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
ESA
The Dasht-e Lut salt desert in southeast Iran, captured by the European satellite Envisat. The desert is often called the hottest place on Earth—a label it comes by rightly. The highest land surface temperature ever recorded there was 70.7ºC—a staggering 159.26ºF—in 2005.