As seen on the National Geographic News like a cosmic tree, the Milky Way band of stars appears to rise out from an ancient pine tree forest at Cedar Breaks National Monument in southern Utah. Among the longest-lived organisms, some of the twisted bristlecone trees—picture above in the foreground—are 5000 years old. Because of the vast distance between these stars and Earth, some of the starlight seen in this picture was actually emitted years ago, when these trees were just saplings. Date: June 2013