Best Space Photos of the Week - March 25, 2012 | Space Images

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Photos: Europe's IXV Reusable Space Plane Prototype

This photo of the moon's south pole, taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows some of the permanently shadowed regions.

Photos: The Search for Water on the Moon

Angry Birds In Space (Gallery)

The Russian Soyuz rocket launches from the Baikonour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Each of Space Adventures' spaceflight participants launched aboard a Soyuz rocket.

Photos: The First Space Tourists

This artist's illustration from a China space agency video shows the Tiangong 1 space laboratory, a prototype module for the country's planned space station.

Gallery: Tiangong 1, China's First Space Laboratory

Best Space Photos of the Week - Jan. 20, 2013

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Big Light in Sky

Credit: Shawn Malone

Skywatcher Shawn Malone took this photo of the aurora March 15-16, 2012. She writes: "[A] glow low on the horizon illuminates the shoreline of Lake Superior, Alger County, MI."[More Images]

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Shiny Shiny

Credit: NASA

Aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Don Pettit photographed this 4-inch diameter polished metal sphere, providing an unusual view of the US laboratory, “Destiny.” In the background stands equipment for the Capillary Flow Experiment-2 (CFE-2) Vane Gap 1 Experiment. [More Images]

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Giant Telescope's Construction Starts with a Bang ... Literally

Credit: Image courtesy U.S. Department of State

The birth of a giant new telescope began with a literal big bang Friday (March 23), in an excavation blast at the peak of a mountain in Chile — the observatory's future home. [Full Story]

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Photos: New Supernova Explodes in Galaxy M95

Credit: Efrain Morales Rivera

Skywatchers and professional astronomers have taken numerous photographs of the new supernova discovered in the M95 galaxy last week. [See More Images]

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Gift of a Dying Star: Skywatcher Snaps Spectacular Nebula Abell 31 Photo

Credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

Appearing to burst from space in glowing red and blue, this stunning photo captures large planetary nebula Abell 31. Skywatcher Adam Block took this photo Dec. 2011 at Mount Lemmon SkyCenter at the University of Arizona. [Full Story]

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New Photos of Asteroid Vesta Reveal Surprisingly Bright Spots

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/UMD

A NASA spacecraft orbiting the huge asteroid Vesta has snapped amazing new photos of the colossal space rock, images that reveal strange features never-before-seen on an asteroid, scientists say. [Full Story]

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New Map of Jupiter's Volcanic Moon Io is Best One Ever

Credit: USGS

Researchers have completed the most detailed geophysical map of Jupiter's moon Io ever devised. [Full Story]

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Dazzling City Lights of Dubai Seen From Space

Credit: NASA

The city lights of Dubai shine brightly in a photo that highlights the area’s unique artificial archipelagos and land developments. The image was taken on Feb. 22, 2012 by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. [Full Story]

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New Video of Jupiter Reveals Invisible Jet Stream Wave

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

New movies of Jupiter are the first to catch an invisible wave shaking up one of the giant planet's jet streams, an interaction that also takes place in Earth's atmosphere and influences the weather. [Full Story]

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Brush with the Sun: Skywatcher Spots Daredevil Comet Down Under

Credit: Dr. M. Akbar Hussain of Pakistan Amateur Astronomers Society / Karachi Astronomers Society

Death-defying comet Lovejoy speeds its way above a Tasmanian pre-dawn sky in this spectacular photo shot by a Pakistani skywatcher. [Full Story]

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New Fashion Line Puts Hubble Space Photos on the Catwalk

Credit: Shadowplay NYC

A new fashion line celebrates the beauty of the heavens with skirts and dresses printed with Hubble Space Telescope imagery. [Full Story]

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Galaxies in the COSMOS Field Seen by VISTA Telescope

Credit: ESO/UltraVISTA team. Acknowledgement: TERAPIX/CNRS/INSU/CASU

ESO's VISTA telescope has created the widest deep view of the sky ever made using infrared light. The new picture of an unremarkable patch of sky comes from the UltraVISTA survey and reveals more than 200 000 galaxies. [Full Story]

Best Space Photos of the Week - March 25, 2012