug. 31 at ATK Aerospace Systems' test site in Promontory, Utah. The rocket motor burned for just over two minutes during the successful static test, producing about 3.6 million pounds of thrust.

Shooting a laser at the sky

Y. Beletsky / ESO

This image, released on Sept. 6, shows a laser beam shooting up from the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. The laser beam is used as a guide for the observatory's adaptive-optics system, which compensates for unsteadiness in the atmosphere to produce sharper astronomical images.

Dodging a bullet

NASA/SDA via EPA

An extreme ultraviolet image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows an exceptionally heavy plasma eruption on the surface of the sun on Sept. 8. Not to worry, though: The resulting blast of electrically charged particles missed Earth.

Igor the Terrible

NASA via AFP - Getty Images

A photo taken from the International Space Station on Sept. 15 shows Hurricane Igor whirling through the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of miles below. In the foreground you can see a Russian spacecraft docked to the space station.

Dance of the galaxies

ESO

NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are two spiral galaxies of similar sizes engaged in a dramatic dance. It is not certain that this interaction will end in a collision and ultimately a merging of the two galaxies, although the galaxies have already been affected. Together known as Arp 271, this dance will last for tens of millions of years. This image, released Aug. 30, was taken with the EFOSC instrument attached to the New Technology Telescope at the European Southern Observatory's La Silla facility in Chile.

Full Moon Fever

Power by NASA

This color image was taken by the Galileo spacecraft in 1990 from about 350,000 miles (563,000 km) away. Near the center is the circular Orientale basin, 600 miles (966 km) across. Click to enlarge

Tien Baby

Cool girl Go Vap District, HCM City

Golden discovery

Stephen Richards / Courtesy of Conservation International

This new species of frog (genus Litoria) has extremely variable color patterns and distinct yellow spots in the groin. The colorful frogs were surprisingly difficult to spot in the lush foliage along small rainforest streams in the Muller Range. Males were most frequently identified after they uttered a very soft ticking sound to attract females in the vicinity.