Space Photos from the 221st American Astronomical Society Meeting

Asteroid Belt Around Vega

NASA/JPL-Caltech

This artist's concept illustrates an asteroid belt around the bright star Vega. [Read the Full Story]

Milky Way 'Bone' Spotted

NASA/JPL/SSC

This image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows a newly identified "bone" of dust and gas in the Milky Way galaxy's skeleton. The structure, visible toward the bottom of the frame, is about 300 light-years long but just 1 or 2 light-years wide. [Read full story, "New 'Bone' in Milky Way Skeleton Discovered"]

Curious Spiral Spotted by ALMA Around Red Giant Star R Sculptoris

ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

Observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have revealed an unexpected spiral structure in the material around the old star R Sculptoris. [Read the full story, "

1991 Total Solar Eclipse

NASA.

Shown here, the path of the total eclipse that occurred on July 11, 1991, predicted by the Mayans. [See full story, "

Dreseden Codex

Public domain.

Anthropologists decoded early Mayan hieroglyphics from four codices, finding the Maya accurately predicted modern-day astronomical phenomena. Shown here, an image from the so-called Dresden Codex.

Spiral Galaxy IC 342

NASA/JPL-Caltech/DSS

This new view of spiral galaxy IC 342, also known as Caldwell 5, includes data from NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR. High-energy X-ray data from NuSTAR have been translated to the color magenta, and superimposed on a visible-light view highlighting the galaxy and its star-studded arms.

Cassiopeia A

NASA/JPL-Caltech/DSS

This new view of the historical supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, located 11,000 light-years away, was taken by NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR. Image released Jan. 7, 2013.

Orbital Sciences Booth at the AAS Meeting 2013

Clara Moskowitz/SPACE.com

SPACE.com infographic makes American Astronomical Society Meeting appearance at the Orbital Sciences booth, January 2013.

461 New Alien Planet Candidates for Kepler

NASA

NASA's planet-hunting Kepler space observatory has discovered 461 new potential alien planets, boosting its total to 2,740 potential extrasolar worlds. [Full Story]

AAS Meeting Sunset

Clara Moskowitz/SPACE.com

Attendees of the American Astronomical Society Meeting in Long Beach, CA, were treated to a colorful sunset on Jan. 7, 2013.

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