Gallery: Space Photos of the Week: This Nebula Doesn't Come in Peace
<a href="http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1517/">NASA, ESA, J. Trauger (Jet Propulson Laboratory)</a>01SPoW-July26-Aug1-07
This photo shows the Nebula Lagoon in the constellation of Sagittarius. The region’s name might sound peaceful, but it’s actually the exact opposite. The center of the nebula is home to extreme winds from hot stars, tumultuous funnels of gas and active star formation. The distinctive star buried in dark clouds is Herschel 36 and influences the surrounding cloud’s shape.
<a href="http://www.spacetelescope.org/news/heic1517/">NASA, ESA, Digitized Sky Survey 2 (Acknowledgement: Davide De Martin)</a>02SPoW-July26-Aug1-01
A more tranquil image of the Lagoon Nebula and surrounding area from the Digitized Sky Survey. The nebula looks much calmer from far away, hiding the regions chaotic and stormy center.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/cassini/unusual-red-arcs-spotted-on-icy-saturn-moon">NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute</a>03SPoW-July26-Aug1-04
The Cassini spacecraft captures reddish streaks on Tethys, Saturn’s icy moon. The color is somewhat of a rarity when it comes to Saturn’s moons. Photos indicate the streaks are only a few miles wide but several hundreds miles long. Scientists speculate the features might be exposed ice with chemical impurities or a result of outgassing from inside the moon.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/hubble-sees-a-dying-stars-final-moments">ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgement: Matej Novak</a>04SPoW-July26-Aug1-02
The Hubble Space Telescope captures a dying star’s last moments that has resulted in a planetary nebula known as NGC 6565. Here the star radiates color caused by ultraviolet radiation from its core. The actual death could last tens of thousands of years, but is still a blip on the cosmological timescale.
<a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA19862">NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona</a>05SPoW-July26-Aug1-06
Photo of an unnamed crater in Utopia Planitia, an impact basin on the surface of Mars. The photo has enhanced-color to draw out the crater’s distinctive features, including gullies that may or may not have been formed by water. Other features hint at the possible existence of snow or ground ice (both in the past and possible the present).
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/jpl/dawn/pia19607/topographic-maps-of-ceres-east-and-west-hemispheres">NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA</a>06SPoW-July26-Aug1-03
These color-coded images from NASA’s Dawn mission highlight the typography of Ceres on both is east and west hemispheres. The dwarf planet is about half the size of Pluto and the largest object in the asteroid belt.
<a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4675">NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSSR</a>07SPoW-July26-Aug1-05
NASA captures photos of a peanut-shaped asteroid passing by Earth this weekend. Using two large, ground radio telescopes, scientists bounced radar signals to create images and video of the object. Named 1999 JD6, the asteroid was closest to Earth on July 24, some 4.5 million miles away.
