Christmas Greetings at Galaxy Zoo

Sorry for the sudden absence after all those postings a couple of weeks ago. My immediate excuse is that one of my beloved new tortoiseshell kittens, Cassie, keeps sitting on the keyboard and trying to catch the mouse (the icon on the screen, not the piece of hardware itself). This was her trick a few days ago:



(I called her Cassie partly because I'm going to be learning how to use CasJobs, an SDSS application, soon - more about that in due course! The other is called Izzie and I am sure she will soon make an appearance here . . .)

Anyway. I might have said before, and I will doubtless say again, that it never ceases to move me how much effort the zooites put into Galaxy Zoo. In help, fun, protecting the site from unsavoury content, special pictures, and much more. I'd like to indulge in a sample of those that have been either magnificent or just touching.

Several days ago, Joseph K. H. Cheng started a carol-singing topic. A few days after that, I illustrated a well-known Christmas carol - and couldn't resist pointing out the title to the zookeepers when they got some good news as a Christmas present.

Then, Waveney began a Christmas card topic. Here are some of the cards from that:




[Removed one that got deleted]





I will be adding more soon, because I know of a very impressive Christmas card indeed on the way! In the meantime, here is a puzzle. What is odd about these two pictures, created by Half65?




Hint: He's done this before!

If you can't see - click on these links . . .

http://web.tiscali.it/half65/Image/Xmas.jpg
http://web.tiscali.it/half65/Image/Xmas1.jpg

Merry Christmas and eager awaiting of the International Year of Astronomy!

(P.S. And please wish my family luck for putting the tree up considering that we have two kittens in the house.)