Gallery: Space Photos of the Week: Even MOAR Pluto
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/hubbles-galactic-sunflower">ESA/Hubble & NASA</a>01SPoW-Sept9-12-03
The arrangement of the spiral arms in the galaxy Messier 63, seen here in an image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, recall the pattern at the center of a sunflower. So the nickname for this cosmic object — the Sunflower Galaxy — is no coincidence. Galactic arms, sunflowers and whirlpools are only a few examples of nature’s apparent preference for spirals. For galaxies like Messier 63 the winding arms shine bright because of the presence of recently formed, blue–white giant stars and clusters, readily seen in this Hubble image.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-pluto-images-from-nasa-s-new-horizons-it-s-complicated">NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute</a>02SPoW-Sept9-12-04
This synthetic perspective view of Pluto, based on the latest high-resolution images to be downlinked from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, shows what you would see if you were approximately 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) above Pluto’s equatorial area, looking northeast over the dark, cratered, informally named Cthulhu Regio toward the bright, smooth, expanse of icy plains informally called Sputnik Planum. The entire expanse of terrain seen in this image is 1,100 miles (1,800 kilometers) across.
<a href="http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2015/32/">NASA, ESA, STScI, JPL-Caltech, and T. Webb (McGill University)</a>03SPoW-Sept9-12-02
Astronomers have discovered a rare beast of a galaxy cluster whose heart is bursting with new stars. The unexpected find, made with the help of NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes, suggests that behemoth galaxies at the cores of these massive clusters can grow significantly by feeding on gas stolen from other galaxies. The cluster in the new study, referred to by astronomers as SpARCS1049+56, has at least 27 galaxy members, and a combined mass equal to nearly 400 trillion suns.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/io-volcano-tides">NASA/JHU Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute</a>04SPoW-Sept9-12-01b
This five-frame sequence of images from the New Horizons spacecraft captures the giant plume from Io's Tvashtar volcano.
<a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4716">NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS</a>05SPoW-Sept9-12-07
Petrified sand dunes captured by the Mars Curiosity rover. Large-scale crossbedding in the sandstone of this ridge on a lower slope of Mars' Mount Sharp is typical of windblown sand dunes that have petrified.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/dawn-takes-a-closer-look-at-occator">NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA</a>06SPoW-Sept9-12-05
This image, made using images taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, shows Occator crater on Ceres, home to a collection of intriguing bright spots.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/cassini/pia18336/methane-painting">NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute</a>07SPoW-Sept9-12-06
Why does Saturn look like it's been painted with a dark brush in this infrared image, but Dione looks untouched? Perhaps an artist with very specific tastes in palettes? The answer is methane. This image was taken in a wavelength that is absorbed by methane. Dark areas seen here on Saturn are regions with thicker clouds, where light has to travel through more methane on its way into and back out of the atmosphere. Since Dione (698 miles or 1,123 kilometers across) doesn't have an atmosphere rich in methane the way Saturn does, it does not experience similar absorption -- the sunlight simply bounces off its icy surface.
