The Week's Coolest Space Photos
Every day satellites are zooming through space, snapping incredible pictures of Earth, the solar system and outer space. Here are the highlights from this week.
Red Carbon Star U Antliae (Header Image)
This image was created from ALMA data on the unusual red carbon star U Antliae and its surrounding shell of material. The colours show the motion of the glowing material in the shell along the line of sight to the Earth. Blue material lies between us and the central star, and is moving towards us. Red material around the edge is moving away from the star, but not towards the Earth.
Cassini's Final Image
This monochrome view is the last image taken by the imaging cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft. It looks toward the planet's night side, lit by reflected light from the rings, and shows the location at which the spacecraft would enter the planet's atmosphere hours later.
A Last Look At Titan
As it glanced around the Saturn system one final time, NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this view of the planet's giant moon Titan.
Enceladus, The Ocean Moon
After years of analyzing data from the CIRS instrument and others, it was clear that Enceladus harbors a liquid-water ocean.
Great Turmoil In The Molecular Clouds
This delicate image showing the intricacies of interstellar bubbles and wisps reveals great turmoil in the W3/W4/W5 complex of molecular clouds and star-forming regions.
