Best Space Photos of the Week - March 8, 2014

Asteroid P/2013 R3 Falls Apart: Rare Hubble Space Telescope Photos

NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (University of California, Los Angeles)

This series of Hubble Space Telescope photos captures a rare event in action, the breakup of asteroid P/2013 R3 as it happened in 2013 and 2014. HERE: This photo from Hubble shows the rare sight of the asteroid P/2013 R3 breaking apart. This image, the first in a series, was taken on Oct. 29, 2013. [See more photos.]

Majestic Milky Way Galaxy Rises Over Remote Island (Photo)

project nightflight

Green airglow shimmers atop translucent clouds as the Milky Way rises over a remote island off the northwest coast of Africa in a majestic photo recently sent to Space.com. [Full Story]

Saturn Rings, Moon Shine in Dazzling New NASA Photo

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

A new image captured by a NASA spacecraft shows Saturn's famous rings in gorgeous detail, with one of the planet's many moons shining in the distance. [See more photos.]

IMDb

"Cosmos: A Space-time Odyssey" revives the famed science TV series originated by astronomer Carl Sagan and gives it a new look and feel for the 21st century. [See images and photos of the 2014 relaunch of "Cosmos" on Fox.]

Near-Earth Asteroids: Famous Space Rock Flybys and Close Calls (Infographic)

By Karl Tate, Infographics Artist

Near-Earth asteroids are space rocks with orbits that bring them uncomfortably close to Earth. NASA and astronomers are constantly on the lookout for potentially dangerous near-Earth asteroids, space rocks that could potentially one day threaten the Earth. [See the infographic.]

Photo by Eduardo Castaneda

The late astronomer Carl Sagan has inspired scientists, astronauts and the world with his work popularizing science and astronomy. See the long-lasting legacy of Sagan, an astronomy educator for the ages, in this Space.com gallery. Here: Carl Sagan standing with hands on globes of planets. Undated file photo. [See more photos.]

EADS

The European company EADS/Airbus is developing a commercial space plane for passenger flights. See images of the EADS space plane concept here. In this image, an artist envisions EADS' "space jet" rocketing into suborbital space. [See more photos.]

Space Junk Clean Up: 7 Wild Ways to Destroy Orbital Debris

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/JSC

With half a million pieces of space debris cluttering Earth's orbit, according to NASA, this means there is a growing problem of cluttering up our access road to space. Several companies and entities have proposed ways to get rid of derelict satellites and other space junk.

NASA / Carla Thomas

On the rain-soaked ramp at its deployment base at Christchurch International Airport, New Zealand. NASA's SOFIA flying observatory is ready for a mission to study Southern Hemisphere celestial objects. This image was released July 18, 2013. [See more photos.]

Garry Owens

See stunning photos of the night sky and sun as seen by stargazers around the world in this Space.com photo gallery for March 2014 made up of images sent in by Space.com readers. Here: Astrophotographer Garry Owens sent in a photo of the recent brilliant auroral display seen in the United Kingdom. He took the shot on Feb. 27, 2014, in Prestatyn, Wales, UK. [See more photos.]

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Space.com Staff
News and editorial team

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.