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Lucky ShotA Perseid meteor zips over Iran's Alamut Castle in an August 12 picture submitted to the astronomy-education project The World at Night.The Perseids, which occur annually when Earth and the moon pass through a cloud of rocky particles shed by comet Swift-Tuttle, often provide an impressive show for sky-watchers—including photographer Oshin D. Zakarian."Just came back from Perseid-meteor shooting," he wrote with his submission, "and this time I was lucky!"(Also see "Perseid Pictures: Meteors With Aurora, Seen From Space, More.")
Photograph by Oshin D. Zakarian, TWAN

Space Pictures This Week: Loner Galaxy, Mars Closeup, More

Meteors dazzle, the Mars rover gets busy, and a NASA test vehicle burns in the week's best space pictures.

August 18, 2012