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Lofty LayersNASA’s New Horizons probe sent back this high-resolution look at Pluto’s hazy atmosphere backlit by the sun. The multilayered blue smog is made from molecules formed when methane and nitrogen are irradiated by sunlight.
Photograph by NASA/JHUAPL/Southwest Research Institute

Week’s Best Space Pictures: Pluto’s Possible Ice Volcano

Saturn’s moons size each other up, and a messy galaxy shines a mysterious X-ray beacon.

January 22, 2016

Feed your need for heavenly views of the universe with our pick of the most awe-inspiring space pictures. This week, tangled lines of glowing particles cover the sun’s surface, Pluto shows off its many-layered atmosphere, and one of the Milky Way’s brightest star clusters glitters.

National Geographic History Magazine

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