Best Space Pictures: Black Holes, Volcanic Smog
Ole'! Chile showcases its skies and mountain heights in the week's best space pictures, along with Martian mysteries and an intriguing twin quasar.
High above Chile, the International Space Station's crew offers up a lovely look at the glaciers gleaming in the southern Andes, as seen in this January 22 image released by NASA. (See also: "Up on the Farm? Five Reasons NASA Needs Space Greenhouses.")
Beloved by hikers, Patagonia was easy to reach for the orbiting space lab, flying some 230 miles (370 kilometers) overhead.
The view shows O'Higgins Lake in Patagonia, one of the deepest lakes in the Western Hemisphere, fed by glaciers that have thinned in recent decades.
How about a swim? The sparkling lights of the Lagoon Nebula would surely entice any space traveler in the mood for a dip, its veil shimmering in this view released on
