This year saw some incredible views from space, many that will inspire future space enthusiasts for years to come.
These photos captured the magnificence, beauty and brilliance of space, as well as gave us new perspectives on our own planet and galaxy.
Here are our top 10 favorites.
1. Philae Lander's Photo of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
The ESA made history with its successful landing of the Rosetta Mission's Philae Lander on a comet a few months ago, and for the first time ever, we saw what the surface of a comet looks like from a location on the comet itself. Although all didn't go according to plan with the landing, Philae still sent back valuable photos and data before slipping into hibernation mode.
2. Mars Curiosity rover's photos at the base of Mount Sharp
We've seen multiple images from NASA's Mars Curiosity rover, but the latest coming from Mount Sharp could be the most fascinating. In this photo, we see beds that suggest that this area once contained a lake. This photo serves as more proof in a growing body of evidence that Mars once had water on its surface.
3. Hubble's photo of the Monkey Head Nebula
This photo took astronomers' breath away when they first saw it. This mosaic shows the Monkey Head Nebula (otherwise known as NGC 2174), a particularly active star-forming region in space.
4. Astronaut Reid Wiseman's photo of British Columbia from the ISS
Astronaut Reid Wiseman became famous for his photos taken during his time on the International Space Station (ISS). One of the most stunning photos was this one, displaying the glacial flows of British Columbia, Canada. It's no wonder he used the hashtag #EarthArt with this one.
5. Satellite photos of volcano in Iceland erupting
When Iceland volcano Bardarbunga erupted this year, NASA satellites caught some beautiful images of the eruption from space. This amazing photo has notations that shows the location of the volcano, its plumes and hot spot.
6. Hubble's image of globular star cluster 4499
There's something magical about this photo of a globular star cluster only known as 4499. In the photo, stars in the 12-billion-year-old cluster shine like diamonds.
7. NASA's SDO photo of a solar flare
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory picked up some exciting images of the sun this year, but this one of the December 16th mid-level solar flare could be the most beautiful of those images. The solar flare is the bright flash in the middle of the image. Thanks to the SDO, we're now learning more about the sun every day.
8. Lagoon Nebula
Through Project Nightflight, astrophotographers capture some amazing images and put them on the Internet for all to see. This particular image, from the Project of the Lagoon Nebua and taken from LaPalma, Spain, is simply stunning.
9. Hubble's image of Hercules A
This gorgeous image shows off the galaxy we call Hercules A, a galaxy with a particularly bright core, suggesting the existence of a supermassive black hole. This photo was taken in X-ray light, unveiling a giant gas cloud, suggesting that the black hole is 1,000 times more massive than the one in the Milky Way. The jets streaming from the black hole extend nearly one million light-years.
10. New Hubble photo of Jupiter's eye
The scientific team involved with the Hubble Space Telescope released this image, taken in April 2014, around Halloween, perhaps due to the spooky eye that is actually an illusion created by the shadow of Ganymede crossing Jupiter's Great Red Spot Storm.
