Editor's Choice - Pictures of the Day - November 27, 2011

Floods in August hit Sindh province in the south of Pakistan, killing at least 430 people and disrupting the lives of nine million. Many people are still camping out in the open with little food, water or shelter ahead of winter. Aid groups warned on November 9 that vital relief efforts for some five million people could be cut back because of a shortfall in foreign donations. A series of photos from these relief camps:

 

Kunwar, 20, displaced for over three months by flooding, holds her two-year-old son Najo outside her tent in a Pakistan Army relief camp in Kunri, in Pakistan's Sindh province November 27, 2011.   (Reuters/Akhtar Soomro)

 

Fatiman, a flood victim displaced for three months, holds her new born baby boy Zahid in a roadside tent in the Sanghar district of Pakistan's Sindh province November 27, 2011. (Reuters/Akhtar Soomro)

 

Pakistani flood effected girls attend a school in an army camp of  flood effected people in Umar Kot on November 27, 2011. (AFP/Getty Images/Rizwan Tabbsum)

 

Pakistani flooded effected children look at the flooded area of Sanghar on November 27, 2011. (AFP/Getty Images/Rizwan Tabbsum)

 

An elderly Pakistani flooded effected woman looks on in a flooded area of Sanghar on November 27, 2011. (AFP/Getty Images/Rizwan Tabbsum)

Editor's Choice - Picture of the Day - November 21, 2011

Cyclists pedal amidst morning fog in New Delhi, India, Monday, Nov. 21, 2011. Dense fog over parts of north India Monday caused disruption of rail services with scores of trains arriving here several hours behind schedule, according to PTI. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)

Two months of flooding in Ayutthaya, Thailand

While parts of Bangkok are starting to dry out, outlying areas such as the Ayutthaya province in Thailand are still very much underwater. The deluge has killed more than 500 people and affected about 2 million since late July, with tens of thousands relocated or sheltering in evacuation centres after their homes and businesses were engulfed by water. A wonderful set of photos from Reuters photographer Damir Sagolj, taken November 19, 2011:

An elderly man sits outside his home.

A man uses plastic canisters to float as he searches for lotus plants to use for food.

Rice is left to dry as girls play outside their home.

A woman and her dog stand between boats after getting supplies from a local market.

A girl swims outside her home.

Editor's Choice - Picture of the Day - August 28, 2011

A family inspects a downed tree in Central Park after Hurricane Irene dumped more than six inches of rain on New York City on August 28, 2011. (Getty Images/Mario Tama)

Who says hurricanes are all bad?

Especially when they afford you views like this:

A group of sailors attached to a ceremonial guard unit run through the streets of the American capital during a pouring rain in advance of the arrival of Hurricane Irene August 27, 2011 in Washington, DC. Hurricane Irene made landfall this morning in North Carolina and is expected to move up the east coast of the United States. (Getty Images/Win McNamee)

Editor's Choice - Pictures of the Day - August 26, 2011

Three today, from an eastern seaboard awaiting Hurricane Irene:

The boardwalk at Atlantic City, New Jersey, is seen empty of vacationers August 26, 2011. Hurricane Irene is expected to hit the U.S. East Coast over the weekend. (Reuters/Jason Reed)

Plywood shutters, covering windows of a beachside house, share a message from a community preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Irene in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina August 26, 2011. (Reuters/Steve Nesius)

Outdoor furniture sits in a pool at the Hilton hotel keep it from blowing away in preparation for Hurricane Irene on August 26, 2011 in Ocean City, Maryland. (Getty Images/Mark Wilson)

Editor's Choice - Picture of the Day - July 16, 2011

Come in! The water's... nice?

A boy swims in the algae-filled coastline of Qingdao, Shandong province on July 15, 2011.(Reuters/China Daily)

Editor's Choice - Pictures of the Day - The Milky Way - July 13, 2011

An Australian astronomer spent 18 months photographing the night sky with an ordinary digital camera, turning thousands of pictures into a stunning time-lapse video. 

PHOTOS; ALEX CHERNEY/BNPS

This image shows star trails above Elephant Rock on the Mornington Peninsula in South Victoria.

Alex Cherney took advantage of the lack of light pollution from a remote peninsula on the south coast of Australia to record the dazzling scenes, showing how the sky changes at night.

 

The pictures show planets, shooting stars, the Milky Way, the Moon, satellites and planes as well as rolling clouds, changing tides and passing ships on the horizon.

Cherney, an IT consultant, spent six separate nights over 18 months shooting the sky — each with a new or crescent moon to ensure minimum interference from light.

His spectacular images were then edited into a two-and-a-half minute video.

“It was my daughter who got me into astronomy,” the 36-year-old father-of-two from Melbourne told the Daily Mail. “She came home from school with a project and asked if we could find aliens, so we went along to a local astronomy club.

“So much of our sky is disappearing due to excessive light pollution. Most people in developed countries wouldn’t see anything like this when they look up.”

“In Australia we’re fortunate in that we don’t have to go far to get away from the city lights, and I hope my pictures will help other people realize what’s really out there. For this, I went out whenever there was a new moon and good weather — six nights over the course of 18 months.

An amazing photo taken from the southern tip of Australia shows a meteorite near the Milky Way.

“I set my camera up to take a sequence of pictures, with each exposure of 30 seconds. I took around 1,000 pictures a night, and then I put them together to demonstrate how the sky moves in relation to our position on Earth.”

Editor's Choice - Picture of the Day - July 3, 2011

Russian teenagers cool themselves in a fountain in Moscow, on July 3, 2011. The temperatures in the country's capital reached 27 degrees. (AFP/Getty Images/Dmitry Kostyukov)

The Daily Beast - Helping "Happy Feet" The Lost Penguin - June 29, 2011

An Emperor penguin, now nick-named "Happy Feet" is seen on Peka Peka Beach of the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand before he was rescued. Emperor penguins typically spend their entire lives in Antarctica and almost never make landfall near humans, with the last sighting in New Zealand being more than 44 years ago. (AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Mark Mitchell)

 

"Happy Feet" the emperor penguin that washed up on the Kapiti Coast last week, undergoes a medical examination at Wellington Zoo on June 29, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand. The young penguin landed on NZ shores last week, after traveling over 3,000 kilometres from the antarctic. The ill penguin was operated on at Wellington Zoo several times this week to remove sand and sticks from its stomach with hopes it will recover fully. A team of experts is likely to decide today, whether the bird will remain in captivity in New Zealand, or be transported back the the antarctic.  (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

 

 "Happy Feet" the emperor penguin that washed up on the Kapiti Coast last week, has a cotton bud held on its flipper after a needle was removed at Wellington Zoo on June 29, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand.  (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

 

"Happy Feet" undergoes a medical examination while Wellington Zoo staff Lydia Uddsrtom (L) and Dr Baukje Lenting look on at Wellington Zoo on June 29, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand.  (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

 

"Happy Feet" is anaesthetised before a medical examination at Wellington Zoo on June 29, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand.  (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

 

"Happy Feet" the emperor penguin that washed up on the Kapiti Coast last week, undergoes a medical examination at Wellington Zoo on June 29, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand.  (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

 

"Happy Feet" the emperor penguin that washed up on the Kapiti Coast last week, undergoes a medical examination while Wellington Zoo staff member Lydia Uddsrtom looks on at Wellington Zoo on June 29, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand.  (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

 

"Happy Feet" the emperor penguin that washed up on the Kapiti Coast last week, undergoes a medical examination at Wellington Zoo on June 29, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand.  (Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

 

An X-ray image of "Happy Feet", the emperor penguin that washed up on the Kapiti Coast last week, is seen on June 29, 2011 in Wellington, New Zealand.  The ill penguin was operated on at Wellington Zoo several times this week to remove sand and sticks from its stomach with hopes it will recover fully. A team of experts is likely to decide today, whether the bird will remain in captivity in New Zealand, or be transported back the the antarctic.  (Photo by Pacific Radiology Ltd via Getty Images)

 

"Happy Feet" is shown in New Zealand, some 3,000 kilometres (1,900) from his Antarctic home.  The penguin, a juvenile male, arrived at a beach on the Kapiti Coast, 40 kilometres north of the capital Wellington on June 20, the Department of Conservation (DOC) said.  (Richard Gill/AFP/Getty Images)