Solar Eclipse from Space
A camera onboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft captured this photo of the moon’s shadow over Earth as it eclipsed the sun.
Dark Side of the Moon
The eclipse didn’t look too shabby from Earth, either. Indonesia and regions in the central Pacific experienced the total solar eclipse this week when the moon passed directly in front of the sun. The next total solar eclipse that will be visible from North America is expected to occur on August 21, 2017.
Zoogle Selfie
Google partnered with the Los Angeles Zoo to set up motion-sensor cameras in animal habitats that take photos of the animals when they get within 18 inches of the camera, Buzzfeed reported. The growing collection of photos, collectively called Zoogle Selfies, can be viewed here.
Ziggy Walks, Thanks To 3D Printing
Ziggy the dog is an amputee who suffered from damage to the growth plates in his front leg after his amputation. Vets at the University of Queensland used 3D printing to figure out how to perform surgery on him and outfitted him in a cart and body harness to help support his weight, Mashable reported.
Colliding Clusters
This galaxy cluster, named MACS J0717, is one of the most complex clusters yet observed according to NASA. It formed after a collision between four star clusters.
A Star’s Last Stages
This image captures a dying star’s last stages of life. It sheds its outer layers to reveal an incredibly hot core, radiating huge amounts of ultraviolet light. Because this star is roughly the same size as our sun, it offers a glimpse of what is likely to happen in about 5 billion years, when our own star dies.
A Friendship for the Ages
Researchers published findings this week about friendly warthog-mongoose relations. They observed warthogs in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park lying down near mongooses to let the little mammals pick ticks and pests off their coats to eat.
Star Dust Disk
At the beginning and ends of their lives, stars often accumulate discs of dusty material around them. Astronomers at the ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile used the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) to capture the first ever highly detailed image of an aging star disk, allowing them to study the dying star.
Comet Up Close
The Rosetta spacecraft came just 19.6 km away from comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko to capture this image, according to the ESA. Scientists announced this week that ice on the surface of this comet may have formed at the same time as the solar system.
