Giant ring of fire in the sky

The sight of the moon covered the sun, creating something like a giant ring of fire as one of the impressive astronomical images appearing on newspapers this week.

The moon covered the sun in the partial solar eclipse on January 4. Japan's Hinode satellite captured this image from earth orbit. It was announced on January 14. (Photo: XRT)

Lagoon Nebula emits colorful rays in a composite photo taken by the US WISE spacecraft. With a width of about a hundred light-years, this is one of the few nebulae that humans can see from the earth. (Photo: NASA)

While searching for a black hole with the Spitzer space telescope, American scientists discovered a super-massive star exploded. Gas and dust are pushed out after the explosion and obscure the star's core. (Photo: AFP)

A mysterious green cloud wandering near the spiral galaxy IC 2497. With a length of up to 300 thousand light-years, it is detected by the Hubble space telescope. (Photo: AFP)

This is the most detailed ultraviolet photo of a galaxy that humans have ever had. The SWIFT satellite captured it in 2008. The galaxy in the picture is called Triangulum. It is nearly 3 million light years from the earth. (Photo: NASA)

Countless pits and cracks on Saturn's Hyperion satellite surface. The photo was taken by the American ship Cassini. (Photo: NASA)

Airflows and particles carry charges that spew out from the sun. The Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft captured this image. (Photo: NASA)