The cosmos are lit up year round, but as the Holiday season begins, they’re offering an especially splashy mix—from a daredevil comet to a box-like supernova to a spectacular portrait of Saturn, with a tiny Earth lurking in the background.
Window on Infinity, Thanksgiving Edition: Pictures From Space
Gemini OBs / R. Soria et al, Optical: AURA / MSSL / CXC / NASA / ESA
The NGC 6946 medium-sized, face-on spiral galaxy which is about 22 million light years away from Earth, as seen on Nov. 8, 2013. In the past century, eight supernovas have been observed to explode in the arms of NGC 6946. The galaxy's less technical—more memorable—name? The Fireworks Galaxy.
