Best Space Photos of the Week – Feb. 13, 2016

Rochester Institute of Technology Simulation of Gravitational Waves

Campanelli et al.

Rochester Institute of Technology scientists produced one of the first computer simulations of gravitational waves arising from colliding black holes. Image released Feb. 11, 2016.

LIGO's Gravitational-Wave Signal Converted to Sound Waves

LIGO

Researchers with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory have converted the signal from the first-ever detection of gravitational waves to sound waves.

Gravitational Wave Source Map

LIGO Science Collaboration

This map of the Southern Hemisphere skies shows the probably location of the gravitational wave source (a merging black hole) well beyond our Local Group of galaxies.

Technician Working on LIGO Detector

LIGO Laboratory

A technician works on some of the optics for a Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detector.

OK Go's Zero-G Music Video

OK Go/Facebook

Screenshot from OK Go's video for the song "Upside Down & Inside Out," which was filmed aboard a plane that flew in parabolic arcs to produce brief periods of weightlessness.

Super Bowl 50 from Space

NASA/Scott Kelly

"Got to see the #SuperBowl in person after all! But at 17,500MPH, it didn't last long. #YearInSpace" said NASA astronaut Scott Kelly on Sunday after he orbited over California. Levi's Stadium is the oval shape in the center of the photo.

Delta IV NROL-45 Launch

United Launch Alliance

A Delta IV rocket lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying the NROL-45 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office on Feb. 10. 2016.

Smelly Waste: Apollo 11 Graffitti

Smithsonian via collectSPACE.com

"Smelly Waste!" A warning seemingly written by one of the Apollo 11 astronauts, was found with other writings on the inside walls of the command module Columbia during a 3D scan of the spacecraft

360-Degree Curiosity Rover Video

NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

This image shows a screengrab of the 360 degree YouTube video, Curiosity's deck, Namib Dune and Mount Sharp in shot.

Yardangs on Mars

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft captured these wind-shaped features of Mars' terrain, called yardangs. Image released Feb. 11, 2016.

Highest-Resolution Astronomical Image

Gomez, et al., Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF

Astronomers created the most detailed astronomical image to date, showing a black hole and its high-speed jets in the heart of a distant galaxy.

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