Best Space Photos of the Week - June 1, 2013

Soyuz Rocket Launches Space Station Crew on Express Trip: (Expedition 36/37 Photos)

NASA/Bill Ingalls

A Soyuz rocket with Expedition 36/37 Soyuz Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Flight Engineers: Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency, center, and Karen Nyberg of NASA, onboard, launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. [See more photos]

Stargazer Captures 'Killer' Photo of Milky Way Galaxy

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

The Milky Way glows in this gorgeous photo taken over Killer Lake in the Bakony Mountains of Hungary. This recently released image was taken by veteran astrophotographer Tamas Ladanyi of The World at Night on Aug. 15, 2012. [Full Story]

Wow! Soul-Searching Stargazer Spots Stunning Nebula (Photo)

Steve Coates | www.CoatesAstrophotography.com

Night sky photographer Steve Coates captured this amazing photo of the Soul Nebula. See how long it took to make. [Full Story]

Spellbinding Star Trails Dazzle Over India's Devasthal Peak (Photo)

Ajay Talwar / The World at Night

Star trails shine above Devasthal Peak in Northern India in this captivating night sky photo. [Full Story]

Asteroid Miners to Launch World's 1st Crowdfunded Space Telescope

Planetary Resources

The asteroid mining company Planetary Resources will hold a press conference on Wednesday, May 29, to discuss its latest project to support the company’s asteroid-mining goals. [Full Story]

Photo Shows Powerful Jets Spewing From Giant Black Hole

X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/A.Siemiginowska et al; Optical: NASA/STScI; Radio: NSF/NRAO/VLA

A stunning composite image of a galaxy 850 million light-years from Earth shows the power of a giant black hole spewing out humongous jets. [Full Story]

Mystery of Moon's Lumpy Gravity Explained

H. J. Melosh/Purdue University/NASA Grail team

Strange gravity anomalies on the moon, known as “mascons,” formed when violent lunar impacts were filled in by the moon’s mantle, creating pockets of stronger gravity, scientists say. [Full Story]

Approaching Asteroid 1998 QE2 Has a Moon, Images Reveal

NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR

A huge asteroid set to sail past Earth on Friday has its own moon, NASA scientists have just discovered. [Full Story]

Amazing Atlas 5 Rocket Launch: US Military's GPS Satellite Soars (Photos)

United Launch Alliance

Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasts off from Space Launch Complex-41 carrying the fourth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-4 satellite for the U.S. Air Force from Space Launch Complex-41.This is the fourth ULA launch this year and marks the 70th launch success in the 77 months since ULA was formed. [See more photos]

Like People, Stars Should Cut Back on Salt for Longer Life

ESA/Hubble & NASA

About 70 percent of stars in the globular cluster NGC 6752 inexplicably burn out before their time, scientists say. The discovery defies theories. [Full Story]

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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.