A spiral galaxy may be showing signs of maturity with a bar of stars at its center, an astronaut cheers on the players at the Women's World Cup, and an orbiting mission to Mars spotted a fresh crater on the Red Planet's surface. These are just some of the top photos this week at Space.com.
Jupiter and New York City
Jupiter glimmers over the Big Apple in this shot taken by skywatcher Alexander Krivenyshev of WorldTimeZone.com. Three of Jupiter's moons — Callisto, Io and Europa — are visible in the zoomed-in view on the top right corner of the photograph. This scene took place on Wednesday morning (June 12) when Earth and Jupiter were at their shortest distance from one another they will be at all year.
(Image: © Alexander Krivenyshev (WorldTimeZone.com))
Full Story: Jupiter Shines Over New York City in Gorgeous Skywatcher Photo
World Cup 2019 From Space
Expedition 59 astronaut Anne McClain cheered on the U.S. women's soccer team from space in a Tuesday (June 11) tweet. McClain was an athlete herself before heading up to the International Space Station. In this view from the space lab, red circles carefully mark Reims, France, the location of the soccer match.
(Image: © NASA)
Full Story: World Cup 2019: Astronaut Cheers on US Women's Soccer Team from Space
Milky Way and an Olive Tree
The Milky Way glimmers as it rises over an olive tree in the Nature Park of Noudar in Portugal's Dark Sky Alqueva. This astronomical ''skyscape'' was taken by the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, Miguel Claro, who also captured a breathtaking video of this scene.
(Image: © Miguel Claro)
Full Story: Rising Milky Way Shines Bright in Portugal's Darkest Skies (Video)
NGC 7773
A prominent bar of stars sits at the center of this spiral galaxy, and may indicate its maturity. The Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 took this beautiful picture of NGC 7773, and it may reveal hints about the future of our own Milky Way galaxy.
(Image: © ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Walsh)
Full Story: This Gorgeous Spiral Galaxy Photo May Hold Clues About Our Milky Way's Inner Workings
Saturday Night Lights
A child uses a telescope at the "Saturday Night Lights" event held at Brooklyn Bridge Park as part of the 2019 World Science Festival. Over the course of four hours, hundreds of people gathered on the green lawn near the New York City harbor to watch audiovisual presentations, to take pictures with an astronaut, and to hear scientists talk about their missions and to take their shot at planet-gazing.
(Image: © World Science Festival/Greg Kessler)
Full Story: A Harbor and Hubble: 'Saturday Night Lights' at 2019 World Science Festival
A Jovian Abyss
NASA's Juno spacecraft spotted this dark, eerie hole at the center of a cloud vortex in Jupiter's atmosphere. The dark spot, located in a Jovian jet stream, is surrounded by bright high-altitude clouds that appear brighter as they swirl in the sunlight. Juno captured this image on May 29 when the spacecraft was about 9,200 miles (14,800 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops. — Hanneke Weitering
Cloudy Sunset Seen from Orbit
A sheet of clouds blankets the sky over the Pacific Ocean as light from the setting sun reflects off the surface of the water in this view from the International Space Station. An Expedition 59 astronaut captured this photo on Tuesday (June 11) when the space station was flying into the sunset about 650 miles (1,050 kilometers) off the coast of San Francisco. — Hanneke Weitering
New Crater Spotted on Mars
Friday, June 7, 2019: A fresh crater on the surface of Mars shows darker shades of Martian soil that became exposed after an impact kicked up the loose dirt on top. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this color-enhanced image of the crater using its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on April 17. Scientists believe the crater formed sometime between September 2016 and February 2019. — Hanneke Weitering
Satellite Flare Over VLT
A satellite flare lights up the sky over the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) array on Paranal mountain in Chile in this sparkling image by ESO photo ambassador Roger Wesson. The four main unit telescopes that make up VLT are pictured here. Not pictured are the array's four smaller auxiliary telescopes. — Hanneke Weitering