Best Earth Images of the Week Feb. 15, 2013

An intimate moment

przewalski's horses, critically endangered species — (Image credit: Una Richardson.)

Keepers at Scotland's Highlands Wildlife Park managed to catch a loving moment between two of their animals, just in time for Valentine's Day.

Two Przewalski's horses, mare Sara and stallion Hero, were photographed nuzzling each other in their park enclosure.

[Full Story: Endangered Horses Spotted in Valentine's Nuzzle]

An island threatened

Paluweh volcano (also known as Rokatenda) eruption Indonesia. — (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory.)

Fresh ash coats the flanks of remote Paluweh volcano in Indonesia in an image from space captured Feb. 12 by NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite.

The stratovolcano erupted on Feb. 2 and 3, sending superheated gas and rock ?a fast-moving plume called a pyroclastic flow ? racing to the sea. The flow's brownish-gray scar is visible in the natural-color image snapped by the satellite's Advanced Land Imager (ALI). A tongue of debris extends into the sea at the base of the flow.

[Full Story: Satellite Spots Recent Eruption at Indonesia's Paluweh Volcano]

Found by its song

The newly-discovered Rinjani scops owl, or Otus jolandae. — (Image credit: Philippe Verbelen)

A new species of owl has been found on an Indonesian island, identified by its unique birdsong. It had escaped scientific detection for so long partially because it looks very similar to a related species.

While on a field expedition in 2003, two members of a research team on opposite ends of the Indonesian island of Lombok independently realized that the owl's calls were unique, according to a PLOS ONE study published today (Feb. 13).

[Full Story: Unique Calls Reveal New Owl Species]

Spectacular snapshot

yosemite national park, yosemite in winter — (Image credit: U.S. Department of the Interior)

While on a field expedition in 2003, two members of a research team on opposite ends of the Indonesian island of Lombok independently realized that the owl's calls were unique, according to a PLOS ONE study published today (Feb. 13).

"No temple made with hands can compare to Yosemite," the naturalist John Muir famously said. When this stunning landscape is covered in snow, as seen in the image above, the park looks more like uncharted territory than a place where 3.7 million people visit each year.

[Full Story: Gorgeous Photo: Yosemite Sparkles in Winter]

Moment of Awe

The immediate aftermath of the rupturing of an ice bridge connected to Argentina's Perito Moreno glacier, causing an enormous splash in the lake below. — (Image credit: Christian Grosso)

Amateur photographer Christian Grosso got a surprise recently when he visited a glacier in Argentina's Patagonia region: an enormous ice bridge connected to the glacier ruptured and fell, causing a huge wave in the lake below.

Luckily he had his camera to capture the event. And another visitor caught a video of the ice falling.

[Full Story: Epic Glacier Collapse Caught on Camera]

Frozen, white world

NASA's Terra satellite snapped this image of snow blanketing the Northeast on Feb. 10, 2013. — (Image credit: NASA.)

The aftermath of Saturday's massive snowstorm was spotted from space by NASA's Terra satellite on Sunday (Feb. 10).

The snow started falling Friday when a frigid Arctic air mass from Canada collided over the Northeast with warm, moist air sweeping up from the South. Heavy snow combined with strong winds to create blizzard conditions, with more than 2 feet (0.6 meters) of snow dropped in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine.

[Full Story: Snow Blankets Northeast in Satellite Image]