<p>From a wreath of baby stars and stunning mug shots of Saturn's moons to squishy sea cucumbers and weird animal discoveries of 2011, here's a look at the best science photos of the week. </p>
<p>Hundreds of feet beneath the ocean surface, tiny biofluorescent and bioluminescent organisms lurk in coral reefs. Now with support from the National Science Foundation, researchers are looking into fluorescent proteins that cause corals and other sea organisms to glow. Shown here, <em>Cyphastrea microphthalma</em>, an Indo-Pacific scleractinian coral expressing green and red fluorescent proteins. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/17685-glow-coral-oceans-nsf-bts.html">Read full story</a>]</p>
<p>As the year draws to a close, LiveScience took a look back at some of the weirdest animal discoveries of 2011. From transvestite birds to zombie caterpillars and our own set of animal superheroes, it's been a wacky ride. Shown here, a one-eyed fetus that was cut from the belly of a shark in the Gulf of California; the "cyclops" shark likely would not have survived outside of the womb.[<a href="http://www.livescience.com/17652-10-wacky-animal-stories-2011.html">Read full story</a>]</p>
<p>Astronomers discovered a strange spinning star that appears to be older than the explosion that gave birth to it, scientists said this week. Called SXP 1062, the star is a pulsar, a rotating, super-dense core left behind after a massive star goes supernova. Shown here, SXP 1062 shines brightly from within the shell of gas and dust rushing away from the supernova that formed it. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/17651-mystery-pulsar-supernova-space-oddity.html">Read full story</a>]</p>
<p>NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured stunning shots of three of Saturn's moons, showcasing the diversity and beauty of the ringed planet's natural satellites. One of the newly released photos (shown here) shows Titan passing in front of Saturn and its rings. Titan is the ringed planet's largest satellite; at 3,200 miles (5,150 kilometers) wide, it's nearly 1.5 times bigger than Earth's moon. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/17657-nasa-cassini-photos-titan-saturn-moons.html">Read full story</a>]</p>
<p>A world-traveling sea turtle found stranded in the Netherlands is back home in the Gulf of Mexico today (Dec. 27) after three long years of rest and rehabilitation. </p><p> The animal, an endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle, was found frigid and near-dead off the coast of the Netherlands in 2008, thousands of miles from the Gulf waters these turtles call home. It was dubbed Johnny Vasco de Gama by its European rescuers.[<a href="http://www.livescience.com/17645-globe-trotting-turtle-released.html">Read full story</a>]</p>
Sea cucumbers secrete acidic compounds that may be weakening the structure of the coral communities in which they live. Researchers have found these acids are wreaking havoc on part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/17692-digestive-acts-sea-cucumbers-dissolving-coral-reefs.html">Read full story</a>]</p>
<p>On Dec. 22, ESO astronomer Gabriel Brammer took this early-morning shot of Comet Lovejoy set against the backdrop of the Milky Way, long tail of dust particles streaming behind it. The comet continues its orbit around the sun; if it survives, it will reappear in our skies in 314 years. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/1-image-day.html">Read full story</a>]</p>
<p>A well-known exploded star that is pumping out powerful gamma rays may be the celestial smoking gun astronomers have in the search for the origins of some of the fastest-moving particles in the universe, a new study reports.</p><p> NASA's Fermi space telescope has detected gamma rays — the highest-energy form of light — emanating from the shattered husk of Tycho's supernova, a star that exploded in 1572. This portrait of the shattered star includes gamma rays (magenta), X-rays (yellow, green, and blue), infrared (red) and optical data. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/17650-tycho-star-explosion-supernova-gamma-rays.html">See more amazing science images</a>]</p>
<p>Sand lances and other "forage fish" are critical to the survival of seabirds like this puffin. According to new research published Dec. 23 in the journal Science, seabirds need about one-third of the fish in the sea to maintain their current lifestyles. That information is important because it gives researchers a sense of how much overfishing will affect animals that depend on the ocean for dinner.</p>
<p>NASA spacecraft beamed home some festive photographic treats, just in time for the holidays. In this image, captured by NASA's WISE space telescope, the star-forming nebula Barnard 3 looks like a Christmas wreath. Baby stars are being born throughout the dusty region, while the "silver bell" stars are located both in front of, and behind, the nebula. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/17638-nasa-christmas-space-photos-saturn-wreath.html">Read full story</a>]</p>
