VOLCANO ERUPTIONS, A POCKET SHARK, AND OTHER AMAZING IMAGES OF THE WEEK

The Waking Giant

After a 43-year nap, the Calbuco volcano in southern Chile woke up with a bang. The eruption surprised locals, but the government was able to quickly evacuate about 4,000 people within a 12-mile radius of the volcano. Out of 90 volcanoes in Chile, this one is considered one of the three most dangerous. Luckily, no injuries or deaths have been reported so far.

It's Not Easy Being Green

In Costa Rica, researchers have discovered a new species of frog, and it looks remarkably similar to everyone's favorite Muppet. Dr. Brian Kubicki, who took the photograph, named the Kermit lookalike "Hyalinobatrachium dianae" after his mother, Janet Diana Kubicki.

 

Blind Ambition

These brightly colored cells aren't just a pretty sight--they might be the key to preventing blindness. The yellow cells in this image are linked to age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss for people over 50. When the yellow cells begin to divide excessively, more blood vessels form, leaking blood and fluid into the retina and causing vision distortion. Alain Chédotal and his team at the Institute of Vision in Paris discovered that a protein called Slit2 contributes to this cell division, and blocking this protein may prevent the onset of blindness.

A Double Double

Amanda Curtis via Twitter

This tweet of a quadruple rainbow has received more than 1,000 retweets after it was posted by Amanda Curtis, the CEO of a New York fashion company. The Internet couldn't get enough of the phenomenon, which CNN weather producer Rachel Aissen explained was a double rainbow that was reflected off a body of water and into into the sky.

Left Shark, Is That You?

M. Doosey/Tulane University

Scientists have found an adorably tiny shark in the Gulf of Mexico. This precious pocket shark is incredibly rare; this one is only the second shark of its species ever found. The first was found in the Pacific Ocean 36 years ago. This little guy is only a few weeks old and is only about 5.5 inches long. "Discovering him has us thinking about where mom and dad may be, and how they got to the Gulf," says NOAA biologist Mark Grace.

Happy Birthday, Hubble!

NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA), A. Nota (ESA/STScI), and the Westerlund 2 Science Team

Twenty-five years ago this week, the Hubble launched into space. Over the last quarter of a century, the telescope has circled Earth more than 135,000 times, giving us beautiful images of our universe like this gorgeous 25th anniversary shot. These fireworks of the cosmos are actually a huge group of about 3,000 stars called Westerlund 2. Approximately 20,000 light-years away, this cluster contains some of the hottest, brightest, and largest stars in our galaxy. In this breathtaking image the most massive stars are unleashing a "torrent of ultraviolet light and hurricane-force winds that etch away the enveloping hydrogen gas cloud."