While astronomy is frequently considered the most beautiful science, creating fantastic imagery isn’t often the primary goal of the research featured in Astronomy magazine or on Astronomy.com. It’s a fortunate byproduct of the sheer wonder of the cosmos coupled with amazing advancements in research technology — huge ground-based telescopes, orbiting observatories, and unmanned imaging spacecraft.
To celebrate our good fortune of witnessing amazing discoveries and cutting-edge research that create magnificent photos and illustrations, the editors of the magazine have added a new weekly feature to the Astronomy.com News section that emphasizes such beauty. Every Friday afternoon, we’ll post “The week in pictures,” a gallery overview of all recent astronomy-related news. Scroll through the photos, comment on your favorites, and click links to learn more about the science behind the pictures. We hope “The week in pictures” will not only highlight all our beautiful universe has to offer but also summarize the important stories of the past seven days in case you missed anything.