Science

Martian Moons and Jovian Jaunts

A close-up look at the universe’s many wonders, from nearby planets to faraway galaxies.
  • Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
    01
    This close-up photo of Jupiter’s temperate belts was taken by the Juno spacecraft as it skimmed by the giant planet. Jupiter is known for these stripes, which are actually atmospheric separations caused by weather patterns and variations in chemical composition.
  • Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
    02
    This image is a stitched-together portrait of some of the last Saturn photographs taken by the Cassini spacecraft—which, after 13 years in orbit, flung itself into the planet and vaporized. The white circle marks the spacecraft’s final resting place.
  • Photo: ESA/Hubble & NASA
    03
    Congratulations, you’re now a time traveler. This image shows the galaxy cluster PLCK G004.5-19.5 as it looked five billion years ago—which is how long it took the light to travel the vast distance to reach our telescopes.
  • Photo: ESO
    04
    The four laser beams shooting out from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope allow the telescope to create an artificial guide star, allowing the optics to stay tuned while scientists track real astronomical objects.
  • Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech
    05
    These two floating space objects are actually the two moons of Mars: Phobos and Deimos. Scientists hope to someday land robotic spacecraft (or even humans) on these moons, but for now they’re just studying them from a distance.
  • Photo: NASA/ESA
    06
    Scientists thought they had nailed down the universe’s rate of expansion, but a new study—which used the stars circled in yellow to measure brightness and distance—revealed that it might be expanding faster than they thought.

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