The Week in Pictures: March 9–15, 2013
In the past seven days, astronomers found a pair of stars that has taken over the title for the third-closed star system to the Sun, Curiosity's Mars drilling sample revealed key chemical ingredients for life, scientists discovered an extremely rare triple quasar system, and more.
Published: Friday, March 15, 2013
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Gemini Observatory/AURA/NSF
Closest star system found in a century
Both stars in the new binary system are brown dwarfs, resembling giant planets like Jupiter more than bright stars like the Sun. Learn more »
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/MSSS
Rover finds conditions once suited for ancient life on Mars
Scientists identified some of the key chemical ingredients for life in the powder Curiosity drilled out of a sedimentary rock. Learn more »
Rare triple quasar found
In systems with multiple quasars, the bodies are held together by gravity and are believed to be the product of galaxies colliding. Learn more »
ALMA (ESO/NRAO/NAOJ)/J. Vieira, et al.
ALMA rewrites history of universe's stellar baby boom
New research indicates that some of the most vigorous bursts of star birth took place 12 billion years ago — a full billion years earlier than previously thought. Learn more »
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/GSFC
"Hot spots" ride a merry-go-round on Jupiter
Scientists have found new evidence that hot spots in Jupiter's atmosphere are created by a Rossby wave, a pattern also seen in Earth's atmosphere and oceans. Learn more »
Illustration by Julie Turner, Vanderbilt University
Explaining the active past of the Milky Way's center
A group of astronomers describes how a single merger event could have produced the features that point to a more violent past for the galactic core. Learn more »
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Cassini returns images of battered Saturn moon
The pictures show an ancient cratered surface bearing the scars of collisions with many space rocks. Learn more »
The Solar Dynamics Observatory observes Earth, lunar transits in same day
On March 11, Earth blocked the observatory’s view of the Sun, and later in the same day, the Moon moved in front of our star for a partial eclipse. Learn more »
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Sapienza University of Rome/Smithsonian Institution/USGS
NASA helps see buried Mars flood channels in 3-D
These channels are essential to understanding the extent to which recent hydrologic activity prevailed during such arid conditions. Learn more »
European Space Agency and Roscosmos set for Mars missions
Establishing whether life ever existed on Mars is one of the outstanding scientific questions of our time and the highest scientific priority of the ExoMars program. Learn more »