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Spiral SurpriseAn unexpected spiral structure has been spotted in the material around the old star R Sculptoris—seen above in a picture released October 10 by the European Space Observatory's Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The mysterious structure "has never been seen before and is probably caused by a hidden companion star orbiting the star," according to the observatory. In the above picture—the first 3-D depiction of such a spiral—the shell around the star shows up as the outer circular ring. The image also depicts a very clear spiral structure in the inner material. (See "Pictures: New Proof Spiral Galaxies Eat, Digest Dwarfs.")
Photograph courtesy ALMA/ESO/NAOJ/NRAO

Space Pictures This Week: Mars Scoop, Odd Spiral, More

The Mars rover makes a scoop, SpaceX lifts off, and astronomers spot a strange spiral in this week's best space pictures.

Published October 12, 2012