Sep 5, 2012

Tour of Spain, protesters, solar eruption in space and more in today’s daily brief.

: A female protester rides a float in a pond at Marshall Park during the second day Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina September 5, 2012. The protesters gathered as the park to use it as an encampment. (John Adkisson/Reuters)

: Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland carries his broken racquet during his men’s singles match against Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York September 5, 2012. (Eduardo Munoz/Reuters)

: The damaged Im Al-Zinar church is seen in the old city of Homs September 4, 2012. (Shaam News Network/Reuters)

: A long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupts out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT on August 31, 2012. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth’s magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear on the night of September 3, 2012. The image includes an image of Earth to show the size of the CME compared to the size of Earth. (NASA/GSFC/SDO/Reuters)

: Swirls of green and red appear in an aurora over Whitehorse, Yukon on the night of September 3, 2012 in this NASA handout image. The aurora was due to the interaction of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun with Earth’s magnetosphere. The CME left the Sun on August 31 and arrived on September 3. (Courtesy of David Cartier, Sr./NASA/Reuters)

: Britain’s David Anthony celebrates after scoring a goal during their Wheelchair Rugby match against the U.S. during the London 2012 Paralympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in London, September 5, 2012. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

: The peloton rides during the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain “La Vuelta” cycling race between Santander and Fuente De September 5, 2012. (Miguel Vidal/Reuters)

: A fan in a rabbit suit cheers on Katusha Team rider Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez of Spain during the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain “La Vuelta” cycling race between Santander and Fuente De, September 5, 2012. (Miguel Vidal/Reuters)

: A hooded hunting falcon is seen during the first day of the Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian exhibition in Abu Dhabi, September 5, 2012. The 10th Abu Dhabi International Hunting and Equestrian Exhibition features several festivities and live performances such as equestrian shows, falcon & saluki beauty contests, camel auctions, art competitions and traditional hunting activities, and will run until September 8, 2012. (Ben Job/Reuters)

: US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney impersonator Mike Cote (Right) smashes a fake glass bottle over the head of US President Barack Obama impersonator Reggie Brown during an Obama vs Romney “showdown” in Washington Square Park in New York on September 05, 2012. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP photo)

: Syrian Army soldiers carry AK-47 machine guns found next to the bodies of men killed in fighting in the Izaa (Radio) area of the restive Seif al-Dawla neighborhood of northern Syria’s main commercial hub Aleppo on September 3, 2012. Syrian troops backed by artillery and warplanes fought rebels on multiple fronts on September 5 as peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi described the death toll as “staggering” and destruction “catastrophic.” (Joseph Eid/AFP photo)

: Italy’s Alessandro Zanardi holds his bike aloft as he celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men’s individual H4 time trial cycling final during the London 2012 Paralympic Games at Brands Hatch circuit, in Kent, southern England on September 5, 2012. (Leon Neal/AFP photo)

: A Greenpeace activist dressed as polar bear sits in a police car in Moscow, on September 5, 2012, after he was detained during a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic outside the energy giant Gazprom headquarters. Greenpeace is carrying out a high-profile campaign against plans to drill for oil in the pristine Arctic that targets Gazprom as well as Western oil companies including Shell and Exxon. (Denis Sinyakov/AFP Photo)

: A dog relaxes on a heap of coal at the Kankaria Railway Yard in Ahmedabad on September 5, 2012. Indian police on September 4 opened a probe into five coal companies after raiding premises across the country over the alleged misallocation of lucrative mining rights. (Sam Panthaky/AFP photo)

Sept. 5 Photo Brief: Space, Sports and Protests