Best Space Photos of the Week - Aug. 10, 2013

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A Village in Orbit: Inside NASA's Space Colony Concepts (Infographic)

by Karl Tate, Infographics Artist

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Galaxy Messier 94 (also known as NGC 4736) appeared historically to possess two quite different rings: a brilliant, compact band around the galaxy's core, and a faint, broad swath of stars outside its main disk. Astronomers recently discovered that the outer ring, seen here in a deep blue glow of starlight, might actually be an optical illusion. A new, more complete picture of Messier 94 indicates that two separate spiral arms, from our perspective, take on the appearance of a single, unbroken ring. [See More Images]

Space.com Staff
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