(Xinhua Photo)

Space bubble

This photo presents a planetary nebula — the gently glowing remnants of a dying star. Nicknamed the Southern Owl Nebula, it was captured by the Very Large Telescope in Chile.

(Xinhua Photo)

Hey Pluto!

This year, NASA’s New Horizons probe sent back a sheer number of images and wealth of data as it flew past Pluto. But the Nature team was won over by the beauty of this picture, sent back minutes after the probe’s closest approach to Pluto, when it revealed a cold, odd world, silhouetted by the Sun.

(Xinhua Photo)

Strike one

To some people, thunderbolts and lightning are very, very frightening. But to a team at the International Center for Lightning Research and Testing in Florida, they are studying subjects that can be triggered by firing rockets into storms. This long-exposure image captures the aftermath of one such researcher-elicited lightning event.