The 100 Best Space Photos of 2018!

Crescent Moonrise

Steve Scanlon

The waning crescent moon rises over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New Jersey's Monmouth Beach in this image by astrophotographer Steve Scanlon. He captured this view shortly before sunrise on March 15, 2018.

Running Man Nebula

Miguel Claro

A colorful view of the Running Man Nebula (NGC 1977) captured by astrophotographer Miguel Claro from the Cumeada Observatory, headquarters of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve in Portugal.

Orion Molecular Cloud Complex

Miguel Claro

A colorful deep-space photo reveals many features of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. This image was captured by astrophotographer Miguel Claro from the Cumeada Observatory, headquarters of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve in Portugal.

The Blue Sap Moon

Steve Scanlon

The Blue Sap Moon, seen here above the Navesink Twin Lights lighthouse in Highlands, New Jersey, appears like a celestial beacon for the once-operational tower. Astrophotographer Steve Scanlon captured this image near the historic site at 6:25 a.m. local time on March 31, 2018.

Waning Moon Rises Over New Jersey

Steve Scanlon

A tiny sliver of the waning crescent moon rises over Monmouth Beach, New Jersey in this photo taken by astrophotographer Steve Scanlon on July 11, 2018. The moon reached its new phase the following night as the sunlit side on the moon rotated out of view. When Scanlon took this photo, only 4.8 percent of the moon's face appeared illuminated.

'Blue Moon' Over Spain

Cati Cladera/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The Blue Moon looms over the village of Sant Elm on Majorca Island in eastern Spain. [Full Story: In Photos: The Last 'Blue Moon' of 2018]

A Double Landing

SpaceX

Two side boosters of SpaceX's new Falcon Heavy rocket returned to Cape Canaveral for a glorious side-by-side landing shortly after the new megarocket launched on its maiden voyage on Feb. 6.

IC 434

Terry Hancock

The bright emission nebula NGC 2024, also known as the Flame Nebula, glows beneath the dark Horsehead Nebula in this photo by astrophotographer Terry Hancock. The bright, red cloud behind them is the nebula IC 434. These nebulas are located in the Orion constellation to the far east of Orion's belt.

Comet 46P/Wirtanen

Alan Dyer/AmazingSky.com/Twitter

A telescopic view of Comet 46P/Wirtanen taken on Dec. 6, 2018 reveals the comet's faint tail. Astrophotographer Alan Dyer captured this image of Comet 46P from Alberta, Canada using a Canon EOS 6D Mark II DSLR camera on an A&M 105mm apo refracting telescope.

The Pacman Nebula

Ron Brecher

The Pacman Nebula, also known as NGC 281, looks like it’s chomping its way through the stars in this photo by astrophotographer Ron Brecher. This nebula is located about 9,500 light-years away from Earth and looks almost as big as the full moon in the night sky.

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Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos.