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Friday 22 July 2016

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC'S BEST SPACE PICTURES THIS WEEK CXVII


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See a Vibrant Star Nursery and Martian Ruffles
By Michael Greshko,
National Geographic News, 22 July 2016.

This week, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spots a tower of solar plasma, satellites catch swirls of ice off Canada's coast, and ancient Martian glaciers get draped with shadows.

1. Kaleidoscopic Eye

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Hubble gazes at the core of the galaxy NGC 3125 as it looked 50 million years ago. The galaxy resembles our close neighbour the Large Magellanic Cloud but is much brighter, as evidenced by the hot, young blue stars at its centre.

2. Above and Beyond

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Saturn's moons Dione (left) and Epimetheus (right) gleam alongside the planet's bright rings in an image from the Cassini orbiter.

3. Ruffles Have Ridges

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NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spots flow-like structures extending from the southern mountain Euripus Mons. Radar evidence suggests the ridges are debris-covered, non-moving glaciers.

4. Sunny Spikes

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An active region at the edge of the sun recently pushed out about ten thrusts of plasma - seen here in ultraviolet - in just over a day. They all quickly withdrew into the active region, controlled by magnetic forces.

5. Slushy Swirl

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Photograph by Earth Observatory, NASA

NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites spotted an ice eddy off the coast of Labrador, Canada. Ice eddies form when ocean currents swirl together chunks of sea ice created as surface ice melts in spring and fall.

[Source: National Geographic News. Edited. Links added.]

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