Best Space Photos of the Week - April 14, 2013

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Gallery: Private Space Stations of the Future Imagined

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Photos: Watching the Mars Rover Curiosity Blast Off

NASA's glowing clouds as seen by photographer Stephen Blue of Deltaville, Va.

NASA Rocket Launch Paints Night Sky Red (Photos)

Technicians move a SpaceX Dragon capsule into place at the nose of the company's Falcon 9 rocket during preparations to launch the spacecraft on a cargo flight to the International Space Station.

Private SpaceX Rocket Set for Space Station Delivery (Photos)

Photos: Comedian Stephen Colbert Visits NASA

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Orion Nebula Dons Technicolor Dreamcoat in Spectacular Photo

Credit: Reinhold Wittich / www.wittich.com

The dazzling Orion Nebula found in the famed constellation of the same name bursts with color in this beautiful night sky image. Astrophotographer Reinhold Wittich took this photo from his backyard observatory in Germany from Feb. 10, 2013 to March 5, 2013 using a12" f/4 Newton telescope. [Full Story]

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Photos: Orbital Sciences' 1st Antares Rocket Test Flight

Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation / NASA

The Antares rocket takes its new name from the star Antares, which is one of the brightest stars in the night sky and the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion). [ See the full gallery]

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Southern Night Sky Revealed: Chile's Atacama Desert (Photos)

Credit: Clara Moskowitz/SPACE.com

SPACE.com reporter Clara Moskowitz traveled to Chile's Atacama Desert in March 2013 on a trip sponsored by the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory. This view shows the desert stretching out behind a radio antenna at the site of the new ALMA observatory. [ See the full gallery]

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New Photo Reveals 'Ghostly' Green Nebula in Deep Space

Credit: ESO

A spectacular new photo of the green planetary nebula IC 1295 by the European Southern Observatory is the most detailed view of the object in history, showing it as a ghostly apparition in deep space. [Full Story]

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Sunspot Beauty Captured by Solar Shutterbug

Credit: JP Brahic

Astrophotographer JP Brahic captured this beautiful image of sunspot AR 1711 from France on April 5, 2013. See how he did it. [Full Story]

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How Astronauts Cry In Space (Video)

Credit: CSA/NASA

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield shows the world what it’s like to cry in space in a new video beamed down from the International Space Station. [Full Story]

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Solar Max: Amazing Sun Storm Photos of 2013

Credit: NASA/SDO

See amazing photos of the sun during the peak of solar activity in 2013. NASA and other space observatories captured the sun photos. [ See the full gallery]

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New Mars Photos May Reveal 1970s Soviet Lander

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

The remains of the 1972 Mars 3 lander might be visible in recent Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photos. [Full Story]

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Golden Spike on the Moon: Private Lunar Trips (Photos)

Credit: Golden Spike Company

The Golden Spike Company intends to be the first company planning to offer routine exploration expeditions to the surface of the Moon. [ See the full gallery]

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It's Fall on Titan: Icy Cloud Marks Saturn Moon's Season

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

New photos from NASA's Cassini spacecraft show that an icy cloud is growing over the south pole of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, hinting that a seven-year fall has taken hold at the cloudy moon's southern realm. [Full Story]

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Playin' Hooky

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Hayes

Hook-shaped J082354.96+280v621.6, or J082354.96 for short, is a starburst galaxy. The unusually high rate of star formation occurring within it gives rise to the starburst name. [See More Images]

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Spinning Wheel Got to Go 'Round

Credit: Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona

Adam Block of the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter (University of Arizona) obtained this image of spiral galaxy NGC 3344 in March 2013. Spiral galaxy NGC 3344 stretches about half the size of the Milky Way, and the impressive-looking face-on galaxy lies 25 million light-years distant. [See More Images]