The Herschel infrared space observatory has discovered that ultraviolet starlight is the key ingredient for making water in space.

It is the only explanation for why a dying star is surrounded by a gigantic cloud of hot water vapor.

The following new captioned and spotlight images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft are now available:

• Lava Flows at the Base of Olympus Mons
  Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the Solar System and is thought to be quite young (compared to other features on Mars). So, what happens to all those lava flows running off of Olympus Mons?
• Lava Channel on the Flank of Ascraeus Mons
  Ascraeus Mons is one of the giant shield volcanoes on Mars. Its flanks are built up of innumerable lava flows, but most are buried by too much dust to see features of interest.
• Gullies and Seasonal Frost in a Crater
  This scene shows the curving, Eastern interior walls of a 12 kilometer-diameter impact crater in the Southern mid-latitudes of Mars.
• Alluvial Fan in Far Western Terra Tyrrhena
  This image shows portions of an alluvial fan complex in Harris Crater, an approximately 83-kilometer diameter crater located on the Northern rim of the Hellas Basin.
• Dunes in Mars' Polar Erg
  Near the North pole of Mars, the landscape is dominated by sand dunes forming a massive erg (sand sea), much like parts of the Sahara Desert on Earth.
• Cones Formed by Hot Lava Running over Water or Ice
  These cones are similar in size and shape to cones found in Iceland where hot lava has run over wet ground.

Cluster has spent a decade revealing previously hidden interactions between the Sun and Earth. Its studies have uncovered secrets of aurora, solar storms, and given us insight into fundamental processes that occur across the Universe. And there is more work to do.

The aurora, those dancing lights in the polar skies, are but the visible manifestation of an invisible battle taking place above our heads. Supersonic particles from the Sun collide with our planet's magnetic field every day. Most are deflected away but some are trapped by Earth's magnetism and accelerated to collide with the atmosphere, creating the aurora, the planet's radiation belts and from time to time large magnetic storms worldwide.

A new geologic map of the moon's Schrödinger basin paints an instant, camouflage-colored portrait of what a mash-up the moon's surface is after eons of violent events.

The geologic record at Schrödinger is still relatively fresh because the basin is only about 3.8 billion years old; this makes it the moon's second-youngest large basin (it's roughly 320 kilometers, or 200 miles, in diameter).

This is a composite image of the northern part of the galaxy cluster Abell 1758, located about 3.2 billion light years from Earth, showing the effects of a collision between two smaller galaxy clusters.

Chandra X-ray data (blue) reveals hot gas in the cluster and data from the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India (pink) shows huge "halos" generated by ultra-relativistic particles and magnetic fields over vast scales. Optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey are colored gold.

A billowing cloud of hydrogen in the Triangulum galaxy (Messier 33), about 2.7 million light-years away from Earth, glows with the energy released by hundreds of young, bright stars. This Hubble Spare Telescope image provides the sharpest view of NGC 604 so far obtained.

Some 1500 light-years across, this is one of the largest, brightest concentrations of ionised hydrogen (H II) in our local group of galaxies, and is a major centre of star formation.

One of NASA's orbiting sentinels is expected to return to Earth in a few days. The agency's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation (ICESat) satellite completed a very productive scientific mission earlier this year.

NASA lowered the satellite's orbit last month and then decommissioned the spacecraft in preparation for re-entry. It is estimated that the satellite will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and largely burn up on or about August 29.

The following featured images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) are now available:

• Fractures in the mare of Tsiolkovskiy Crater (Released 24 August 2010)
  Small fractures in the mare floor of Tsiolkovskiy Crater are a departure from the usual scene of smooth mare pitted with impact craters.
• Central Peak/Mare Boundary (Released 25 August 2010)
  The central peak of Tsiolkovskiy crater is surrounded with mare basalt.
• Hummocky Terrain (Released 26 August 2010)
  NAC image M115475912R shows hummocky terrain north of the central peak of Tsiolkovskiy, still within the crater rim but outside the region flooded by mare basalt.

The following new images taken by the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) on the Cassini spacecraft are now available:

• Smooth Telesto (Released 23 August 2010)
  The smooth surface of Saturn's moon Telesto is documented in this image captured during the Cassini spacecraft's Aug. 27, 2009, flyby.
• Activity Past Dark Side (Released 24 August 2010)
  Saturn's moon Enceladus, seen beyond the outline of the planet's night side, spews water ice from its south polar region.
• Infringing Darkness (Released 25 August 2010)
  Some of Iapetus' dark surface interrupts the moon's lighter terrain.
• A-ring Propeller (Released 26 August 2010)
  A propeller-shaped structure, created by an unseen moon, can be seen in Saturn's A ring.
• Narrow Band (Released 27 August 2010)
  The shadows of Saturn's rings cast onto the planet appear as a thin band at the equator in this image taken as the planet approached its August 2009 equinox.

The following new images taken by the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft are now available:

• Arsia Mons (Released 23 August 2010)
  This VIS image of the northern flank of Arsia Mons shows collapse/vent features.
• Zephyria Planum (Released 24 August 2010)
  The wind etched region in this VIS image is called Zephyria Planum.
• Utopia Planitia (Released 25 August 2010)
  The small channels in this image of Utopia Planitia are south of Granicus Valles.
• Channel (Released 26 August 2010)
  This unnamed channel is west of Flammarion Crater in Terra Sabaea.
• Tempe Terra (Released 27 August 2010)
  Large fractures have formed 'steps' in this region of Tempe Terra.

Orcus Patera is an enigmatic elliptical depression near Mars's equator, in the eastern hemisphere of the planet. Located between the volcanoes of Elysium Mons and Olympus Mons, its formation remains a mystery.

Often overlooked, this well-defined depression extends approximately 380 km by 140 km in a NNE-SSW direction. It has a rim that rises up to 1800 m above the surrounding plains, while the floor of the depression lies 400-600 m below the surroundings.

One of the instruments on the 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter will provide daily maps of global, pole-to-pole, vertical distributions of the temperature, dust, water vapor and ice clouds in the Martian atmosphere.

The joint European-American mission will seek faint gaseous clues about possible life on Mars. This instrument, called the ExoMars Climate Sounder, will supply crucial context with its daily profiling of the atmosphere's changing structure.

NASA's Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first confirmed planetary system with more than one planet crossing in front of, or transiting, the same star.

The transit signatures of two distinct planets were seen in the data for the sun-like star designated Kepler-9. The planets were named Kepler-9b and 9c. The discovery incorporates seven months of observations of more than 156,000 stars as part of an ongoing search for Earth-sized planets outside our solar system. The findings will be published in Thursday's issue of the journal Science.

Opportunity has paused in her trek toward Endeavour crater to examine an exposed outcrop of rock that is of interest to the science team.

Spirit remains silent at her location on the west side of Home Plate. No communication has been received from the rover since Sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Unicorns and roses are usually the stuff of fairy tales, but a new cosmic image taken by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Explorer (WISE) shows the Rosette nebula located within the constellation Monoceros, or the Unicorn.

This flower-shaped nebula, also known by the less romantic name NGC 2237, is a huge star-forming cloud of dust and gas in our Milky Way galaxy. Estimates of the nebula's distance vary from 4,500 to 5,000 light-years away.