Best Space Pictures of the Week - Jan. 6, 2013 | Space Images

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Mars Rover Curiosity Finds Martian 'Flower' and Snake-Like Rock

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

New photos of Mars from NASA's Curiosity rover have sparked a buzz of discussion over an odd formation that some have dubbed a "flower" embedded in a Martian rock. The rover has also found a snake-like rock formation winding across the Red Planet's surface. [Full Story]

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Whirling Southern Star Trails over ALMA

Credit: ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)

The antennas of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) sit under the stars of the southern sky as they appear to whirl overhead. Babak Tafreshi took the long-exposure photograph on the Chajnantor Plateau in the Chilean Andes. When ALMA construction is completed in 2013, the telescope will possess 54 of these 12-meter diameter antennas, and twelve 7-meter antennas. Image released Dec. 31, 2012. [More Amazing Daily Space Photos]

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Quadrantid Meteor Shower Photos of 2013

Credit: Sean Parker

Astrophotographer Sean Parker produced this image of Quandrantid meteors over Tucson, AZ, on Jan. 3, 2013. [Full Image Gallery]

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Mars Meteorites: Pieces of the Red Planet on Earth (Photos)

Credit: Image © Natural History Museum, London

The rear of the stone from the Tissint Martian meteorite is almost completely covered with a glossy black fusion crust. [Full Image Gallery]

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Solar System Explored: Today's Deep-Space Spacecraft (Gallery)

Credit: NASA

Artist's rendering of NASA's Wind probe, which launched in 1994 to investigate the solar wind. [Full Image Gallery]

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Space Station's Expedition 34 Mission in Photos

Credit: Chris Hadfield/Canadian Space Agency

An upside Christmas tree decorates the International Space Station during the Expedition 34 mission in 2012 in this photo snapped by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. [Full Image Gallery]

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Crater on Huge Asteroid Vesta Gets 3D Treatment

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

A photo from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft shows dark streaks of organic material radiating from a huge crater on the giant asteroid Vesta. [Full Story]

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Giant Sun Eruption Could Swallow 20 Earths

Credit: NASA/SDO

A huge solar eruption from the sun on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31) was large enough to swallow 20 Earths. Still, the sun storm was only a minor solar event, scientists say. [Full Story]

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Meet ALMA: Amazing Photos from Giant Radio Telescope

Credit: ALMA

See photos of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), a huge collection of radio telescopes being built in the desert of Chile. [Full Image Gallery]

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Moon and Jupiter Shine Over Hungarian Lake (Photo)

Credit: Tamas Ladanyi/Astrophoto.hu

The moon and Jupiter appear to rest for a while over the thermal lake of Hévíz in Hungary. [Full Story]

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NASA’s Z-1 Spacesuit: Buzz Lightyear’s Duds (Photos)