Age of Discovery, by Josef Barton

Had to post more space art, because this one is a wallpaper, and aren’t you just falling over yourself, running to download it? Because I know I was! Beautiful, Hubble-like softness — I love it.

Abduzeedo Wallpaper of the Week #80 - James White

A really awesome wallpaper/desktop pic, full of color and light, courtesy of Abduzeedo. Also comes in an iPhone version.

The Iconfactory has long been one of my favorite haunts, and yet again they’ve delivered, with official desktop wallpapers and icons from the new Star Trek movie. I mean… really, who wouldn’t want these on their desktop??

Today’s Picture of the Day @ NASA is the Peony Nebula, and this dreamily-colored image is downloadable in standard desktop/wallpaper sizes.

If our galaxy were to host its own version of the Olympics, the title for the brightest known star would go to a massive star called Eta Carina. However, a new runner-up, now the second-brightest star in our galaxy, has been discovered in the galaxy’s dusty and frenzied interior. This image from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope shows the new silver medalist, circled in the inset above, in the central region of our Milky Way.

Dubbed the Peony nebula star, this blazing ball of gas shines with the equivalent light of 3.2 million suns. The reigning champ, Eta Carina, produces the equivalent of 4.7 million suns worth of light. However, astronomers say these estimates are uncertain, and it’s possible that the Peony nebula star could be even brighter than Eta Carina.

If the Peony star is so bright, why doesn’t it stand out more in this view? The answer is dust. This star is located in a very dusty region jam packed with stars. In fact, there could be other super bright stars still hidden deep in the stellar crowd. Spitzer’s infrared eyes allowed it to pierce the dust and assess the Peony nebula star’s true brightness. Likewise, infrared data from the European Southern Observatory’s New Technology Telescope in Chile were integral in calculating the Peony nebula star’s luminosity.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Potsdam Univ.

Another Tor.com FREE wallpaper; I chose to feature another one this week because, well, I _REMEMBER_ this edition of OMNI Magazine and I always liked the art. As of Friday May 30 it is no longer available for download; click here for a zip of all sizes (1.25 Mb.)

About the artwork:

Gregory Manchess’ painting for Omni Magazine, from the 1980′s. See more from this artist at http://manchess.com

For the past few months, Tor.com (publisher of fine fantasy and science fiction books) has been promoting their upcoming website redesign by releasing weekly FREE e-books by their authors, and FREE wallpapers featuring art both old and new. (Sizes range from iPhone to enormo-vision!)

This wallpaper is no longer available, so here’s a zip file of all sizes for your downloading pleasure (3.64 Mb).

About the artwork:

Jeff Jones’ cover art for Amazing Science Fiction magazine, September 1970. See more from this artist at http://www.ulster.net/~jonesart