Depth of Focus Video Exclusive: Morry Gash Recounts Pussy Riot Attack

Our latest installment of the Depth of Focus series is a conversation with AP staff photographer Morry Gash, who was covering daily life during the Winter Games in Sochi when he captured the shocking images of members of the Russian feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot as they were being attacked with horsewhips by Cossack militia men. For the first time ever, listen to Morry recount his experience of the event.

MAYA ANGELOU: Life In Pictures

Maya Angelou, a modern Renaissance woman who survived the harshest of childhoods to become a force on stage, screen, the printed page and the inaugural dais, has died. She was 86. Her death was confirmed in a statement issued by Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where she had served as a professor of American Studies since 1982. Tall and regal, with a deep, majestic voice, Angelou defied all probability and category, becoming one of the first black women to enjoy mainstream success as an author and thriving in virtually every artistic medium. The young single mother who performed at strip clubs to earn a living later wrote and recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history. The childhood victim of rape wrote a million-selling memoir, befriended Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and performed on stages around the world.

Maya Angelou, a 6 foot multi-talented ex-Arkansan, has been hired as Hollywood’s first black woman movie director, November 3, 1971. She’ll write the script and music, as well as direct “Caged Bird,” which is based on her best-selling 1969 autobiography. She’s been a professional singer, dancer, writer, composer, poet, lecturer, editor, and San Francisco streetcar conductorette. (AP Photo)

In this Feb. 15, 2011 photo, President Barack Obama kisses author and poet Maya Angelou after awarding her the 2010 Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Angelou, author of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” has died, Wake Forest University said Wednesday, May 28, 2014. She was 86. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., campaigns with author Maya Angelou at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., Friday, April 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Maya Angelou, left, and Oprah Winfrey share laughs during a star-studded double-taping of “Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular,” Tuesday, May 17, 2011, in Chicago. “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is ending its run May 25, after 25 years, and millions of her fans around the globe are waiting to see how she will close out a show that spawned a media empire. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

U.S. first lady Betty Ford, third from right, poses with six other women who took part in the taping of the television special presentation of Ladies’ Home Journal “Woman of the Year 1976” in New York City, Thursday, April 8, 1976. From left are, Betty Furness, Bettye Caldwell, Maya Angelou, singer Kate Smith, Ford, Dr. Annie D. Wauneka and Micki King. (AP Photo)

Poet Dr. Maya Angelou speaks during a memorial service for Betty Shabazz at Riverside Church in the Harlem section of New York Sunday, June 29, 1997. The widow of Malcolm X died last Monday, nearly a month after she was burned in a fire at her home. More than 2,000 of Mrs. Shabazz’s friends, relatives and admirers paid a buoyant and affectionate tribute to her Sunday. (AP Photo/Emile Wamsteker)

Maya Angelou, poet in residence at Wake Forest University, talks about the poem she wrote for President Clinton’s inauguration from her office in Winston-Salem, N.C., Sept. 16, 1996. Angelou will narrate the poem to music Saturday at the school. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Lead Image Caption: In this Nov. 21, 2008 photo, poet Maya Angelou smiles at an event in Washington. Angelou, author of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” has died, Wake Forest University said Wednesday, May 28, 2014.  She was 86.  (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

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Gay Marriage 2014

Pennsylvania’s governor Tom Corbett ended his fight Wednesday, May 21, 2014 to stop same-sex marriage, allowing a growing number of couples to proceed with their wedding plans with greater peace of mind. Pennsylvania is now the 19th state to recognize same-sex marriages and the last northeastern U.S. state to do so. Others may soon follow depending on how federal appeals courts, and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court, rule on state bans that have been overturned. Six federal judges have issued pro-gay-marriage rulings since the Supreme Court’s decision in Windsor v. U.S. in June that struck down part of the federal anti-gay-marriage law, including rulings in Utah and Oklahoma. Democratic attorneys general in at least seven states — Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Illinois, Oregon, Kentucky and Nevada — have declined to defend same-sex-marriage bans that have been challenged in court by gay couples.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Julie Lobur, left, and Marla Cattermole look out on supporters of gay marriage at a rally on the steps of the state Capitol Tuesday, May 20, 2014, in Harrisburg, Pa. Pennsylvania’s ban on gay marriage was overturned Tuesday by a federal judge in a decision that makes same-sex marriage legal throughout the Northeast. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

William Roletter, left, and Paul Rowe, press close to one another as they apply for their marriage certificate, Wednesday, May 21, 2014, at City Hall in Philadelphia. On Tuesday, Pennsylvania became the final Northeastern state and the 19th in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage. Republican Gov. Tom Corbett said Wednesday he would not appeal a federal judge’s ruling that overturned the state’s 1996 ban. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

State Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, center, speaks to a group of pastors and others on the steps of the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Thursday, May 22, 2014. A group of Arkansas pastors opposed to same-sex marriage gathered on the steps of the Capitol to pray and rally Thursday. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

In this April 25, 2014, file photo, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert addresses a crowd during a rally at the Western Republican Leadership Conference, in Sandy, Utah. Gov. Herbert said Thursday, May 22, 2014 that he remains committed to defending Utah’s same-sex marriage ban, calling decisions by other state leaders to not defend bans the “next step to anarchy.” Herbert made the comments Thursday during his monthly televised news conference on KUED. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Viola Vetterm and her wife Kate Potalivo, and Amber Orion and her partner, Joy Payton listen to a speaker during a rally at City Hall, Tuesday, May 20, 2014, in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania’s ban on gay marriage was overturned by a federal judge Tuesday. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Methodist Rev. Thomas Ogletree speaks to the media during a news conference following the announcement that a case against him for breaking church law by officiating his son’s same-sex marriage had been dropped, Monday, March 10, 2014, in White Plains. The decision is considered a victory for Methodists who have defied church law and organized ministry to all couples. But conservative Methodists have been pressing church leaders to discipline clergy who preside at gay weddings. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this April 3, 2014, photo, Derek Kitchen, left, and Moudi Sbeity sit on their couch at their home, in Salt Lake City. The young couple that has become the face of gay marriage in Utah is an unlikely pair for the role. Kitchen and Sbeity were both raised in conservative religious families that shun gays, Kitchen in a Mormon home in Utah and Sbeity in a Muslim family in Lebanon. They each came out when they were 16 years old, worlds apart, and met six years later in college in Utah. They chose to become one of three couples as plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging Utah’s same-sex marriage to publicly push back against religions that oppress gays and lesbians. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

In this Sept. 12, 2011 file photo, Alan Simpson, speaks in Washington, D.C. A group of Republicans have come out in support of legalizing gay marriage in Utah and Oklahoma, arguing that allowing same-sex unions is consistent with the Western conservative values of freedom and liberty once championed by Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater. The group that includes former Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming and former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas plans to file a friend of the court brief Tuesday, March 4, 2014, to a federal appeals court in Denver that is reviewing same-sex marriage bans in Utah and Oklahoma, said Denver attorney Sean Gallagher, whose firm wrote the 30-page argument. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Rick Spitzborg, right, kisses his partner Blaine Bonham during a rally at City Hall, Tuesday, May 20, 2014, in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania’s ban on gay marriage was overturned by a federal judge Tuesday. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Shelton Stroman, left, and partner Christopher Inniss, right, help their son Jonathan, 9, with homework in the couple’s kitchen, Thursday, April 17, 2014, in Snellville, Ga. A gay rights group on Tuesday, April 22, 2014, filed a federal lawsuit in Atlanta challenging the state of Georgia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Peg Welch, center left, and her wife Delma Welch gather with others at a gay marriage rally on the steps of the state Capitol Tuesday, May 20, 2014, in Harrisburg, Pa. Pennsylvania’s ban on gay marriage was overturned Tuesday by a federal judge in a decision that makes same-sex marriage legal throughout the Northeast. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

 

Text from AP Story’s: PENNSYLVANIA WON’T APPEAL SAME-SEX MARRIAGE CASE BY MARC LEVY

COUPLE: PHILLY MAYOR SET TO PERFORM GAY WEDDINGS BY MARYCLAIRE DALE

GAY MARRIAGE’S WIN STREAK TESTED IN HIGHER COURT BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI and BRADY MCCOMBS

 

Lead Photo Caption: In this June 26, 2013, file photo, Sean Lewrence, of Philadelphia, holds up a flag during a rally for gay marriage, on Independence Mall in Philadelphia. Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, gay marriage bans still stand in Pennsylvania and roughly three dozen other states. Pennsylvania’s constitution, however, does not ban gay marriage, as some other states’ constitutions do. The gay marriage battle was one of the major headlines in Pennsylvania in 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

 

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Nigerian Girls Kidnapped

Scores of protesters chanting “Bring Back Our Girls” marched Thursday, May 22, 2014,  to Nigeria’s presidential villa to demand more action to free nearly 300 schoolgirls abducted by Islamic militants, but President Goodluck Jonathan did not meet with them, leaving a proxy to deliver a lecture that further angered the demonstrators. 

Close Up: Photographer Jerome Delay

Jerome Delay is AP’s chief photographer for Africa, based in Johannesburg. After working as an AP stringer in Denver, Colorado and as a staff photographer for Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Washington, DC, Delay has been on staff with the AP in a variety of roles: chief photographer in Jerusalem, staff photographer and international photo editor in Paris and international photographer based in London and in Paris. He has covered the White House, the Calgary Winter Olympics and World Cup soccer, as well as conflicts all over the world: the Middle East (Israel, Palestine, South Lebanon, Iraq), Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, the Congo), the Balkans (Bosnia, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Serbia), Northern Ireland, Haiti, Kashmir and Afghanistan.

An anti-Balaka Christian militiaman holding a bow and arrow stands in, what days before, was a predominantly Muslim area of the Miskin district of Bangui, Central African Republic, Tuesday Feb. 4, 2014. All Muslim shops on the avenue leading to PK5 have been looted in the past 2 days, as anti-Balaka militiamen push back Muslim factions, opening the gates for mass looting by Christian residents. Fighting between Muslim Seleka militias and Christian anti-Balaka factions continues as French and African Union forces struggle to contain the bloodshed. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Peul women sit in a house across the Nour Islam mosque where they found refuge in Bangui, Central African Republic, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013. More than 500 people have been killed over the past week in sectarian fighting in Central African Republic, aid officials said Tuesday, as France reported that gunmen fatally shot two of its soldiers who were part of the intervention to disarm thousands of rebels accused of attacking civilians. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

A man suspected to be a Muslim Seleka militiaman lies wounded after being stabbed by newly enlisted FACA (Central African Armed Forces) soldiers moments after Central African Republic Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza addressed the troops in Bangui, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014. The man died later after being lynched by hundreds of recruits using knifes, bricks and foot blows to the head. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Children swimming in a river near the Central African village of Bobangui, some 50 mms (30 miles) south-west of the capital Bangui, in an area controlled by anti Balaka Christian militias, wave and smile at the photographer on Sunday Jan. 26, 2014. Thousands of African and French peacekeepers have been unable to stop mounting sectarian attacks between Christian and Muslim militias and civilians. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

A Congolese child sits in the Kiwanja catholic church, North of Rutshuru, 75 km (48 miles) North of Goma, Congo, Sunday Aug. 5, 2012. 2012. Congo’s army now controls only the city of Goma and the village of Kibumba, 10 kilometers (six miles) outside Goma. Now the rebels hold all towns going north as far as Rutshuru and are threatening to besiege Goma. The U.N. Security Council on Thursday demanded that the M23 rebel group halt any advances toward Goma. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Travelers driving from Niamey, Niger, line up to be searched at the entrance of Gao, northern Mali, Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. Soldiers from Niger and Mali patrolled downtown Gao on foot Tuesday, combing the sand footpaths through empty market stalls to prevent radical Islamic fighters from returning to this embattled city in northern Mali. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

Marabou Husein Aba Ali reads prayers at the mosque at PK12, the last checkpoint at the exit of the town, Tuesday Feb. 11, 2014, where he and 3500 other Muslims have sought refuge from sectarian violence, awaiting for transport from Bangui, Central African Republic, to neighboring Chad. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

A Malian man sits on a window sill to watch the Nigeria versus Mali Africa Cup of Nations semifinal soccer match taking place in South Africa, in Gao, northern Mali, Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

In this picture taken Wednesday, July 18, 2012, Zali Idy, 12, poses in her bedroom in the remote village of Hawkantaki, Niger. Zali was married in 2011. In January 2012, soon after she turned 12, she was carried on a bullock cart to her 23-year-old husband’s home. Even during the best of times, one out of every three girls in Niger marries before her 15th birthday, a rate of child marriage among the highest in the world, according to a UNICEF survey. Now this custom is being layered on top of a crisis. At times of severe drought, parents pushed to the wall by poverty and hunger are marrying their daughters at even younger ages. A girl married off is one less mouth to feed, and the dowry money she brings in goes to feed others. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

In this eight-photos combo, Anti-Balaka Christian militiamen pose for a portrait outside Central African Republic’s capital Bangui, Sunday Dec. 15, 2013. The leader of the Christian militia says his fighters won’t put down their rebellion until President Michel Djotodia is gone from power, raising the specter of a prolonged sectarian conflict in the country.More than 600 people have been killed since Anti-Balaka launched a strike over Bangui last week before being pushed back. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

 

Lead Image Caption: A Malian man dressed in green walks between green doors of closed shops in Gao, northern Mali, Tuesday Feb. 5, 2013. Troops from France and Chad moved into Kidal in an effort to secure the strategic north Malian city, a French official said Tuesday, as the international force put further pressure on the Islamic extremists to push them out of their last major bastion of control in the north.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

 

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Worldview: Japan Daily Life

“World View: Daily Life Around the World,” a visual exploration of daily life imagery from around the globe. From bustling Chinese cities, to ice caves in Minnesota, to the rural farms of northern India, these stunning images depict the world beyond the familiar and remind us of the global community to which we belong. Whether inspiring or devastating, these are extraordinary moments, captured by the AP’s award winning photographers. To see the Worldview collection page click here.

Two women with Japanese traditional clothing or kimono stroll to see cherry blossom at Sumida Park near Tokyo Skytree skyscraper in the background in Tokyo, Saturday, March 29, 2014. Tens of thousands of admirers will be expected to show up at the park to enjoy the white pink blossoms. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A man braves to splash cold water over himself as other participants watch during a purification ceremony at the Kanda Myojin shrine in Tokyo, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Junji Kurokawa)

A young boy acting as an old woman performs during a show of an amateur children kabuki theatrical company in Tokyo, Saturday, March 29, 2014. Kabuki is a Japanese classical theater performance and a male kabuki actor performs as an “onnagata” female impersonator. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A couple and their dog rest on a bench at a park in Tokyo Tuesday, May 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi)

Contestants perform at the Japan International 2011 Dancing Championships in Tokyo, Sunday, June 12, 2011. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

A Japanese snow monkey relaxes in a hot spring in the Jigokudani valley in northern Nagano Prefecture in Japan Friday, Feb 10, 2012. The macaques descend from the forests to the warm waters of the hot springs in the mornings, and return to the security of the forests in the evenings. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

The party of pilgrims walk at Sensoji Buddhist temple at Asakusa district, in Tokyo, Monday, April 14, 2014. Asakusa is an old town in the capital that draws many tourists from across the world. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Yuto Ono, 3, sitting on his father’s shoulders goes through a field of sunflowers at a park in Zama, west of Tokyo, Friday, Aug. 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

 

Lead Photo Caption: A girl wearing kimono poses for her father at a festival to celebrate children’s growth and pray for their future well-being, at Meiji Jingu in Tokyo, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

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Cannes Film Festival: Then and Now

The Cannes International Film Festival is held annually in Cannes, France and honors new films from all over the globe. Although the festival has origins beginning in the late 1930s, it was officially established in 1947. Cannes International Film Festival is considered to be one of the most prestigious film festivals, with the top award being the Palme d’Or or “Golden Palm.” Here is a look at Cannes through the years. 

Actress Blake Lively poses for photographers as she arrives for the screening of Captives at the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 16, 2014. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Illustrating why she was dubbed the “Festival Bomb” at the Cannes Film Festival, actress Kim Novak is hustled through the crowd of media to attend an evening performance, April 25, 1956. (AP Photo)

Master of suspense film director Alfred Hitchcock pedals his bicycle to the Cannes international film festival in Cannes, France on May 15, 1972. (AP Photo)

From left, Robert Pattinson, Sarah Gadon, Mia Wasikowska and David Cronenberg on the red carpet for the screening of Maps to the Stars at the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 19, 2014. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)

U.S. actor Richard Gere starring in Terrence Malick’s “Day of Heaven” at the Cannes International Film Festival, May 19, 1979. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy)

Actor Ryan Reynolds poses for a portrait for the film Captives at the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 17, 2014. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)

Actress Salma Hayek holds up a sign reading “bring back our girls”, part of a campaign calling for the release of nearly 300 abducted Nigerian schoolgirls being held by Nigerian Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, as she arrives for the screening of Saint-Laurent at the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Ingrid Bergman is snapped from all sides by a crowd of photographers at Cannes, May 16, 1956. She was one of the attractions at the film festival on the Riviera. (AP Photo)

Actress Jessica Chastain holds down her dress as she poses for photographers as she arrives for the screening of Foxcatcher at the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Beach umbrellas line-up on a breezy day at Cannes, Riviera resort which is the scene of the 20th Cannes Film Festival, May 8, 1967. (AP Photo)

British-born movie actress Jane Birkin, right center, and her constant companion, French actor Serge Gainsbourg, left center, pose while they attended the International Film Festival, May 16, 1974, Cannes, France. The rest of the group is unidentified. (AP Photo/Jean Jacques Levy)

From left, actor Guy Pearce, director David Michod and actor Robert Pattinson pose for a portrait to promote The Rover at the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose documentary film “Pumping Iron” is to be presented at the Cannes Film Festival, is showing off his body for an appreciative beach audience in Cannes, France, May 20, 1977. (AP Photo)

Director Jean-Pierre Dardenne, right, and director Luc Dardenne, left, kiss actress Marion Cotillard as they pose for photographers during a photo call for Two Days, One Night (Deux jours, une nuit) at the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Tuesday, May 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Famous painter Pablo Picasso in Cannes for the Annual Film Festival seen in Cannes on May 1, 1957. (AP Photo/H. Babout)

Actress Eva Green poses for photographers for the screening of The Salvation at the 67th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Saturday, May 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

 

 

Lead Image Caption: American actress Natalie Wood poses for an unidentified U.S. sailor on the Croisette, Cannes, on May 11, 1962, on her arrival for the Cannes Film Festival in France. Natalie appears in “West Side Story.” (AP Photo)

 

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The Hats of The Kentucky Derby

Bold hats, big bets and thundering hooves were the order of the day at the Kentucky Derby, where the 140th run for the roses took place Saturday evening at Churchill Downs.

Close Up: Photographer Natacha Pisarenko

AP Photographer Natacha Pisarenko was born in Buenos Aires and studied photography at the city’s School of Photographic Arts. Pisarenko currently works out of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Peru’s Illegal Gold

Photos by Rodrigo Abd

In a surprise raid, about 1,500 police and troops dynamited $20 million worth of heavy machinery as Peru’s government dialed up a crackdown on illegal gold mining that has badly scarred the ecologically rich southeastern jungle region of Madre de Dios.

Today In History: Ali refused to be inducted into the Army

On April 28, 1967, boxing champ Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army after being drafted by the U.S. Armed Forces.

Syrian Refugee Life

Photos by Khalil Hamra

Life in Jordan’s Zaatari camp is getting harder for 130,000 Syrian refugees, most of whom have fled fighting in southern Syria.

Ukraine Unrest

Russia’s economy felt the sting of the Ukrainian crisis Friday as a ratings agency cut its credit rating to near junk and Moscow hiked interest rates to keep its sliding ruble from fueling inflation.

Today In History: Hubble Telescope Launched

On April 24, 1990, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit on April 24, 1990, aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. It was named after American astronomer Edwin Hubble, who is considered one of the most important observational cosmologists of the 20th century. The Hubble Space Telescope has a 7.9ft aperture in low Earth orbit and can observe near ultraviolet visible and near infrared spectra. The Hubble Space Telescope is excepted to de-orbit sometime between 2014-2021.

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The Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery lifts off from Launch Pad 398 in Kennedy Space Center at morning on Tuesday, April 24, 1990, carrying a crew of five and the Hubble Space Telescope. The mission, STS-31, had been originally scheduled for launch on April 10th but was scrubbed because of a faulty APU. NASA officials and scientist around the world are looking forward to the first glimpse into space by the telescope. (AP Photo/Paul Kizzle)

U.S. President Bill Clinton, joined by Vice President Al Gore talk by phone from the Oval Office in Washington, Friday, Dec. 10, 1993, with Hubble Mission astronauts to congratulate them for the success in their repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope. The space crews are shown on a television monitor at right, during their two-way long distance phone call. (AP Photo/Greg Gibson)

The NASA Hubble Space Telescope image, which is even more dramatic than fiction, captures the chaotic activity atop a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust that is being eaten away by the brilliant light from nearby bright stars. The pillar is also being assaulted from within, as infant stars buried inside it fire off jets of gas that can be seen streaming from towering peaks. This turbulent cosmic pinnacle lies within a tempestuous stellar nursery called the Carina Nebula, located 7,500 light-years away in the southern constellation Carina. The image celebrates the 20th anniversary of Hubble’s launch and deployment into an orbit around Earth. Hubble was launched April 24, 1990. (AP Photo/NASA)

An image provided by NASA is a false-color picture showing the many sides of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. It is made up of images taken by three of NASA’s Great Observatories, using three different wavebands of light. Infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope are colored red; visible data from the Hubble Space Telescope are yellow; and X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are green and blue. Astronomers have unearthed secrets from the grave of the star that blasted apart in a supernova explosion long ago. The discovery, represents the first time astronomers have been able to resurrect the life history of a supernova remnant in our own galaxy. Cassiopeia A is the burnt-out corpse of a massive star that ended its life in a fiery supernova about 11,300 years ago. Because it is 11,000 light-years from Earth, the light from its explosion would have reached Earth, sweeping right past it, about 300 years ago. (AP Photo/HO/NASA)

This image of Saturn is a view from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on Monday, March 22, 2004. Camera exposures in four filters were combined to form the Hubble image and render colors similar to what the eye would see through a telescope focused on Saturn. The magnificent rings, at nearly their maximum tilt toward Earth, show subtle hues which indicate the trace chemical differences in their icy composition. (AP Photo/ NASA/ESA/Erich Karkoschka, University of Arizona)

Elmo makes an appearance in front of a model of the Hubble telescope, during an announcement about a new planetarium show for four to six year olds at the National Air and Space Museum, in Washington, on Tuesday, April 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Resembling a nightmarish beast rearing its head from a crimson sea, this monstrous object is actually an innocuous pillar of gas and dust. Called the Cone Nebula (NGC 2264) because in ground-based images it has a conical shape, this giant pillar resides in a turbulent star-forming region. This picture, taken April 2, 2002, by the newly installed Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, shows the upper 2.5 light-years of the nebula, a height that equals 23 million roundtrips to the Moon. The entire nebula is 7 light-years long. The Cone Nebula resides 2,500 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. (AP Photo/NASA)

Dr. Edwin Hubble, space exploring astronomer, is shown with Dr. Richard Chase Tolman, right, a noted mathematician, a model of the proposed 200-inch telescope for California. It was Hubble’s observations and Tolman’s calculations, that made Alfred Einstein change his mind about the Universe. Telescope mode was displayed at the Summer session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at Pasadena. (AP photo)

This image provided by NASA shows a high oblique scene looking toward the Red Sea, Sinai Peninsula and the Mediterranean Sea. Saudi Arabia is in the foreground and Egypt’s Nile River and its delta can be seen (left) toward the horizon. Israel and Jordan can be seen near the top edge of the frame. The Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba (near frame center) extend from the Red Sea, bottom, toward the Mediterranean Sea. The image is among the first group of still images downlinked Tuesday May 12, 2009 by the crew members onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis enroute to the Hubble Space Telescope. (AP Photo/NASA)

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Lead Photo Caption: This undated photo supplied by NASA and the European Space Agency shows the Hubble Space Telescope’s latest image of the star V838 Monocerotis, located about 20,000 light-years away on the outer edge of the Milky Way, which reveals dramatic changes in the illumination of surrounding dusty cloud structures. The effect, called a light echo, has been unveiling never-before-seen dust patterns ever since the star suddenly brightened for several weeks in early 2002. The illumination of interstellar dust comes from the red supergiant star at the middle of the image, which gave off a pulse of light three years ago, somewhat similar to setting off a flashbulb in a darkened room. The dust surrounding V838 may have been ejected from the star during a previous explosion, similar to the 2002 event. The echoing of light through space is similar to the echoing of sound through air. As light from the stellar explosion continues to propagate outwards, different parts of the surrounding dust are illuminated, just as a sound echo bounces off of objects near the source, and later, objects further from the source. Eventually, when light from the back side of the nebula begins to arrive, the light echo will give the illusion of contracting, and finally it will disappear. (AP Photo/NASA-ESA Hubble Team)

 

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Archivist Update: Early Air Pollution

In this addition of Archivist Update, we highlight an image depicting a college student wearing a gas mask as he “smells” a magnolia blossom in City Hall Park on Earth Day, April 22, 1970, in New York.