The lunar eclipse, a time to reflect and the crash of a black hole are just the tip of the iceberg for this week's images.
1. Killer sponges!
They don't have gaping maws or fearsome talons. But don't be fooled. These sponges - though they look like fuzzy twigs - are killers.
Four new species of carnivorous sponges that prey on shrimplike amphipods and other small animals were discovered in deep waters off the Pacific coast of North America, scientists announced.
2. Rosy cosmic cloud
A distant group of hot, young stars cause a cloud of hydrogen gas to glow a rosy red 7,300 light-years from Earth in the latest amazing view from a telescope in Chile.
Called Gum 41, the cloud stars in a new photo released by the European Southern Observatory today (April 16). Radiation emitted by the new-born stars near the middle of the image gives the hydrogen a rosy glow, ESO officials said. You can explore the new nebula photo in a video produced by ESO.
3. 16-foot great white found
A massive great white shark has been spotted swimming close to an Australian beach, scaring the locals and forcing the beach to close, according to news reports.
The female shark, nicknamed "Joan of Shark" by local fisherman, is more than 16 feet (5 meters) long and weighs about 1.8 tons (1.6 metric tons), The Telegraph reported. Signals from a satellite tag on the shark alerted authorities to its location, and city officials warned residents of Albany, Western Australia, to stay out of the water.
4. Lunar eclipse wows stargazers
The moon took on an eerie blood-red hue early Tuesday during the first total lunar eclipse of 2014, a celestial sight that wowed potentially millions of stargazers across North and South America.
The total lunar eclipse of April 15 lasted about 3.5 hours between late Monday and early Tuesday, with the Earth's shadow slowing darkening the face of the so-called "Blood Moon" in a jaw-dropping sight for stargazers willing to stay up extra late or rise super-early for the event.
5. A Time to Reflect
Still waters reflect the pristine landscape of the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area in Idaho.
The National Conservation Area, managed by the United States Bureau of Land Management, is located 35 miles (56 kilometres) south of Boise, Idaho, and has one of the world's densest populations of nesting birds of prey. A variety of falcons, eagles, hawks and owls flourish in the region.
In addition to outstanding bird and wildlife viewing, visitors can sightsee, horseback ride, hike, hunt, mountain bike, picnic and camp, according to officials at the Bureau of Land Management. [Related: One-of-a-Kind Places on Earth]
6. Cub watch
Some Brits are crossing their fingers for a new royal baby - not a second-born for William and Kate, but a panda cub for Tian Tian and Yang Guang.
Officials at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland announced today (April 15) that Britain's only female giant panda, Tian Tian, was artificially inseminated at the Edinburgh Zoo after failing to get it on the natural way with her partner, Yang Guang. A cub for the panda pair would be the first born on British soil.
7. 5 erupting volcanoes seen from space
There are 40 active volcanoes on Russia's icy Kamchatka Peninsula. On Monday, a passing satellite saw five of them erupting at once.
Landsat 8 captured images of the five smoky calderas on April 14, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. The satellite is eighth in a series that have been providing continuous Earth data from orbit for 40 years. Its Operational Land Imager (ORI), which takes snapshots of the planet's surface in visible, near infrared and short-wave infrared spectrums, captured the volcano images.
8. Black hole crash
A powerful scientific tool set to come online in 2015 could help scientists spot gravitational waves: ripples in space-time born from violent cosmic crashes light-years from Earth.
The instrument, called LIGO (short for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatories), uses lasers to hunt for the gravitational aftermath created by two massive objects - like a neutron star and a black hole - colliding. Scientists theorize that, like a rock dropping into a pool of water, the fabric of space and time can ripple, sending out these gravitational waves across the universe at the speed of light. Understanding those waves could help scientists learn more about black holes.
9. Chilean port fire
What looks like a wisp of smoke on a new satellite image is actually the largest fire in the history of Valparaiso, Chile.
Strong winds brought a forest fire into this port city of 280,000 over the weekend, NASA's Earth Observatory reports. About 10,000 people had to evacuate their homes, and at least 15 have died, according to news reports.
10. Grand canyon from space
Helicopter tours of the Grand Canyon can provide a bird's-eye view of the iconic landmark. But that's nothing compared to what astronauts see as they zip over northern Arizona in the International Space Station.
In a new image taken from orbit by the Expedition 39 crew, the Grand Canyon is visible slicing through the Kaibab Plateau, which is part of the expansive Colorado Plateau of Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. The photograph was taken by the Expedition 39 crew aboard the ISS on March 25, 2014, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.
11. Night-shining clouds
Rare night-shining clouds that glow across the edge of space tend to appear near Earth's poles. But since the turn of the century, these silvery clouds have become more frequent sights over lower latitudes, including southern Canada and the northern United States, new research finds.
Also known as noctilucent clouds, night-shining clouds are the highest clouds in Earth's atmosphere. They hover around 50 miles (80 kilometres) above the surface of the planet - high enough to reflect sunlight long after sunset. The wispy clouds were first officially documented in 1885. Since 2007, scientists have been monitoring the phenomenon near the poles with NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite.
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