Perseids, Mars and the Milky Way
Wednesday, August 29, 2018: Dozens of Perseid meteors appear to sprint toward the Milky Way over Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park in this composite taken by astrophotographer Cody Limber. "I backpacked into the dunes to make sure that I was far away from all other lights," Limber told Space.com. "Although I got incredibly sandy, it was worth it and I managed to capture a ton of meteors throughout the night!" Mars is also visible in this photo, glowing brighter than any other star in the sky. — Hanneke Weitering
The Carina Nebula
Thursday, August 30, 2018: The Carina Nebula is brims with beautiful, multicolored stars and clouds of interstellar dust and gas in this stunning new image from the European Southern Observatory's VISTA telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. This nebula is one of the largest star-forming regions in the Milky Way, and it lies 7,500 light-years away in the constellation of Carina. — Hanneke Weitering
Electric-Blue Auroras on Saturn
Friday, August 31, 2018: Vibrant auroras circle Saturn's north pole in this new image from the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronomers created this composite by combining images that were captured in ultraviolet light with observations of Saturn in optical, or visible wavelengths of light. While auroras on Earth are visible to the human eye, Saturn's auroras glow with ultraviolet light, which is outside the visible spectrum. — Hanneke Weitering