Beautiful photos of the universe in the week

Colorful clouds in the star-forming region, planets born in gas dust, the spectacle of mangroves seen from space are the most impressive cosmic photographs of the week of National Geographic.

4 pictures of Rho Ophiuchi - a star-forming region in the universe. Light from the clouds of dust and gas has many different colors. Based on color, scientists can determine the temperature in clouds and their composition.

Dark colored sand covers over a rock floor at the Terra Meridiani on Mars.

The picture illustrates the planets formed around the star called MWC 419 in a disk of gas dust. MWC 419 is a blue star that is about 2,100 light-years away.

Dark green mangrove forests surround the Ba river delta (below, right), Viti Levu island, Fiji Islands. The photo was taken by the US Earth-Observer 1 satellite on December 18.

The 5 most active regions on the sun are visible on December 22.