See the Most Beautiful Space Photos of 2014

  • NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array's first picture of the sun taken in high-energy X-rays released on Dec. 22, 2014.
    JPL-Caltech/GSFC/NASA
    1 of 29
  • An infrared image of a small portion of the Monkey Head Nebula captured by the Hubble telescope released on March 17, 2014.
    NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team
    2 of 29
  • NGC 4258 is a spiral galaxy well known to astronomers for having two so-called anomalous arms that glow in X-ray, optical and radio light.
    Chandra X-ray Observatory/CXC/Caltech/NASA
    3 of 29
  • Eta Carinae is one of the most luminous known star systems in our galaxy seen here in this photo released on Aug. 26, 2014.
    JPL-Caltech/NASA
    4 of 29
  • A reprocessed picture shows off the amazing colors of Europa, a mysterious ice-covered moon of Jupiter, as they have never been seen before released on Nov. 21, 2014.
    NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute
    5 of 29
  • Astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo on June 1, 2014 from the International Space Station "A simple toy from my childhood makes for a cool picture in space."
    Reid Wiseman—NASA
    6 of 29
  • This image of Saturn's rings was taken by a camera on the Cassini spacecraft released on Jan. 21, 2014.
    JPL-Caltech/NASA/EPA
    7 of 29
  • A long exposure of the European Space Agency's Optical Ground Station at the La Teide Observatory on the Canary Islands, Spain released on April 27, 2014.
    EPA
    8 of 29
  • An aurora near Australia seen from the International Space Station released on July 15, 2014.
    NASA
    9 of 29
  • This close-up of cosmic clouds and stellar winds features LL Orionis interacting with the Orion Nebula flow.
    NASA/Sipa
    10 of 29
  • The Eagle Nebula also known as as Messier 16 or M16, and the 'Pillars of Creation' in the constellation Serpens in May 2014.
    Adam Block—Mount Lemmon Skycenter
    11 of 29
  • The Russell Crater dunes seen on Mars in this photo released on Feb. 5, 2014.
    JPL/University of Arizona/NASA
    12 of 29
  • Saturn taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Nov. 23, 2013 and released for the first time on Feb. 3, 2014.
    NASA/JPL/Caltech/Reuters
    13 of 29
  • This vista of the Endeavour Crater rim taken by Opportunity Rover combines several exposures taken by the rover's panoramic camera on April 18, 2014 and was released on May 19, 2014.
    JPL-Caltech/Cornell University/NASA
    14 of 29
  • Astronaut Alexander Gerst ‏tweeted this photo on July 6, 2014 from the International Space Station "Harsh land. Windswept valleys in northern #Africa / Hartes Land"
    Alexander Gerst—NASA
    15 of 29
  • The moon over northeast Greenland in March 2014.
    Michael Studinger—NASA
    16 of 29
  • A crescent moon rises over the cusp of the Earth's atmosphere in this picture by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata onboard the International Space Station on Feb. 1, 2014.
    NASA/Reuters
    17 of 29
  • An optical image, from the Digitized Sky Survey of the Flame Nebula released on May 7, 2014.
    DDS/NASA
    18 of 29
  • New Hubble infrared view of the Tarantula Nebula released on Jan. 9, 2014.
    NASA, ESA, E. Sabbi (STScI)—NASA, ESA, E. Sabbi (STScI)
    19 of 29
  • The sun emits a significant solar flare on Dec. 19, 2014 as seen from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory,
    SDO/NASA
    20 of 29
  • Astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on July 3, 2014 "Hurricane #Arthur has grown an eye since we last met."
    Reid Wiseman—NASA
    21 of 29
  • The Elephant's Trunk Nebula, also known as IC 1396 on April 14, 2014.
    Eric Coles
    22 of 29
  • The Holuhraun lava field as seen with infrared imaging captured by the Operational Land Imager on Sept. 6, 2014,
    NASA
    23 of 29
  • Mars is seen in an image taken by the ISRO Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft released on Sept. 30, 2014.
    ISRO/AFP/Getty Images
    24 of 29
  • The Russian Soyuz-FG rocket booster with Soyuz TMA-13M space ship carrying the Expedition 40 crew to the International Space Station launches from the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on May 29, 2014.
    Dmitry Lovetsky—AP
    25 of 29
  • Using the CIVA camera on Rosetta’s Philae lander the spacecraft snapped a ‘selfie’ with a passing comet in this photo released on Oct. 14, 2014.
    Rosetta/Philae/CIVA/ESA
    26 of 29
  • Saturn was captured by the Cassini spacecraft cameras in this image released on March 17, 2014.
    JPL-Caltech/NASA
    27 of 29
  • A composite of separate exposures taken in 2003 to 2012 with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 of the evolving universe is shown in this image released on June 3, 2014.
    NASA/Reuters
    28 of 29
  • Astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this photo from the International Space Station on July 1, 2014 "Here is a #TodaySunrise from space for @MLauer"
    Reid Wiseman—NASA
    29 of 29
By TIME Photo

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