Of the whole of nature photography, space arguably offers the most mind-blowing images. And with the wealth of space telescopes and robotic probes currently orbiting Earth or exploring the planets and moons of the Solar System, it's little wonder that there is such a huge variety of amazing images revealing the beauty of the cosmos.
As 2019 draws to a close, we've selected our pick of the best images of space released over the past 12 months.
Galaxy D100
Hubble Space Telescope, Subaru Telescope, 28 January 2019
Planetary Nebula ESO 577-24 Very Large Telescope, 22 January 2019
New Horizons flew by Kuiper Belt Object 486958 Arrokoth on 1 January 2019. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Galaxy NGC 3079 Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, 28 February 2019
The Cave Nebula NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS), 30 May 2019
Irregular Galaxy NGC 4485 Hubble Space Telescope, 16 May 2019
The heart of the Milky Way Chandra X-ray Observatory, MeerKAT telescope, 23 July 2019
The Homunculus Nebula Hubble Space Telescope, 1 July 2019
Jupiter Hubble Space Telescope, 27 June 2019
Terra Cimmeria, Mars Mars Express orbiter, 8 August 2019
Saturn Hubble Space Telescope, 20 June 2019
Heart of the Milky Way Spitzer Space Telescope, 9 October 2019
Supernova remnant Tycho Lumpy death star Chandra X-ray Observatory and Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 17 October 2019
Iain Todd is BBC Sky at Night Magazine's Content Editor who has been writing about astronomy and space science for over a decade. He has covered major stargazing events, space launches and the latest news in cosmology, astrophysics, planetary and space science.
The Homunculus Nebula Hubble Space Telescope, 1 July 2019
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