Space Photos of the Week April 6, 2018
01Galaxy NGC 5714 is seen side-on in this image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. It’s a spiral galaxy like our own Milky Way, but from this vantage point it looks more like a fuzzy swath of stardust. Scientists study NGC 5714 because in 2003 it was home to a supernova, or the violent death of a star. While supernovae themselves aren’t rare, this one in particular showed traces of calcium, which is unusual. Only 15 calcium-rich supernova have ever been discovered.
02There are some objects in space that truly puzzle astronomers, and this galaxy, NGC 1052-DF2, is among them. This doesn’t look like a “normal” galaxy because, well, it isn’t. Not only does it not take a typical galactic shape, but also it happens to be missing its dark matter. Scientists have no idea how this oddity formed and why most or maybe even all of the dark matter is missing.
03This gorgeous splattering of stars is globular cluster NGC 6397, and it’s only 7,800 light years from Earth. But this cluster isn’t like many globular clusters that we see; astronomers estimate that NGC 6397 is nearly as old as the universe itself, ringing in at 13.4 billion years old!
04Do you see a black fox flying through space? You are not alone. This darker region is actually an area full of dense gas located in the constellation Orion. The European Space Agency used data from its Gaia satellite to spot this nebula and other dark, gassy regions that are similar—though maybe not shaped as cool.
05This picture might look like melting chocolate, but actually these features are gullies and dunes on Mars. This is Matara Crater, a region that’s shown a lot of activity over the years. Frost can even be seen on the right of the image around some of the gullies.
06Behold Lobo Vallis, a Martian region with active dunes and lots and lots of sand. These tendrilic shapes are formed when the winds push the sands around. Mars might have a reputation as a barren, dead planet, but its geology is very much alive.
