A Star-Studded BarDiscovered in 1784 by astronomer William Herschel, the galaxy NGC 4394 is about 55 million light-years from Earth. It’s the archetypal barred spiral galaxy, with graceful arms and a central bar of gas and stars.
Photograph by ESA/Hubble, NASA

Week's Best Space Pictures: A Magnificently Bulging Galaxy

Mars’s winter frosts gleam in neon blue, and a Saturn moon does its best impression of a glittering dewdrop.

ByMichael Greshko
May 6, 2016

Feed your need for heavenly views of the universe with our pick of the most awe-inspiring space pictures.

This week, the Cassini spacecraft spots Enceladus just above Saturn’s rings, an International Space Station astronaut flies over Brazil, and one of Mars’s deepest chasms hints at the planet's once watery past.

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