Stunning images of the sun, Earth and far-away locales in our roundup of cosmic views from August 2012.
Window on Infinity: Pictures From Space
Adam Block / Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter / University of Arizona
NGC 5033 is a galaxy that lies some 40 million light-years away in the northern constellation Canes Venatici. The image captures striking details of dust lanes winding inward toward the galaxy's bright core and majestic but relatively faint spiral arms that span over 100,000 light-years. The galaxy is similar in size to our own spiral Milky Way.