There's no place like home. Peering out of the windows of the International Space Station, astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson takes in the planet on which we were all born, and to which she would soon return. About 350 km up, the ISS is high enough so that the Earth's horizon appears curved. [3600x2395]
How was this unusual looking galaxy created? No one is sure, especially since it looks so strange. Spiral galaxy NGC 7049's appearance is due to an unusually prominent dust ring seen mostly in silhouette. The ring is much darker than the din of millions of bright stars glowing behind it. [1766x1948]
