Enjoy this collection of images from outer space in celebration of Valentine’s Day.
This year, just after Valentine’s Day, asteroid 2012 DA14 will make a close flyby of our planet.
About 45 meters in diameter, and passing within 27,700 kilometers of the Earth’s surface, NASA says the massive space rock will make a record-setting close approach.
TUSCAN HEART: Located in the Tuscan constellation, the young star cluster NGC 346 features a hot, heart-shaped cloud. (NASA/CXC/U.Liege/Y.Nazé et al.)
COSMIC ROSEBUD: The Rosette nebula is a star-forming region over 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Monoceros. It has the appearance of a rosebud or a "rosette" adornment when viewed in optical light. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)
NECKLACE NEBULA: This planetary nebula, PN G054.2-03.4, is 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagitta (the arrow), and formed from two aging stars closely orbiting each other. (NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team, STScI/AURA)
VESTA VALENTINE: This Dawn FC (framing camera) shot is overlain by a color-coded height representation of topography, showing the Pinaria quadrangle on the asteroid Vesta. (NASA, JPL-Caltech, UCLA, MPS, DLR, IDA)
BLACK HOLE RING: This composite image of Arp 147, a pair of interacting galaxies about 430 million light-years away, shows X-rays and optical light radiating from a ring of black holes. (X-ray: NASA/CXC/MIT/S. Rappaport et al., Optical: NASA/STScI)
HEART OF STARS: The cocoon nebula, IC 5416, is a cloud of dust and gas in the constellation Cygnus with massive new stars forming at its heart. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA)
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