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Images from space that are out of this world

ABC, Vine.

ABC, Vine.

The northern hemisphere sky was aglow with bright and beautiful sparks of light this week, as the annual Perseid meteor shower passed overhead.

Coinciding with a new moon this year for the first time since 2007, it peaked overnight between August 13 and 14 when an estimated 100 shooting stars streaked across the sky each hour.

• Pluto’s stunning close-up: video and pictures
• Google Earth selects its best images from space
• First space-grown vegetables on the menu

Scientists said the conditions made dazzling display the brightest in years.

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The Perseids meteor shower over Pyramid Lake in Alberta, Canada. Photo: @haus_of_cyn. Photo: Instagram

Visible to the naked eye, the phenomenon is caused by the remnants of the comet Swift-Tuttle which orbits the solar system every 133 years.

“All comets probably have a bad case of dandruff,” University of Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy public astronomer Carolin Crawford told the ABC, referring to the trademark tails of comets.

“But this one is one where the Earth’s orbit takes it smack through the centre of the trail of debris that it leaves behind.”

But the meteor shower is not the only awesome occurrence in the solar system this week.

In a world first, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is growing protein crystals and vegetables in space, with astronauts tasting the first lettuce crop this week.

The growing system, known as VEGGIE, supports a variety of plant species that can be cultivated for educational outreach, fresh food and even recreation for crew members on long-duration missions.

Last month, NASA also released some of the sharpest images ever captured of dwarf planet Pluto in the first fly by of the distant ice and rock planet.

Taken as part of the New Horizon’s project, the spacecraft flew past the planet taking detailed measurements and other observations of Pluto and its moons.

See below for the best images and videos this week, including the Tianjin explosion – from 35,000km up – and unreal vision of the moon passing the Earth.

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A meteor passes across the sky above Rievaulx Abbey in northern England during the peak in activity of the annual Perseids meteor shower on Thursday. The Perseids meteor shower occurs every year when the Earth passes through the cloud of debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Photo: Getty

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Colorado photographer @jason.brasil took this image of the meteor shower earlier this week. Photo: Instagram

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The Perseid meteor streaks across the sky above desert pine trees in Nevada. Photo: Getty

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A long-exposure photograph taken on August 12, shows people watching for the Perseid meteor shower in the night sky near Yangon, Myanmar. Photo: Getty

typhoon

Typhoon Soudelor advances on Taiwan in early August. It left a trail of destruction in Taiwan – killing at least five people – before moving on to China at a weaker pace. Photo: AAP

stars

Some of the most breathtaking views in the Universe are created by nebulae — hot, glowing clouds of gas. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the center of the Lagoon Nebula, an object with a deceptively tranquil name, in the constellation of Sagittarius. The region is filled with intense winds from hot stars, churning funnels of gas, and energetic star formation, all embedded within an intricate haze of gas and pitch-dark dust. Photo: NASA

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Astronaut Scott Kelly took this shot of sunrise over western USA from the International Space Station on August 10. Photo: NASA

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A NASA satellite image released on August 5, shows the far side of the moon as it crosses between the DSCOVR spacecraft and the Earth, at one million miles away. The image is one of a series that NASA has turned into an animation of the moon passing by the Earth. Photo: Getty

NASA

There are no bounds when it comes to space innovation. NASA’s latest project is striving to grow protein crystals and vegetables, including lettuce, in space. The VEGGIE hardware “provides lighting and nutrient supply for plants in the form of a low-cost growth chamber and planting “pillows”, providing nutrients for the root system. Photo: NASA

Getty

Getty

ABC, Vine.

ABC, Vine.

Video: incredible satellite vision of the Moon passing the Earth

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