--- title: The Best Space Photos from March 2014 description: From a Soyuz launch in Kazakhstan to a new image of a crescent Saturn, here are the most impressive space photos from the month of March. canonical: https://time.com/45249/best-space-photography-march-2014/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-01T18:34:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:08:30.451Z article:section: Science og:title: From Star Trails Over Yosemite to a Supermassive Black Hole, These Are the Month's Best Photos From Space og:description: From a Soyuz launch in Kazakhstan to a new image of a crescent Saturn, here are the most impressive space photos from the month of March. og:url: https://time.com/45249/best-space-photography-march-2014/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb812f2826c2729b/6986884acd804d3867cca0c3/space-photos-el-capitan-yosemite-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Star trails are visible over the granite face of El Capitan in Earth's Yosemite National Park in this image taken on November 8, 2013 and in March 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: From Star Trails Over Yosemite to a Supermassive Black Hole, These Are the Month's Best Photos From Space twitter:description: From a Soyuz launch in Kazakhstan to a new image of a crescent Saturn, here are the most impressive space photos from the month of March. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb812f2826c2729b/6986884acd804d3867cca0c3/space-photos-el-capitan-yosemite-nasa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Window on Infinity: Star Trails Over Yosemite and a Supermassive Black Hole by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 1, 2014 6:34 PM CUT  Star trails are visible over the granite face of El Capitan in Earth's Yosemite National Park in this image taken on November 8, 2013 and in March 2014\. El Capitan hides the north celestial pole, which is at the center of all the star trails. Star trails are visible over the granite face of El Capitan in Earth's Yosemite National Park in this image taken on November 8, 2013 and in March 2014\. El Capitan hides the north celestial pole, which is at the center of all the star trails.Michael Bolte—NASA/Zuma Press by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 1, 2014 6:34 PM CUT  This photo shows the moon over northeast Greenland, where a team of scientists returned to the Arctic with NASA’s P-3 aircraft to continue Operation IceBridge, a multi-year aerial survey of polar ice In March 2014. Michael Studinger—NASA Earth Observatory  Star trails are visible over the granite face of El Capitan in Earth's Yosemite National Park in this image taken on November 8, 2013 and in March 2014\. El Capitan hides the north celestial pole, which is at the center of all the star trails. Michael Bolte—NASA/Zuma Press  The Soyuz TMA-12M spacecraft is set on its launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome on March 23, 2014. Maxim Shemetov—Reuters  Spiral galaxy ESO 137-00 zooms toward the upper left of this image released on March 4, 2014, in between other galaxies in the Norma cluster located over 200 million light-years away. Intergalactic gas in the Norma cluster is sparse, but so hot at 180 million degrees Fahrenheit that it glows in X-rays detected by Chandra (blue). X-ray: NASA/CXC/UAH/M.Sun et al; Optical: NASA/ESA/The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)  Multiple images of a distant quasar are visible in this combined view from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. For the first time scientists have measured the spin of a distant supermassive black hole and found that its rate of rotation is about 3.5 trillion mph - roughly half the speed of light. NASA/Reuters  A glow over North America represents fluorescence measured from land plants in early July, from 2007 to 2011, in this image released on March 31, 2014\. Data from satellite sensors show that during the northern hemisphere's growing season the midwest region of the U.S. boasts more photosynthetic activity than any other spot on Earth. NASA/Reuters  This radar composite image, released in March 2014, shows changes in large-scale agricultural plots in southwest Iran. Combined, the different colors show changes in the fields – such as harvesting at different points on time during 2010. JAXA/ESA  This close-up of cosmic clouds and stellar winds features LL Orionis, interacting with the Orion Nebula flow. Adrift in Orion's stellar nursery and still in its formative years, variable star LL Orionis produces a wind more energetic than the wind from our own middle-aged Sun. NASA/Sipa USA  This color-coded topography map of Daedalia Planum, released on March 5, 2014, shows a segment of highland terrain that is home to Mistretta Crater, the largest of the three eroded impact craters on Mars. White and red show the highest terrains, while blue and purple show the deepest. ESA/DLR/FU Berlin  This image obtained March 11, 2014 shows a new color mosaic created from MESSENGER acquired during the space craft's second year in orbit about Mercury. NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/AFP/Getty Images  A beautiful new image of part of NGC 2174, also known as the Monkey Head Nebula, released by NASA on March 17, 2014 to celebrate Hubble's 24th year in orbit. NGC 2174 lies about 6400 light-years away in the constellation of Orion (The Hunter). NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team/EPA  In this image released on March 5, 2014, the winter frosts are about to disappear on the North Pole of Mars, revealing the surface features of the ice. The ice cap is one of the smoothest, flattest places on Mars. This landscape continues for hundreds of kilometers in every direction with this same repeating pattern. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizon  A sand dune field in a Southern highlands crater obtained March 13, 2014\. The especially bright patches - bluish in enhanced color - are due to seasonal frost that is accumulating as this hemisphere approaches winter. NASA/JPL-CalTech/Univ. of Arizona/AFP/Getty Images  This image released on March 5, 2014 shows ridges east of Holden Crater on Mars, with hair-line fractures along the axis of each ridge. Scientists are not sure how they formed, but possible explanations suggest that mineral-rich ground water flowed out of the fractures and deposited minerals at or near the surface as the water evaporated. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizon  NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's rear hazard avoidance camera captures its own shadow on March 20, 2014\. The rover's shadow falls across a slope called the McClure-Beverlin Escarpment on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, where Opportunity is investigating rock layers for evidence about ancient environments on Mars. NASA/JPL-CalTech/Reuters  Saturn, which appears as a thin crescent, broken only by the shadows of its rings, was captured by the Cassini spacecraft cameras in this image released on March 17, 2014\. This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 42 degrees below the ringplane. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute  NASA released the largest high resolution mosaic of our moon's north polar region on March 19, 2014\. Scientists created the mosaic using cameras aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). Click here to explore the image in NASA's first interactive of the lunar north pole. NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University /AFP/Getty Images  This image released on March 7, 2014 and taken from the International Space Station (ISS) shows the Iberian Peninsula including Spain and Portugal at night. The lights from human settlements reveal where the major towns and activity are. The large mass of light in the middle is Madrid, Spain. 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