Gallery: Space Photos of the Week: A Stellar Explosion Pitches a Stellar Tantrum
<a href="http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso1711a/">ESO</a>01SPoW-April6-08.jpg
The ALMA telescope captured this spectacular stellar explosion in the Orion Molecular Cloud 1, a region with dense and active star formation. The explosion most likely formed when two young protostars clashed together, shooting carbon monoxide and gas into the universe in a fantastic fireworks display.
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Jupiter made its nearest approach to earth on April 3, just 415 million miles from Earth. Hubble seized the opportunity to snap this incredible close-up. The famous Great Red Spot is a swirling storm roughly the diameter of Earth.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/comet-that-took-a-century-to-confirm-passes-by-earth">NASA</a>03SPoW-April6-01.jpg
This week, Comet 41P passed by Earth 13 million miles away, the closest flyby in over 50 years. In this image, the comet soars through a galactic field in the bowl of the Big Dipper.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/nasa-s-solar-dynamics-observatory-captured-trio-of-solar-flares-april-2-3">NASA</a>04SPoW-April6-03.jpg
NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured three solar flares on the Sun, which are powerful bursts of radiation.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-horizons-halfway-from-pluto-to-next-flyby-target">NASA</a>05SPoW-April6-04.jpg
This 10-second exposure of the star field was snapped by the New Horizons spacecraft as it neared MU69, a Kuiper Belt object (highlighted in yellow). New Horizons will pass by this target in January 2019, setting the record the the furthest exploration in history.
<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia20530/sliver-of-saturn">NASA</a>06SPoW-April6-05.jpg
From below Saturn’s ring plane, the dense B ring, in the center, appears dark, while the A and C rings, on either side of it, appear more opaque.
<a href="http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1714a/">ALMA</a>07SPoW-April6-07.jpg
In this image, a young star is surrounded by thick rings of dust. The gaps between rings were likely caused when some of the dust coalesced into protoplanets.
