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Spectacular Photos: 1st Meteor Shower of 2012 Amazes Skywatchers
Credit: Roberto Porto
A dazzling display of "shooting stars" kicked off the 2012 skywatching season early Wednesday (Jan. 4), thrilling amateur astronomers around the world with views of the Quadrantid meteor shower. [
Full Story]
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Giant Moon Crater Revealed in Up-Close Photos
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Spectacular new images of a gigantic crater on the moon have been captured recently by a low-skimming NASA satellite, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. [
Full Story]
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Monster Galaxy Cluster 'El Gordo' Packs Mass of 2 Quadrillion Suns
Credit: ESO/SOAR/NASA
Astronomers have discovered what appears to be the largest cluster of galaxies ever seen, a massive galactic conglomeration called "El Gordo" located about 7 billion light-years from Earth. [
Full Story]
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Have a Cigar
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Messier 82 (M 82), also known as the Cigar Galaxy, looks very different in this new Hubble image, the most detailed view ever of the core of this galaxy. Previous images show a galaxy ablaze with stars. This image looks quite unlike them, dominated instead by glowing gas and dust. Filters transparent only to the wavelengths emitted by specific chemical elements isolated the light from glowing gas clouds, while blocking out much of the starlight. Thus the stars appear faint in this image, and the dust lanes are sharply silhouetted against the brightly glowing gas clouds. The starburst galaxy lies about 12 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major (The Great Bear). [
See all daily space photos]
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Space Bubbles Offer Glimpse at Our Sun's Evolution
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA
Bubbles full of stars are now shedding light on how our sun and its siblings might have formed, a new study reveals. [
Full Story]
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Hello, Earth! Satellite Snaps Amazing 'Blue Marble' Photo
Credit: NASA
NASA's newest Earth-watching satellite has sent back a breathtaking image of our "Blue Marble" that offers a taste of the orbiting observatory's vast capabilities. [
Full Story]
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Sun Unleashes Strongest Flare Yet of 2012
Credit: NASA/SDO
A massive solar flare — the strongest one so far this year — erupted today (Jan. 27) from the same active region of the sun that triggered a raging solar tempest earlier this week. [
Full Story]
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Earth From Space: The Secret of NASA's Amazing 'Blue Marble' Photos
Credit: NASA/NOAA
NASA's newest Earth-watching satellite is beaming back spectacular views of our home planet – huge mosaics of many images stitched together at the highest-resolution yet obtained. But there's a bit of science mojo at work to create the stunning photos. [
Full Story]
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City Lights at Night: Astronaut's Amazing View from Space
Credit: NASA
A remarkable nighttime panorama taken from the International Space Station captured a dazzling cobweb of city lights as the orbiting complex flew roughly 240 miles (386 kilometers) overhead. [
Full Story]
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Brightest Galaxy Through Gravity Lens
Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Rigby (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), K. Sharon (Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago), and M. Gladders and E. Wuyts (University of Chicago)
A fluke of astrophysics has revealed what scientists are calling the brightest galaxy ever seen through a cosmic "zoom lens," NASA officials say.
The distant galaxy is 10 billion light-years from Earth and was spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope using a so-called gravitational lens created by a massive cluster of closer galaxies located about 5 billion light-years away. The distant galaxy is three times brighter than any other seen through a gravity lens, researchers said. The photo was released on Feb. 2 and posted on Feb. 6. [
Full story]
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New Look at the Carina Nebula
Credit: ESO/T. Preibisch
The most detailed image yet of the well-known Carina nebula was caught by a European telescope, unveiling previously hidden features of an exquisite star nursery.
The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) spied the cosmic landscape of gas, dust and young stars in the majestic Carina nebula, which is located about 7,500 light-years away from Earth. The lively star nursery lies deep in the heart of the southern Milky Way, in the constellation of Carina (The Keel). The image was released Feb. 8. [
Full Story]
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Misty Solar Eclipse
Credit: Tamas Ladanyi/The World At Night(TWAN)
Skywatcher Tamas Ladanyi of The World At Night (TWAN) captured this image of the eclipsed sun glowing above Kab Mountain in Hungary on Jan. 4, 2011. This image was posted on Feb. 15, 2012. [
Full Story]
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Cassini Photo of Saturn Moons Rhea and Titan
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Craters appear well defined on icy Rhea in front of the hazy orb of larger Titan in this view of the two Saturn moons. NASA's Cassini spacecraft snapped the photo on Dec. 10, 2011. This photo was posted on Feb. 16, 2012. [
Full Story]
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Lunar Transit of Sun, Feb. 21, 2012
Credit: NASA/SDO
A NASA spacecraft has captured stunning footage of Tuesday's (Feb. 21) partial solar eclipse, which left our star looking briefly like a huge celestial Pac-Man.
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was watching Tuesday morning when the new moon crossed part of the sun's face in a partial eclipse that was visible only from space. SDO snapped a video and photos of the solar eclipse from its lofty perch 22,000 miles (36,000 kilometers) above Earth. [
Full Story]
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John Glenn at 50th Anniversary Press Conference
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, seated right, and Sen. John Glenn address questions from the press during a briefing at Ohio State University as John Glenn's wife Annie Glenn, seated in red, looks on Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. Today marks the 50th anniversary of Glenn's historic flight. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, and Star Trails
Credit: Roberto Porto
The brightest planets in the night sky wowed skywatchers around the world this weekend, with a dazzling crescent moon completing the scene. See photos of the celestial sight. [
Full Story]
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The Bullet Cluster
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/CfA/M.Markevitch et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI; Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe et al.; Lensing Map: NASA/STScI; ESO WFI; Magellan/U.Arizona/D.Clowe et al.
Though dark matter is invisible, photos of galaxy clusters and gravitational lensing hint at its nature. [
Full Story]
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Twister on Mars Captured in Amazing NASA Photo
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
A dust devil tears across the surface of Mars in a dazzling new photo from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. [
Full Story]
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Photo Gallery: Huge X-Class Solar Flares Erupt from the Sun
Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
This image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the sun as it appeared in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths on March 5, 2012 just after a major solar flare. [
More Images]
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I Want Some New Stars
Credit: ESA/PACS/NASA/JPL-Caltech/IRAM
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Herschel mission provides a new view of Orion Nebula. The infrared observations of both spacecraft combine to show fledgling stars hidden in the gas and clouds. Image released on Feb. 29, 2012. [
More Images]
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Apollo 11 Moon Landing Site Seen in Unprecedented Detail
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera snapped its best look yet of the Apollo 11 landing site. The photo, which was released on March 7, even shows remnants of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's historic first steps on the moon. [
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]
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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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Photos of New Supernova Captured by Amateur Astronomers
Credit: Parijat Singh
Skywatchers around the globe have jumped into action to catch a fleeting glimpse of a new star explosion, a supernova to be exact, that erupted into view recently in a nearby galaxy. [
Full Story]
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New Milky Way Photo Captures 1 Billion Stars
Credit: Mike Read (WFAU), UKIDSS/GPS and VVV
A new photo shows one billion of the Milky Way's stars at once. [
Full Story]
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Astronauts Snap 1 Million Photos from Space Station
Credit: Don Pettit (via Twitter as @astro_Pettit)
Astronauts on the International Space Station have the ultimate 24/7 view of planet Earth, and the photo album to prove it: The shutterbug astronauts recently snapped the millionth photo from the orbiting lab. [
Full Story]
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Amazing Photo Captures Robot Cargo Ship's Space Station Arrival
Credit: NASA
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station captured an extraordinary photo of an unmanned European cargo ship as it docked to the orbiting outpost last week. [
Full Story]
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'UFO Galaxy' Spotted by Hubble Telescope
Credit: 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]
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Rare Photo: Auroras on Uranus Spotted by Hubble Telescope
Credit: 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]
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Shuttle Discovery in Silhouette
Space shuttle Discovery, mounted atop NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, flies into the sunrise above Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 17, 2012. The ferry flight, destined for Washington, D.C., marked the final departure for Discovery from its home for three decades. [
More Images]
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Amazing Hubble Photo Reveals Tarantula Nebula's Star-Filled Web
Credit: NASA/ESA/ESO
Several million stars are vying for attention in this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of a raucous stellar breeding ground in 30 Doradus, located in the heart of the Tarantula nebula. [
Full Story]
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Moon, Milky Way, and ALMA Telescope
Credit: ESO/S. Guisard (www.eso.org/~sguisard)
This amazing panorama depicts the site of ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, in the Chilean Andes. When ALMA is complete, it will have 54 of the 12-meter-diameter dishes shown. Above the array, the arc of the Milky Way glistens while the moon bathes the scene in an eerie light. ESO Photo Ambassador Stéphane Guisard took the shot, released April 23, 2012. Click the picture to see a larger version of the astounding image. [
More amazing daily space photos]
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Shuttle Debuts on Broadway
Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz
Space shuttle Enterprise, mounted atop a NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), is seen as it flies near the Empire State Building, Friday, April 27, 2012, in New York. Enterprise, NASA's prototype shuttle, arrived in New York to join the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum's space collection. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Supermoon 2012 Photos: Big Full Moon Views from Around the World
Credit: Tim McCord
The supermoon of 2012 rises over Entiat, Wash., in this photo by skywatcher Tim McCord snapped on May 5, 2012. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Amazing Photos of 2 Saturn Moons Snapped by Cassini Probe
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
NASA's Cassini spacecraft took some spectacular photos of the Saturn moons Dione and Enceladus earlier this week. [
Full Story]
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Stars Swarm Like Celestial Bees in Stunning New Photo
Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit
A new image of Messier 55 from ESO's VISTA infrared survey telescope shows tens of thousands of stars crowded together like a swarm of bees. The stars are some of the oldest in the universe. [
Full Story]
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Dark Shadows
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Cassini spacecraft swung by Saturn’s moon Janus on March 27, 2012. Deep shadows darken some of the moon’s large craters. The spacecraft got this shot at a distance of approximately 28,000 miles (45,000 kilometers) from Janus. Intriguingly, another moon of Saturn, Epimetheus, orbits close to Janus, and the two moons periodically change orbits, so that one becomes closer to Saturn, while the other floats further away. [
More Images]
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Breathtaking View of Earth Taken by Russian Satellite
Credit: NTsOMZ
Think of it as an amped up version of the iconic "Blue Marble" image. A new photo of Earth from space highlights the striking beauty and intensely rich colors of our home planet. [
Full Story]
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Star Trails Seen from the ISS in Swirls
Credit: Don Pettit
Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Don Pettit took photos of star trails, terrestrial lights, airglow and auroras while aboard the International Space Station. Image taken May 17, 2012. [
Get More Images]
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SpaceX Makes History: Dragon's Space Station Arrival in Pictures
Credit: NASA TV
The Dragon capsule is attached to the International Space Station on May 25, 2012. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Photos: Annular Solar Eclipse of May 20, 2012
Credit: Charles Medendorp
Skywatcher Charles Medendorp took this photo of the annular eclipse at the Very Large Array outside Socorro, New Mexico, on May 20, 2012. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Majestic Sunspot Blesses Basilica at Sunrise in Spectacular Picture
Credit: Skywatcher Stefano De Rosa sent this image of Sunspot AR1476.
A magnificent sun rises alongside the Basilica of Superga in Turin, Italy, with the massive sunspot AR 1476 in clear view. [
Full Story]
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'Big Bird' on the Sun Spotted in Spacecraft Photo
Credit: NASA/SDO
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory has snapped a shot of a so-called coronal hole on the sun that looks a lot like Big Bird. [
Full Story]
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Transit of Venus 2012
Credit: NASA/SDO
On June 5-6 2012, SDO collected images of the rarest predictable solar event--the transit of Venus across the face of the sun. This event happens in pairs eight years apart which are separated from each other by 105 or 121 years. The last transit was in 2004 and the next will not happen until 2117. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Venus and Hubble Space Telescope Cross Sun Together in Spectacular Picture
Photographing Tuesday's historic Venus transit of the sun is special enough on its own, but one space photographer managed to get NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in the frame as well. [
Full Story]
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Overlapping Galaxies NGC 3314
Credit: STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration, and W. Keel (University of Alabama)
The Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a spectacular new image of two galaxies that look like they're slamming into each other, but in reality something just as rare is happening, scientists say.
In an amazing chance photograph, the Hubble Space Telescope snapped a view of two galaxies lining up, one behind the other, as viewed from the space telescope's vantage point. The image offers a rare view of the overlapping galaxies, which are collectively known as NGC 3314, Hubble scientists said in a statement. [
Full Story]
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Most Distant Galaxy Known
Credit: NAOJ
A new galaxy has taken the title of most distant known, according to scientists from the Subaru and Keck Telescopes.
The galaxy, called SXDF-NB1006-2, lies a whopping 12.91 billion light-years from Earth. Since its light has taken that long to reach us, we are seeing it as it was less than a billion years after the Big Bang created the universe. So SXDF-NB1006-2 was likely among the first galaxies ever made.
Full Story]
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Surprise! Big Asteroid That Flew by Earth Larger Than Thought
Credit: USRA
A massive asteroid that zipped by Earth a week ago is actually twice as large as scientists originally thought, according to astronomers who studied the behemoth space rock as it flew past, well beyond the orbit of the moon. [
Full Story]
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Shenzhou 9: China's 1st Manned Space Docking Mission (Pictures)
Credit: China Manned Space Engineering Office
A Chinese Long March 2F rocket launches on the Shenzhou 9 mission, China's first manned space docking flight and first flight of a female astronaut, on June 16, 2012 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. [
Full Launch Photo Gallery]
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Double Space Rainbow!
Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, LANCE MODIS Rapid Response
NASA's Aqua satellite caught an arresting image of a rainbow-like optical phenomenon called a glory over the Pacific Ocean on June 20. [
Full Story]
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Deep In Heart of Centaurus A
Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO); ESO/Y. Beletsky
A recent photo taken of Centaurus A by the European Southern Observatory's ALMA radio telescope in Chile offers a clear view through the dust towards the galaxy's luminous center. [
Full Story and Video]
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Active Sunspot Shoots Off Intense New Solar Flare
Credit: NASA/SDO/AIA
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory captured an image of the sun during an M6.1 solar flare that peaked early in the morning on July 5. Active region 1515, where the flare originated, has now spit out 12 medium strength, or M-class, flares since July 3. [
Full Story]
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Spectacular Full Moon Shines Over Paris, City of Light
Credit: VegaStar Carpentier
A gigantic full moon looms over Paris in this spectacular night sky view. [
Full Story]
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Red
Credit: NASA
Mysterious red sprites appear when electrical discharges take place about 50 miles (80 kilometers) up in the atmosphere during thunderstorms. The short-lived flashes only last a few milliseconds and can extend vertically 20 to 30 kilometers. Since the crimson apparitions manifest above thunderstorms, observers on the ground usually cannot see them. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station, on the other hand, have no such obstructions blocking their view. The red sprite seen here (above the bright lightning spot at right) was captured as the ISS was travelling over Myanmar (Burma) into Malaysia on April 30, 2012. [
More Amazing Daily Space Photos]
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Saturn's Rings Shine in Amazing Photos by Cassini Probe
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
The dazzling rings of Saturn are taking center stage in amazing new pictures snapped by NASA's Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting the planet. [
Full Story]
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Amazing Southern Lights View from Space Leaves Astronaut Awestruck
Credit: NASA/Joe Acaba
Shimmering auroras in the night sky are amazing to behold, but nothing prepared NASA astronaut Joe Acaba for seeing the celestial lights dance over Earth from space. [
Full Story]
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Photographer Captures Venus' Rare Journey Across a Melting Sun
Credit: Tunc Tezel / The World at Night
Venus makes its rare transit across a melting sun in this amazing image captured at sunset by a veteran photographer. [
Full Story]
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Olympic City: London's Lights Seen from Space
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
None of the billions of people expected to watch the 2012 London Olympics will get a view of London quite like this one, which was captured by the Suomi NPP satellite on the night of March 27, 2012. [
Full Story]
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Spectacular Photo of Orion Space Cloud Snapped by Night Sky Observers
Credit: Josh Knutson
After seven cold nights, an exhausted astrophotographer captured this beautiful photo of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. [
Full Story]
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50-Mile Landslides Spotted on Saturn's Icy Moon
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Studying Saturn's moon, Iapetus, scientists found landslides that traveled as far as fifty miles. These long-ranging debris fields could provide clues to similar occurrences back on Earth. [
Full Story]
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Amazing Eagle Nebula Swoops into Stargazer's Night Sky Photo
Credit: Bill Snyder Astrophotography
Soaring thousands of light years from Earth, the Eagle nebula appears in beautiful display in this night sky photo. [
Full Story]
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NASA Mars Rover Snaps Its 1st Color Photo on Red Planet
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
NASA’s Curiosity rover snapped its first color photo of the north wall and rim of Gale Crater using its Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI. [
Full Story]
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Amazing Perseid Meteor Shower Photos of 2012
Credit: Roberto Porto
Veteran astrophotographer Roberto Porto snapped this spectacular view of a Perseid meteor over Mount Tiede National Park in the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa on Aug. 11, 2012 during the peak of the 2012 Perseid meteor shower. The Milky Way and rock arch Zapata de la Reina (Queen's Shoe) are visible. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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NASA Space Shuttles Meet Nose-to-Nose for Final Time
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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Simply (Not) Red
Credit: ESO
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.]
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Massive Solar Loop on Sun Captured by Photographer
Credit: NASA/SDO
A gigantic plasma loop protrudes from the sun in this magnificent amateur astronomy image. Astrophotographer J. P. Brahic captured this photo from France on July 19, 2012. [
Full Story]
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Amazing NASA Videos Capture Drama of Mars Rover Landing
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Two new videos let viewers relive the Mars rover Curiosity’s daring Red Planet landing on Aug. 5, 2012. [
Full Story]
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Millions of Black Holes Seen by WISE Telescope (Photos)
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA
The entire sky as mapped by WISE at infrared wavelengths is shown here, with an artist's concept of the WISE satellite superimposed. Image released August 29, 2012. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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'Blue Moon' of 2012: See the First Photos
Credit: Tomsajinsa
The first photos are starting to appear from today's (Aug. 31) blue moon, the last such sight until 2015. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Stunning Mars Photo Shows Curiosity Rover's Tracks from Space
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
NASA's newest Mars rover Curiosity is taking its first tentative drives across the Martian surface and leaving tracks that have been spotted all the way from space in a spectacular photo snapped by an orbiting spacecraft. [
Full Story]
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Northern Lights Blaze Up After Big Sun Storm
Credit: Ole Salomonsen (http://www.facebook.com/arcticlightphoto)
Skywatchers around the world were wowed by the northern lights show produced by a recent solar storm. [
Full Story]
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Celebrating Neil Armstrong: Memorial Service at National Cathedral (Photos)
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Apollo 17 mission commander Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, speaks during a memorial service celebrating the life of Neil Armstrong at the Washington National Cathedral, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, died Saturday, Aug. 25. He was 82. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Explosion on Jupiter Spotted by Amateur Astrono Photos: Shuttle Endeavour'smers
An apparent impact on Jupiter early Monday (Sept. 10) created a fireball on the planet so large and bright that amateur astronomers on Earth spotted the flash. [
Full Story]
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Photos: Shuttle Endeavour's California Sightseeing Tour
Credit: Sam Veta
Photographer Sam Veta snapped this photo of NASA's space shuttle Endeavour flying over the iconic Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory during its arrival in Los Angeles on Sept. 21, 2012, to be placed on public display at the California Science Center. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Stunning Hubble Telescope Photo Captures Star-Forming Galaxy
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA; Acknowledgement: R. Tugral
The Hubble Space Telescope has snapped a gorgeous photo of a faraway spiral galaxy, confirming that it is indeed churning out new stars at a rapid rate. [
Full Story]
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Hubble Telescope Reveals Farthest View Into Universe Ever
Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Illingworth, D. Magee, and P. Oesch (University of California, Santa Cruz), R. Bouwens (Leiden University), and the HUDF09 Team
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured the farthest-ever view of the universe, a photo that reveals thousands of galaxies billions of light-years away. [
Full Story]
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Weather On Mars Surprisingly Warm, Curiosity Rover Finds
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is enjoying some nice, warm weather on the Red Planet — and spring hasn't even come to its landing site yet. [
Full Story]
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Strange Layer of Venus Surprisingly Cold
Credit: ESA/MPS, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
A layer of Venus’ atmosphere may be cold enough for carbon dioxide snow, scientists say. [
Full Story]
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Mercury Craters Look Like Cookie Monster in NASA Photo
Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington
An impact basin spotted on Mercury with two smaller craters above it looks remarkably like Sesame Street's Cookie Monster — at least to the eyes of scientists working on NASA's Messenger mission to the planet. [
Full Story]
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SpaceX Dragon Launches on 1st Space Station Cargo Trip
Credit: NASA/Gianni Woods
Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is illuminated by a Falcon 9 rocket as it lifts off on Oct. 7, 2012 carrying a Dragon capsule to orbit. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Jump They Say
Credit: Red Bull Stratos/Red Bull Content Pool
After flying to an altitude of 128,100 feet (39,045 meters) in a helium-filled balloon over Roswell, New Mexico, Felix Baumgartner begins his record-breaking jump from the edge of space, Oct. 14, 2012. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Living Out in L.A., Such a Beautiful Day
Credit: California Science Center (via Twitter as @casciencecenter)
The California Science Center tweeted this picture of retired shuttle Endeavour rolling east through the streets of Los Angeles early on the morning of October 14, 2012. They wrote: “Thru Arlington, into the sunrise http://ow.ly/i/11pGt“. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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Amazing New Space Photo Shows Sandy Rolling Inland
Credit: NASA GOES Project
A stunning new image from space shows superstorm Sandy, now a post-tropical cyclone, still churning over the eastern United States on Tuesday (Oct. 30). [
Full Story]
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Rare Double Green Flash Captured in Sunset Photos
Credit: Josh Knutson / daemongpf.blogspot.gr
Photographer Josh Knutson saw a rare double green flash during sunset off the California coast. [
Full Story]
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Amazing Photo Shows Saturn Dwarfing Tiny Moon
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
A jaw-dropping picture of the planet Saturn was recently released by NASA's Cassini probe orbiting the ringed giant. [
Full Story]
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Split-Personality Galaxy Is Part Spiral, Part Elliptical
Credit: ESO
An oddball eliptical galaxy is hiding an inner spiral, scientists find. [
Full Story]
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Total Solar Eclipse of 2012 (Photo Gallery)
Credit: Hot Air Balloon Cairns
A total solar eclipse was visible from the northern tip of Australia on Nov. 13, 2012. [
Full Photo Gallery]
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The Color Purple
Credit: Herschel: Q. Nguyen Luong & F. Motte, HOBYS Key Program consortium, Herschel SPIRE/PACS/ESA consortia. XMM-Newton: ESA/XMM-Newton
Supernova remnant W44 glows in space, seen here as the vast purple sphere on the left side of this image. W44 measures about 100 light-years across. This new image combines data from ESA's Herschel and XMM-Newton space observatories. [
See more images.]
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Giant Sun Eruption Captured in NASA Video
Credit: NASA/SDO
The sun unleashed a monster eruption of super-hot plasma Friday (Nov. 16) in back-to-back solar storms captured on camera by a NASA spacecraft. [
Full Story]
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Mercury Photos Reveal Strange 'Pie Crust' Surface
Credit: NASA/The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/Smithsonian Institution
New photos of the baked planet Mercury, the closest world to our sun, have revealed odd formations that look uncannily like cosmic pies, evidence of potential "ghost" craters hidden underground, scientists say. [
Full Story]
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Lunar Eclipse Photos Show Earth's Shadow on Moon
Credit: David Matthews
The moon dipped through only part of Earth's shadow Wednesday (Nov. 28) in a penumbral lunar eclipse. See stargazers' photos of the minor lunar eclipse. [
Full Story]
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Huge Saturn Vortex Swirls in Stunning NASA Photos
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
An amazing new photo from NASA's Cassini probe orbiting Saturn has sighted a monster storm raging on the ringed planet's north pole. [
Full Story]
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Black Marble: Stunning New Images of Earth at Night
Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC
NASA released a slew of images showing what Earth looks like from space at night. [
Full Story]
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Most Distant Black Hole X-Ray Blast Discovered
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/NRC/C.Cheung et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA
The most distant X-ray jet ever observed has been discovered some 12.4 billion light years from Earth, giving astronomers a peek at the life of giant black holes not long after the Big Bang. [
Full Story]
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"Mohawk Guy" Bobak Ferdowsi Reacts to Curiosity Rover's Landing
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Mars Science Laboratory systems engineer Bobak Ferdowsi at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is seen reacting after the Curiosity rover successfully landed on Mars on Aug. 5, 2012 (PDT; Aug. 6 EDT).
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Mars Mountains Look Frosty in New Images
Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
A European spacecraft orbiting Mars has snapped wintry-looking pictures of a mountain range on the Red Planet's southern highlands, where ridges and crater floors are dusted with carbon dioxide frost. [
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Exoplanet Catalog Reveals 7 Possibly Habitable Worlds
Credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, ESA/Hubble, NASA
The Habitable Exoplanets Catalog has seven candidate planets listed so far, and the pace of discovery is increasing, says its founder. [
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Curiosity Rover's Hi-Res Self-Portrait
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to snap a set of 55 high-resolution images on Oct. 31, 2012. Researchers stitched the pictures together to create this full-color self-portrait.
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Soyuz Rocket Launches New Expedition 33 Crew to Space Station
Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Members of the media photograph the Soyuz rocket as it launches with Expedition 33/34 crew members on Oct. 23, 2012. [
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Amazing Solar Flare of Oct. 22, 2012 (Photos)
Credit: NASA/SDO
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite captured this photo of the X-class solar flare unleashed from the sun, Oct. 22, 2012. [
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