You think the vortex is bad? It’s always cold outside in space, and usually around 80 degrees Fahrenheit below zero on Mars. Ever wonder how NASA’s Curiosity rover is doing? Glad you asked, because it’s taken some brand-new selfies. The rover has become famous for these epic shots (3.97 million Twitter followers can’t be wrong) using the camera attached to its long articulating arm. Once the set of images are sent back to Earth, folks at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory stitch them together and remove the giant arm so that what is left is a dusty but amazing Martian selfie.
Far out in our solar system we check out the latest object visited by the New Horizons probe, 2014 MU69. This object is thought to be a primordial rock from the very earliest days of our solar system, and because it is so far away, MU69 hasn’t been affected very much by the Sun, leaving most of its original material intact. That makes it a prime subject for scientific study.
Now we go much further afield to watch a galaxy die a slow, torturous death as all of its gas and dust gets yanked out, and then try to wrap our heads around dark energy and its role in expanding the universe. Space isn’t just cold, it’s cool!
As Major Tom told Ground Control, “the stars look very different today.” For last week’s or any week’s space photos, see WIRED’s full universal gallery here.
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Source:WIRED
