Best Space Photos of the Week — June 28, 2015

Pluto Probe Spies Weird 'Dark Pole' on Big Moon Charon

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has spotted a strange dark patch at the pole of Pluto's big moon Charon, further whetting researchers' appetites ahead of the probe's epic flyby of the dwarf planet system next month. See the Full Story.

Ceres' Odd Bright Spots Coming Into Focus

New images of Ceres reveal the dwarf planet’s mysterious bright spots in sharp detail. See the Full Story.

140 Million Suns! Monster Black Hole Weighs In

ALMA uses new measurements to weigh black hole. Read the Full Story.

Sun Storm Supercharges Northern Lights, Wowing Skywatchers

A powerful solar storm made northern lights arrays visible across Canada, in the northern US, and as far south as Philadelphia and northern New jersey. Astronaut Scott Kelly said the lights woke him up aboard the international space station. Read the Full Story.

First Color Movies of Pluto Reveal Double-Planet Dance

The first color "movies" of Pluto as seen by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft reveal the sheer strangeness of the orbital dance between the dwarf planet and its largest moon Charon. Read the Full Story.

Mighty X-Ray Echos Circle 'Lord of the Rings' Neutron Star

Chandra X-Ray observatory caught a vivid picture of x rays reflecting off of dust rings encircling Circlinus X-1. Read the Full Story.

Spectacular Northern Lights Show Could Continue This Weekend

Another solar storm may be headed toward Earth, which could continue the amazing northern lights displays seen as far south as Philadelphia this week. Read the Full Story.

Student Experiments Fly High on NASA Suborbital Rocket

A NASA suborbital sounding rocket flew more than 71 miles (114 kilometers) high yesterday (June 25), laden with student experiments. Read the Full Story.

Three of a Kind

Three of Saturn’s moons appear as crescents in this Cassini spacecraft image. Titan, the largest, stretches 3,200 miles (5,150 km) across, and only shows fuzzy cloud layers. Read the Full Story.