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Cactus NightGiant cacti seem to reach for the stars in a newly released long-exposure picture taken from Isla de Pescado, an "island" within the Bolivian salt flats of Salar de Uyuni. The salar is the world's largest expanse of salt flats, covering roughly 3,100 square miles (8,028 square kilometers) of the high Andean plateau called the Altiplano, more than 11,800 feet (3,600 meters) above sea level. Several isolated islands in the flats are made from fossil coral reefs covered by volcanic rock, according to NASA.(Also see a picture of a salt hotel built in the Salar de Uyuni.)
Photograph by Swee Ong Wu, My Shot

Space Pictures of the Week: "UFO Galaxy," Triple Sunset, More

Three suns set over a super-Earth, stars shine in UFO and yuletide formations, and more in the week's best space pictures.

March 31, 2012