Images from space that are out of this world
The northern hemisphere sky was aglow with bright and beautiful sparks of light this week, as the annual Perseid meteor shower passed overhead.
Coinciding with a new moon this year for the first time since 2007, it peaked overnight between August 13 and 14 when an estimated 100 shooting stars streaked across the sky each hour.
• Pluto’s stunning close-up: video and pictures
• Google Earth selects its best images from space
• First space-grown vegetables on the menu
Scientists said the conditions made dazzling display the brightest in years.
Visible to the naked eye, the phenomenon is caused by the remnants of the comet Swift-Tuttle which orbits the solar system every 133 years.
“All comets probably have a bad case of dandruff,” University of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy public astronomer Carolin Crawford told the ABC, referring to the trademark tails of comets.
“But this one is one where the Earth’s orbit takes it smack through the centre of the trail of debris that it leaves behind.”
But the meteor shower is not the only awesome occurrence in the solar system this week.
In a world first, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is growing protein crystals and vegetables in space, with astronauts tasting the first lettuce crop this week.
The growing system, known as VEGGIE, supports a variety of plant species that can be cultivated for educational outreach, fresh food and even recreation for crew members on long-duration missions.
Last month, NASA also released some of the sharpest images ever captured of dwarf planet Pluto in the first fly by of the distant ice and rock planet.
Taken as part of the New Horizon’s project, the spacecraft flew past the planet taking detailed measurements and other observations of Pluto and its moons.
See below for the best images and videos this week, including the Tianjin explosion – from 35,000km up – and unreal vision of the moon passing the Earth.
