Best Space Photos of the Week - May 27, 2012

Making Waves

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Two of Saturn's moons affect the planet's rings visibly. Daphnis, at lower left, orbits in the Keeler Gap of the A right, creating waves in the edge of the gap. Pan, in the top right, orbits in the Encke Gap of the A ring, creating wakes that are seen in the ring below Pan in the image.The image was taken in visible light by Cassini spacecraft on June 3, 2010. [More Images]

The Edge

ESA/Hubble & NASA

Galaxy NGC 891 lies approximately 30 million light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Andromeda. This Hubble Space Telescope photo shows the galaxy's northern half, with the central bulge outside the image on the bottom left. Filaments of dust and gas clearly extend outwards from the plane of the galaxy into the galaxy halo over hundreds of light-years, unlike our own Milky Way. [More Images]

Wilson Webb

Tommy Lee Jones (left) and Will Smith star in Columbia Pictures' Men in Black 3. Agent J (Smith) drops back into 1969 so he can stop evil space alien Boris (Jemaine Clement) from changing history and slaying a younger version of Agent K (Jones), the agent who put him behind bars in the first place. [Full Photo Gallery]

Launch Pictures: SpaceX's Dragon Capsule Roars to Space Station

Robert Pearlman/collectSPACE.com

SpaceX's first space station-bound Dragon spacecraft, flying atop a Falcon 9 rocket, launches behind a high fidelity mockup of the space shuttle, NASA's previous means of delivering cargo to International Space Station. Liftoff occurred on May 22, 2012 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. [Full Photo Gallery]

Photos: Annular Solar Eclipse of May 20, 2012

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]

Aurora 7: Astronaut Scott Carpenter's Mercury Flight in Pictures

NASA

Astronaut M. Scott Carpenter, prime pilot for the Mercury-Atlas 7 flight, is seen in Hanger S crew quarters during a suiting exercise in 1962. [Full Photo Gallery]

SpaceX Makes History: Dragon's Space Station Arrival in Pictures

NASA TV

The Dragon capsule is attached to the International Space Station on May 25, 2012. [Full Photo Gallery]

Mars Rover Sees Its Shadow in Red Planet Crater (Photo)

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/Arizona State Univ.

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity snapped a stunning shot of its own shadow and the Red Planet's huge Endeavour Crater. [Full Story]

Astronaut Photographs Solar Eclipse's Moon Shadow from Space

Don Pettit

As millions of skywatchers gazed up at a dazzling solar eclipse on Sunday, one astronaut was amazed by looking down at the eclipse's shadow moving across the Earth. [Full Story]

Mysterious Nebula Glows Bright in Telescope Photo

Gemini Observatory/AURA

A stunning new photo highlights the controversy over the stellar "parents" of the planetary nebula Sharpless 2-71. [Full Story]

Astronaut Snaps Stunning Meteor Pictures from Space

NASA/JSC/D. Pettit

Astronaut Don Pettit took spectacular photos of last month's Lyrid meteor shower from aboard the International Space Station. [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.