Best Space Photos of the Week - April 14, 2012

Sun's Sibling Stars Could Host Cousins of Earth Life

David A. Aguilar (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

Earth may have seeded life on other planets if DNA traveled from our world to another via an impacting asteroid that later landed on an alien planet. Astronomers are searching for siblings of the sun -- stars born from the same parent star cluster -- that might have planets impregnated with Earth life. [Full Story]

Elephant on Mars Sculpted by Lava Flow

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

An optical illusion on Mars shows the eye and trunk of an elephant. [Full Story]

Dazzling Photo: Moon and Venus Shine Over World Heritage Site

Tunc Tezel / The World at Night

The moon and Venus are in conjunction in this night skyscape over Gobustan National Park in Azerbaijan. The starry sky over this World Heritage Site was taken by astrophotographer Tunc Tezel of The World at Night (TWAN) on Feb. 25, 2012 in Azerbaijan. [Full Story]

'UFO Galaxy' Spotted by Hubble Telescope

ESA/Hubble & NASA

The Hubble Space Telescope has found a UFO, but this one is filled with stars instead of little green men. [Full Story]

North Korea Rocket Launch Site Seen From Space

DigitalGlobe

New satellite photos from DigitalGlobe reveal details of North Korea's launch site in the village of Tongchang-ri. [Full Story]

Photo Journal: Northern Lights Expedition, a Reporter's-Eye View

Luke Kilpatrick

Photos of SPACE.com reporter Mike Wall's trip to Alaska on an aurora-studying expedition. [More Images]

Rare Photo: Auroras on Uranus Spotted by Hubble Telescope

Laurent Lamy

Astronomers have caught the first views of auroras on the planet Uranus from a telescope near Earth, revealing tantalizing views of the tilted giant planet's hard-to-catch light shows. [Full Story]

Pulsing Stars Could Probe Space-Time Around Black Holes

NASA

A new study demonstrates that pulsars found around the Milky Way’s black hole, Sgr A*, could permit a detailed investigation of the spacetime of the supermassive black hole. The constant flash of a single pulsar could provide opportunities to test general relativity.

Take It Away

NASA/Kim Shiflett

The mate-demate device frames the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (NASA 905), which arrived at Kennedy Space Center on April 10, 2012. The modified Boeing 747 jet airliner will ferry shuttle Discovery to its final home at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. on April 17, 2012. [More Images]

Chain, Chain, Chain

ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Chains of pits in the Tharsis region of Mars appear in this computer-generated perspective view. Data gathered by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA's Mars Express spacecraft provided the basis for the image. If any cave-like structures are associated with the pits, they could have harbored hypothesized microorganisms in the past. Image taken June 22, 2011. [More Images]

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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.