Gallery: Space Photos of the Week: Codependent Spiral Galaxies Dunno Who They Are Anymore
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2017/hubbles-glittering-frisbee-galaxy">NASA</a>01SPoWMarch23-05.jpg
Spiral galaxies like this one function like a frisbee, spinning into the universe. This one appears oval rather than circular, since you see it from its side.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia21567/the-hills-are-colorful-in-juventae-chasma">NASA</a>02SPoWMarch23-01.jpg
This enhanced-color photo shows sand dunes in Mars’ Juventae Chasma canyon, where many hills are half a mile tall.
<a href="http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2017-12">NASA</a>03SPoWMarch23-08.gif
The supermassive black hole, weighing more than one billion suns, was propelled from the center of a far-off galaxy, possibly powered by gravitational waves.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/ice-in-ceres-shadowed-craters-linked-to-tilt-history">NASA</a>04SPoWMarch23-06.gif
The illumination of Ceres, a dwarf planet, changes based on its axial tilt (its angle as it spins around the sun).
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2017/hubble-spots-two-interacting-galaxies-defying-cosmic-convention">ESA</a>05SPoWMarch23-10.gif
These two galaxies (the blue glow on the right, and the smaller one in upper left) interact, influencing each other with gravitational forces. They’ve distorted each other enough so that it’s difficult to tell what each looked like before they started reshaping each other’s structures.
<a href="http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1712a/">ALMA</a>06SPoWMarch23-03.jpg
This image shows glowing dust inside a protocluster, where a massive protostar grows in the stellar nursery.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia21571/dunes-of-the-southern-highlands">NASA</a>07SPoWMarch23-09.gif
Mars’ surface is dotted with sand dunes, including this field in the planet’s Southern hemisphere, composed of crescent-shaped dunes.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia20526/a-resolution">NASA</a>08SPoWMarch23-04.jpg
This close-up, taken from 70,000 miles away, shows the detailed structures of Saturn’s A ring.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia21568/gullies-in-winter-shadow">NASA</a>09SPoWMarch23-02.jpg
This image shows gullies on Mars that have actively formed in the winter, while carbon dioxide frosts the ground.
Astronomers Discover a Possible New Dwarf Planet in Our Solar System
Lying beyond Pluto, 2026 ED138 could be as large as 1,500 kilometers in diameter. Astronomers are still working to confirm whether it meets the criteria for a dwarf planet.
Jorge Garay
Inside the Supermassive Debate Over the James Webb Telescope’s ‘Little Red Dots’
The Webb telescope sees tiny red dots everywhere. Astronomers can’t agree on what they are, but some believe they may be enormous stars with black holes inside.
Charlie Wood
Humans Watched This Supernova Explode Nearly a Millennium Ago. Now You Can See It in High Definition
The new image isn’t just stunning—it may also provide clues about how this star survived its own explosion.
Jorge Garay
Astronomers Confirm Discovery of the Youngest Known Exoplanet Ever
Under 1 million years old, “Elias 2-24b” is now the youngest exoplanet ever observed, and it may force researchers to reevaluate theories about how planets are formed.
Teruyuki Hayakawa
NASA’s Oldest Martian Spacecraft Have Been Running for Decades. Here’s How
Two orbiters have long outlasted their expected lifespans and completely reshaped our understanding of the Red Planet, all while operating 140 million miles from Earth.
Meghan Bartels
The ‘Exotic Physics’ Behind a Mysterious 1,000-Mile Cloud on Mars
The cloud has baffled astronomers since its discovery in 2018. Now, a new study offers a possible cause for its appearance.
Tereza Ondráčková
Japan Is Attempting an Audacious Mission to Sample a Martian Moon
JAXA is leading an international mission to reach Mars’ Phobos moon and bring soil back to Earth. If successful, it could unlock new clues about the history of the solar system.
Jenna Ahart
How to See the Orionid Meteor Shower and Other Upcoming Astronomical Events
Made up of small fragments left behind by Halley’s Comet, these meteors are known for being especially bright and speedy.
Ritsuko Kawai
NASA Just Made Nearly 1 TB of Artemis II Data Available to the Public
The data drop includes photographs, audio, video, and astronauts’ notes that will be used to study the moon and prepare for future human missions.
Jorge Garay
What to Know About China’s Top-Secret Spaceplane
This week, the Pentagon released a full-resolution image of the vehicle, the capabilities of which remain rather mysterious.
Stephen Clark, Ars Technica
Scientists Trapped an Antimatter Particle for Months to Study Its Secrets
These elusive and reactive particles have been challenging to hold on to and even more challenging to study, but a new method paves the way for tests on the differences between matter and antimatter.
Jorge Garay
Artemis III Scientist Shares What to Expect From NASA’s Next Lunar Mission
Though scaled back from initial plans of landing, the voyage will serve as a dress rehearsal for when humans return to the moon’s surface.
Jorge Garay