Laurie says:

I was really struck by these astronomical photos from In Focus with Alan Taylor in the Atlantic Monthly online edition:

Robotic probes launched by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and others are gathering information all across the solar system. We currently have spacecraft in orbit around the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Saturn — and one new rover recently landed on Mars. Several others are on their way to smaller bodies, and a few are heading out of the solar system entirely. Although the Space Shuttle no longer flies, astronauts are still at work aboard the International Space Station, performing experiments and sending back amazing photos. With all these eyes in the sky, I’d like to take another opportunity to put together a recent photo album of our solar system — a set of family portraits, of sorts — as seen by our astronauts and mechanical emissaries. This time, we have some great shots from the new Mars rover Curiosity, a parting shot of the asteroid Vesta, some glimpses of Saturn and its moons, and lovely images of our home, planet Earth.

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A long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space.

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Polar mesopheric clouds at the peak of their visibility, seen from the International Space Station.
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The Sun being partially blocked by Earth

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It’s worth looking at the whole slide show.