Best Space Photos of the Week - April 6, 2013

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Dazzling 'Moondogs' Shine Over Alaska's Call of the Wild (Photo)

Credit: Sebastian Saarloos / www.facebook.com/SebastianSaarloos

Harsh, frigid temps didn't stop one night sky photographer from capturing a stunning image of moondogs illuminating the Alaskan wild. Sebastian Saarloos captured this image on Jan. 17 from Lower Miller Creek, Alaska. [Full Story]

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NASA Sees Curiosity Rover's Parachute Flapping in Martian Wind

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA's most powerful spacecraft orbiting Mars has captured amazing new images of the huge parachute used by the agency's Curiosity rover when it safely landed on the Red Planet last August. [Full Story]

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Faint 'Red Arcs' Spotted Over Europe

Credit: Boston University Center for Space Physics

Glowing red arcs invisible to the naked eye have now been detected high above most of Europe using advanced cameras pointed at the sky. [Full Story]

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Edge-On Galaxy Slices Up Night Sky in Stargazer's Photo

Credit: Terry Hancock / Fred Hermann

Located 95 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo, barred spiral edge-on galaxy NGC 5746 appears to slice through deep space in this stunning image. Based in Western Michigan, avid astrophotographer Terry Hancock teamed up with former NASA scientist Fred Hermann of Huntsville, Ala., to take this photo. [Full Story]

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Milky Way Shines Over Grand Canyon Watchtower in Spectacular Photo

Credit: Jeff Berkes

Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes captured this stunning night sky image over the Grand Canyon in Arizona in May 2012. See how it made the dazzling image. [Full Story]

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Whoa! What a Rocket Launch Looks Like from Space

Credit: Canadian Space Agency/Chris Hadfield (Cmdr_Hadfield)

Because of their placement during the “express” launch of Russia’s Soyuz capsule carrying three new astronauts to the space station, crewmembers already on board the floating laboratory saw the launch from space. [Full Story]

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This is What Human Cells Look Like in Space

Credit: European Space Agency

A strange photo from an experiment on the International Space Station shows what human immune cells look like in space. See how the photo was taken here. [Full Story]

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Amazing Pencil Nebula Glows on Deep-Space Canvas

Credit: Martin Pugh

Martin Pugh took this image of the Pencil Nebula, or NGC 2736, from his home in Yass, New South Wales, Australia over the course of two weeks in March,2013. [Full Story]

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Star Trails Streak Over Historic Hungary

Credit: Tamas Ladanyi / www.astrophoto.hu/ The World at Night

Night sky photographer Tamas Ladanyi of The World at Night captured this stunning image of Spica, Saturn, Mars and the Moon over the historic city of Pécs, Hungary. [Full Story]

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Wildfire Blazes Near NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Credit: Michael Good - USFWS

Clouds of smoke and flames quickly approach NASA facilities during a wildfire this week. The fire occurred just south of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center headquarters on Merritt Island in Audobon, Florida. No NASA facilities were damaged. [ See the full gallery]

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Dark Matter Clues From AMS Experiment in Space

Credit: NASA

The powerful Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) is visible at center left. The blackness of space and Earth's horizon provide the backdrop for the scene, on May 20, 2011 (Flight Day 5 of the STS-134 shuttle mission). [ See the full gallery]

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NASA's Pioneer Spacecraft: A Solar System Legacy

Credit: NASA Ames Research Center

An artist's view of a Pioneer spacecraft heading into interstellar space. Both Pioneer 10 and 11 are on trajectories that will eventually take them out of our solar system. [ See the full gallery]

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Little Lighthouse

Credit: Mike Taylor

Astrophotographer Mike Taylor sent in a photo and wrote: “The Milky Way makes a dramatic background for Marshall Point Light in Port Clyde, Maine.” Photographed on March 18, 2013. [See More Images]

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Paschal Full Moon

Credit: Chris Hadfield ‏(via Twitter as @Cmdr_Hadfield)

Commander Chris Hadfield tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on March 31, 2013. He wrote: "A Full Moon. It may not be made of chocolate, but it makes for a wonderfully natural Easter egg. pic.twitter.com/6v5n6oaGnn" [See More Images]