Hubble Spies a Spiral Snowflake

Together with irregular galaxies, spiral galaxies make up approximately 60 percent of the galaxies in the local universe. However, despite their prevalence, each spiral galaxy is unique — like snowflakes, no two are alike. This is demonstrated by the striking face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6814.

NASA's IceBridge Flies Over the Front of a Greenland Glacier

Operation IceBridge, NASA's airborne survey of polar ice, has returned from the Umanaq B mission along Greenland's western coast. This top-down view from a NOAA P-3 aircraft shows the calving front of Sermeq Kujatdleq glacier. The Naircraft's #2 lower engine nacelle and left main landing gear fairing is in the foreground at top.

Sunset at Big Apple

Full of Science, Dragon Spacecraft Undocks for Return to Earth

ESA astronaut Tim Peake photographed the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft as it undocked from the International Space Station on May 11, 2016. Scheduled to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 2:55 p.m. EDT, the spacecraft will return the final batch of human research samples from former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly’s historic one-year mission.

Smoke From Canadian Wildfires Trapped in Clouds

NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of the clouds over Canada on May 9, 2016. Entwined within the clouds is the smoke billowing up from the wildfires that are currently burning across a large expanse of the country.

Quiet Sunset

Mercury Solar Transit

The planet Mercury is seen in silhouette, lower third of image, as it transits across the face of the sun Monday, May 9, 2016, as viewed from Boyertown, Pennsylvania. Mercury passes between Earth and the sun only about 13 times a century, with the previous transit taking place in 2006.