Best Space Pictures of the Week - Aug. 18, 2012 | Space Images

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Photographer Mike Killian captured this picture of the Jan. 19 Delta 4 rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Photos: Air Force Satellite Launch Lights Up the Night

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An artist's conception of the pulsar at the center of the Crab Nebula, with a Hubble Space Telescope photo of the nebula in the background.

Photos: Amazing Views of the Famous Crab Nebula

An image of Halley's Comet taken in 1986.

Photos of Halley's Comet Through History

Opportunity Eyes Rock Fins on Cape York, Sol 3058 (False Color)

Latest Mars Photos From Rovers Spirit & Opportunity

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Stunning Photo Reveals Colliding Star Clusters Seen by Hubble Telescope

Credit: NASA, ESA, and E. Sabbi (ESA/STScI)

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has spotted two star clusters that may be in the early stages of merging. [Full Story]

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NASA Space Shuttles Meet Nose-to-Nose for Final Time

Credit: collectSPACE.com/Ben Cooper

Shuttles Atlantis and Endeavour paused briefly for nose-to-nose photos as they were moved between the Vehicle Assembly Building and orbiter processing facility at the Kennedy Space Center. [Full Story]

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Fastest-Growing Galaxy Cluster Discovered

Credit: UV: NASA/JPL-Caltech/M.McDonald; Optical: AURA/NOAO/CTIO/MIT/M.McDonald; SDSS

Optical (red, green, blue) and ultraviolet (blue) image of center of Phoenix Cluster, and optical images of the clusters Abell 2029 and Abell 2052. Top image taken with the NOAO Blanco telescope. Image released August 15, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]

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Space Triathlon: Station Astronaut to Compete Where No One Has Before

Credit: NASA TV

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, who is currently living on the International Space Station, will run a triathlon in space in September. [Full Story]

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Ultra-Sharp Color Photo Reveals Mars Rover From Space

Credit: NASNASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

A NASA spacecraft in orbit around Mars snapped a new, incredibly crisp color photo of the Curiosity rover on the surface of the Red Planet. [Full Story]

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Cosmic Photo Smokes Out Stars Inside Pipe Nebula

Credit: ESO

A telescope in Chile has captured a spectacular view of a pitch black cloud in deep space, a celestial home to several newborn stars hidden in a nebula named after a smoking apparatus. [Full Story]

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Photos: Private Space Capsule Launch Test - Copenhagen Suborbitals

Credit: Thomas Pedersen/Copenhagen Suborbitals

Copenhagen Suborbitals private spaceflight company tested the Launch Escape System and its Tycho Deep Space capsule on August 12, 2012. The launch took place in the Baltic Sea. [Full Photo Gallery]

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Giant Plasma Loop on Sun is Half a Million Miles Long

Credit: NASA/SDO/GSFC

: A NASA spacecraft has beamed home a spectacular new view of the sun, a photo that captures a vast tendril of solar plasma reaching across the surface of our nearest star. [Full Story]

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Amazing Perseid Meteor Shower Photos of 2012

Credit: Autumn Clark

Night sky watcher Autumn Clark took this photo of a Perseid meteor streaking through the sky on August 12, 2012 from Chula Vista, Calif. [Full Photo Gallery]

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Sword Of Orion

Credit: ESO/A. Russell

Orion, the Hunter, shines high in the Chilean night sky over the antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Taken in the southern hemisphere, this image shows Orion in upside-down orientation as opposed to the usual northern hemisphere view. However, the three stars of Orion’s Belt are still clearly recognizable at center. In this photograph, the antennas were being tested at ALMA’s Operations Support Facility, located at the slightly lower altitude of 9500 feet (2900 meters) before being moved to the Chajnantor Plateau at 16,400 feet (5000 meters) elevation. [See more Images]

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Helium

Credit: Jörg Mitter/Red Bull Content Pool

The balloon carrying the Red Bull Stratos capsule rises during the second manned test flight in Roswell, New Mexico, USA on July 25, 2012. In this mission, Austrian pilot Felix Baumgartner will attempt to break the record for freefall from highest altitude with a planned jump from 120,000 feet, now scheduled for fall 2012. [See more Images]

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Take Me Down to California

Credit: Robb Rosenfeld

Night sky watcher Robb Rosenfeld took this photograph of a Perseid meteor with Venus, Jupiter, and the moon. He caught the scene on August 12, 2012, in Joshua Tree National Park, located in southern California east of Los Angeles. [See more Images]

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Simply (Not) Red

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope took this close-up of the outskirts of the Tarantula Nebula. The bright wispy structures signal an environment rich in ionized hydrogen gas. In reality these appear red, but the various and filters and exposures of this image make the gas appear green. These regions contain recently formed stars emitting powerful ultraviolet radiation ionizing the gas around them. [See more Images]

Best Space Pictures of the Week - Aug. 18, 2012