Space Image of the Day Gallery (December 2016)

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Sunshine on Saturn's North Pole

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Thursday, December 29, 2016: NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this view of Saturn's north pole basking in the sunlight in Sept. 9, 2016. Darker regions, like the inside of Saturn's six-sided jet stream and latitudinal lines, have lower cloud coverage. Scientists can use this view of Saturn to study the planet's atmosphere and weather patterns. — Hanneke Weitering

The Tropopause

ESA / Thomas Pesquet

Friday, Dec. 30, 2016: French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who is currently aboard the International Space Station, captured some clouds peeking out from the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth's atmosphere. "The tropopause usually limits the vertical extension of clouds ... except for the most massive and daring ones," Pesquet tweeted. — Hanneke Weitering

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.