Feb 27, 2016 7:00 AM

Gallery: Space Photos of the Week: The Milky Way Gets a Close-Up

<a href="http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1606/?lang">ESO/APEX/ATLASGAL consortium/NASA/GLIMPSE consortium/ESA/Planck</a>
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The southern plane of the Milky Way gets an incredible close up via the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope in Chile. Apex created a panorama of the galactic plane in detailed sub-millimeter wavelengths invisible to the eye and the sharpest map of the galaxy ever made. The APEX telescope helps astronomers study cold gas and dust just above absolute zero where new stars form.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2016/hubbles-blue-bubble">European Space Agency</a>
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WR 31a is a Wolf-Rayet star and is surrounded by the Wolf-Rayet nebula, a blue, bubble-like cloud made up of dust and gases like hydrogen and helium. The bubble occurs from stellar winds coming into contact with outer hydrogen layers spit out by the star. WR 31a will only last a few hundred thousand years, and end its relatively short lifespan as a stunning supernova.

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-frozen-canyons-of-pluto-s-north-pole">NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI</a>
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This New Horizons photo offers a fascinating look at Pluto’s north pole, offering even more insights into the geological features on the dwarf planet. There are long canyons (the widest about 45 miles wide), valleys and large pits that may have been caused by melting subsurface ice. Pluto’s north pole also has a strange yellow and gray color, enhanced in this image for further detail.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/flying-through-the-auroras-green-fog"> ESA/NASA</a>
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A gorgeous photo of the aurora lights taken from the ISS. Tim Peake shot and posted the photo to Twitter on February 23. "The @Space\_Station just passed straight through a thick green fog of #aurora…eerie but very beautiful. #Principia"

<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/new-exhibit-features-LRO-imagery">NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University</a>
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The National Air and Space Museum is showcasing 61 photos from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter starting Feburary 26. The photos showcase many striking and curious features, proving the moon’s crust is still shifting and changing. This is a dramatic photo of the Giordano Bruno crater, one of the many craters that cover the moon’s surface.
<a href="http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia18357/three-times-the-fun">NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute</a>
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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft snaps a photo of three of Saturn’s moons. From left to right is Mimas, Enceladus and Tethys.

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