Happy Hubbledays!

It's Christmas time, which means many people are telling stories about the "Star of Bethlehem." For those of us who are, um, less religiously inclined, how about celebrating the Orion Nebula, the Bubble Nebula, or the Crab Pulsar?

The Hubble website now features 21 downloadable, printable greeting cards featuring our favorite celestial images from NASA's famous orbiting telescope. My favorite, above, shows the best view of Mars ever seen from Earth (orange ornament); the Whirlpool Galaxy (small silver ornament on upper right); and the Cone Nebula, a star-forming pillar of gas and dust (small pink and blue ornament on upper left). See what's on the other ornaments at the bottom of this page.​

As Phil points out: If you're feeling ironic, send out the card that says "Peace to all" below a photo of Mars. (Mars was the god of war, remember?)