Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency photographed the Rocky Mountains from his vantage point in low Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station. He shared the image with his social media followers on Jan. 9, 2017, writing, “the Rocky mountains are a step too high – even for the clouds to cross.” via NASA http://ift.tt/2j1assn

In an effort to improve fuel efficiency, NASA and the aircraft industry are rethinking aircraft design. via NASA http://ift.tt/2i907Go

Here is a view of Earth and its moon, as seen from Mars. It combines two images acquired on Nov. 20, 2016, by the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, with brightness adjusted separately for Earth and the moon to show details on both bodies. via NASA http://ift.tt/2jk2xr1

Astronomers have discovered what happens when the eruption from a supermassive black hole is swept up by the collision and merger of two galaxy clusters. via NASA http://ift.tt/2j8Bv1u

Impact craters expose the subsurface materials on the steep slopes of Mars. However, these slopes often experience rockfalls and debris avalanches that keep the surface clean of dust, revealing a variety of hues, like in this enhanced-color image from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, representing different rock types. via NASA http://ift.tt/2iDXvCA

Floating high above the hydrocarbon lakes, wispy clouds have finally started to return to Titan’s northern latitudes. via NASA http://ift.tt/2hNAyzD

A satellite is ejected from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Small Satellite Orbital Deployer on the International Space Station on Dec. 19, 2016. The satellite is actually two small satellites that, once at a safe distance from the station, separated from each other, but were still connected by a 100-meter-long Kevlar tether. via NASA http://ift.tt/2hU5LNj

This galaxy acts as an astronomical laser, beaming out microwave emission rather than visible light. via NASA http://ift.tt/2ihOnTW

Sunlight truly has come to Saturn’s north pole. The whole northern region is bathed in sunlight in this view from late 2016, feeble though the light may be at Saturn’s distant domain in the solar system. via NASA http://ift.tt/2iqTKzS

Just hours after the winter solstice, a mass of energetic particles from the Sun smashed into the magnetic field around Earth. The strong solar wind stream stirred up a display of northern lights over northern Canada. via NASA http://ift.tt/2hkyREI