The most beautiful astronomical photos of 2014

Photos of the Lagoon Nebula, the strange wave of clouds, or the moving light of the aurora are among the best photos of this year, according to the poll of prestigious National Geographic magazine.

Whirlpool Galaxy

Whirlpool galaxy sparkles with X-rays from neutron stars and countless black holes on its spiral arms.

Aurora

Ultra-light images such as colorful bands of light appear in the night sky at Pontoon Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada.

Lagoon Nebula

The Lagoon Nebula is like a giant carpet of young stars born in a cloud of gas and ash. Photos taken from the Paranal Desert Observatory in Chile.

Light of big cities

Night view in the city of San Francisco and Los Angeles, USA, taken from the International Space Station (ISS). Farther away is Salt Lake City, in the state of Utah, shining below the green horizon.

Cloud strange waveform

High peaks on Volcanic Island Amsterdam, south of the Indian Ocean, interrupt the flow of air passing through the island, creating cloud-shaped clouds in the sky.

The purple cloak of Hercules galaxy

Hercules Galaxy was taken with NASA's Chandra X-ray Space Telescope. The galaxy has an elliptical shape, with the center being a bright core. Many astronomers believe that Hercules contains a supermassive black hole, actively "swallowing" stars and other matter.

Sand dunes on Mars

The image of the sand dune on Mars is recorded by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).

Monkey head nebula

The monkey head nebula officially called NGC 2174, is about 6,400 light-years from Earth. It is located in the constellation of Orion, where gas and dust clouds are constantly forming young stars.

Sahara desert dust

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) photograph dust from the Sahara, Africa, as they pass through Libya's sky.

Green river

The green river in Utah, USA, meanders around a deep gorge near 305m for millennia. The image also records the white light of an airplane as it passes through the area.

Saturn satellite

In the image is the space between the two circles in Saturn's belt (called the Keeler gap), and a Saturn satellite.

Desert blooms

NASA's Terra spacecraft recorded algal blooms in Lake Mackay, Australia, interspersed with desert plants scorched by the Sun.