WIRED Staff
Science

Slideshow: A Galactic Wrecking Ball

Researchers say a giant meteorite once stirred up the Earth's crust. Transit of Mercury is on the horizon.... and China prepares to go back into space. By Amit Asaravala.
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The European Space Agency thought this photo taken by its Proba satellite depicted the Great Wall of China. However, the agency has since retracted that opinion, saying the image is of a river.Courtesy of European Space Agency

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In May 2003, the planet Mercury crossed the face of the sun, as seen from Earth. Because the plane of Mercury's orbit is not exactly coincident with the plane of Earth's orbit, Mercury usually appears to pass over or under the Sun. The time-lapse sequence shown here, superimposed on a single frame, was taken from a balcony in Belgium on May 7 and shows the entire transit.

Courtesy of Dominique Dierick/NASA