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Swirling GalaxyWith its high-powered lenses, the Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of the spiral galaxy Messier 77, a large group of stars 45 million light-years from Earth. The colors of the spiral in this image released March 28 reveal that new stars were formed in the red and blue areas. The overall glow indicates that the entire system is rich with ionized gas.
Image courtesy A. van der Hoeven and ESA/NASA

Space Pictures This Week: Mars Gullies, Aurora Borealis, and Dragon Detaches

Mars melt produces gullies and a Dragon detaches in this week's best space pictures.

March 31, 2013