Best Space Photos of the Week - Oct. 26, 2013

Spectacular 'Canyon of Fire' Rips Across the Sun in NASA Video

When a 200,000-mile (320,000-kilometer) filament of solar material tore through the sun last month, it cut what looks like a "canyon of fire" in our closest star, new NASA observations show. [Read the Full Story]

Amateur Astronomer Spots Stunning Rosette Nebula in Full Bloom (Photo)

Distant clouds of gas and dust form the likeness of a rose in this beautiful image of aptly named Rosette Nebula captured by a skilled amateur astronomer. Astrophotographer Brian Davis took the photo from a driveway in the suburbs of Sumter, S.C. [Read the Full Story]

NASA Spacecraft Snaps Amazing Photo of Earth En Route to Jupiter

When NASA's Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft zipped around Earth earlier this month, it peered back at our planet for a photo op. During this close encounter, the JunoCam snapped an image of Earth, released by NASA this week. [Read the Full Story]

Astronaut Uses Single Strand of Hair to Move in Zero-G (Video)

It doesn't take much of a push to get around in microgravity, as NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg recently demonstrated aboard the International Space Station. [Read the Full Story]

Penumbral Lunar Eclipse of Oct. 18, 2013: A Moon Gazing Guide

Astrophotographer David Peller caught several images of the penumbral lunar Eclipse over Worcester, MA, on Oct. 18, 2013. [See More Images]

Orionid Meteor Shower Sparks Bright Fireballs (Video)

The Orionid meteor shower produced some amazing cosmic sights for stargazers, including two brilliant fireballs, despite a bright moon and predictions of a less-than-stellar show. [Read the Full Story]

Sun Fires Off 2nd Monster Solar Flare in 1 Day (Video)

Things are really starting to heat up on the sun. Our star blasted out yet another strong flare late Friday morning (Oct. 25), continuing a pattern of high and intensifying solar activity over the past few days. [Read the Full Story]

World View's Near-Space Tourism Balloon Rides in Pictures

World View Enterprises of Tucson, AZ, plans to offer suborbital spaceflight in a capsule lifted by balloon to 18.6 miles (30 km), which then glides back to Earth. Here's a look at the balloon ride to near-space as currently planned. [See More Images]

It All Looks Fine to the Naked Eye

Beneath a starry southern hemisphere sky stands one of the four Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of Chile. At the left side of the image, at about the level of the top of the telescope, shines Messier 31, or the Andromeda Galaxy, visible as a bright smudge. Up and to the right of Messier 31, the bright star Beta Andromedae (Mirach) glistens. Following the line created by the star and the galaxy leads to Messier 33 galaxy, almost at the top frame line. Messier 31 and Messier 33 may have interacted in the past, forming a bridge of hydrogen gas spanning the gap between them. [See More Images]

The Shield

Gaia spacecraft’s Deployable Sunshield Assembly (DSA) underwent deployment testing in the S1B integration building at Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on Oct. 10, 2013. The shield has two purposes: to shade Gaia’s telescopes and cameras, and to provide power. Gaia spacecraft represents ESA’s billion-star surveyor, designed to provide a precise 3D map of the Milky Way galaxy in order to understand its composition, formation and evolution. The previously scheduled launch date for Gaia has been pushed back from Nov. 20, 2013, to the next available launch window from Dec. 17 to January 5, 2014. [See More Images]

Space History Photo: Apollo 14 EVA View

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, Astronaut Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot, photographed this sweeping view showing fellow Moon-explorer astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr., mission commander, and the Apollo 14 Lunar Module (LM). A small cluster of rocks and a few prints made by the lunar overshoes of Mitchell are in the foreground. [Read the Full Story]