Space Photos: Galaxy Laser, Moon Bridge, More

Put a Ring on It

Image courtesy NASA/ESA

A glittering pink ring near supernova 1987A (above, in an image released September 2) is actually remnants of a galactic shock wave captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

The star explosion unleashed material that slammed into regions near the ring, heating them and causing the telltale glow. About a light-year across, the ring material itself was likely shed by the star about 20,000 years before it went supernova, according to HubbleSite.

(Also see "New Supernova Picture: Blast Seen in 'Exploding' Galaxy.")

Published September 9, 2010

Moon Bridge

Diagram courtesy NASA/GSFC/ASU

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera has spotted the first known natural bridge on the moon, given away by light passing through the bridge's archway (seen as a crescent of light on the left pit, in a picture released September 7).

On Earth natural bridges are the results of wind and water eroding away rock. But on the moon such geologic features usually occur following collapses of lava tubes, which formed long ago in the moon's history.

(Related: "The Moon Has Shrunk, and May Still Be Contracting.")

In this case, though, the natural bridge did not form from lava tubes but rather from rock that had melted due to the impact that formed King Crater, according to the LRO website.

Published September 9, 2010

Galactic Garbage Truck

Photograph courtesy NASA

Laden with trash and junk, the unpiloted supply vehicle ISS Progress 38 leaves the International Space Station on August 31.

Progress 38 will soon be deorbited and burn up in Earth's atmosphere—but not before Russian flight controllers use the spacecraft to conduct tests for engineering data.

Its successor, Progress 39, will launch September 8 and arrive at the space station on September 10 with 2.5 tons of food, fuel, and supplies.

(See "Robot Arm to Grab Robotic Ship—A Space Station First.")

Published September 9, 2010

Wispy Ice Walls

Photograph courtesy NASA

As it zipped past Saturn's moon Dione this past weekend, NASA's Cassini spacecraft got its best look yet at the northern pole of this small, cratered moon.

The "stark, raw" pictures also show a new perspective on the moon's wavy canyon ice walls (pictured in a photo released September 7), according to the website of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

(Related: "Four Moons Cross Saturn in Rare Hubble View.")

First described as "wispy terrain" in the early 1980s, these ice walls thread along the surface of the moon and cut across craters, the website says.

Published September 9, 2010