2014年も、宇宙は人類を魅了した【画像集】

The Huffington Post | 執筆者： Macrina Cooper-White

投稿日: 2014年12月31日 15時34分 JST 更新: 2014年12月31日 15時34分 JST

2014年は人類にとって、また一歩宇宙が近づいた一年だった。

まず、欧州宇宙機関（ESA）の彗星探査機ロゼッタが、史上初めて彗星への着陸に成功し、NASAも新型宇宙船オリオンの打ち上げに成功した。

しかしそれ以上に、2014年はすばらしい天体写真が多く撮影された年でもあった。ハフポストUS版が、2014年に撮影された天体写真のなかから、選りすぐりをお届けする。星々のまばゆい光の中を、共に探検しよう。

ハッブル宇宙望遠鏡が撮影した「モンキー星雲」ことNGC 2174

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

This Hubble Space Telescope photo shows NGC 2174, the "Monkey Head Nebula," located 6,400 light-years from Earth.
NASAのソーラー・ダイナミクス・オブザーバトリーが撮影した太陽フレア

Goddard Space Flight Center/AP

A powerful X-class solar flare, one of three X-class flares unleashed by the sun on June 10 and 11, as seen by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. X-class flares are the most powerful kind.
地球から1500万光年離れたところにある渦巻銀河「M83」

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

Hubble image of the barred spiral galaxy M83, the "Southern Pinwheel," which lies 15 million light-years away in the constellation Hydra. This mosaic image was released in January.
若田光一宇宙飛行士が撮影した、地球の大気と三日月

NASA

Astronaut Koichi Wakata tweeted this view of a crescent moon rising and the cusp of Earth's atmosphere on Feb. 1, 2014.
地球から2300万光年離れたところにある渦巻銀河「NGC 4258」

NASA/CXC/JPL-Caltech/STScI/NSF/NRAO/VLA

Galaxy NGC 4258, located about 23 million light-years away from Earth, as seen by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
国際宇宙ステーションのアレクサンダー・ガースト宇宙飛行士が撮影した「レインボーオーロラ」

ESA/NASA

This photo of a "rainbow aurora" was taken by ISS astronaut Alexander Gerst.
土星探査機カッシーニが撮影した土星の環のクローズアップ

NASA/JPL/University of Colorado

This close-up image of part of Saturn's rings was taken by the Cassini spacecraft on June 30. It shows, from left to right, the outer portion of Saturn's C ring and the inner portion of the B ring.
国際宇宙ステーションのレイド・ワイズマン宇宙飛行士がツイートした夜明け

Reid Wiseman/NASA

ISS astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this image of a sunrise on Oct. 29. Wiseman wrote, "Not every day is easy. Yesterday was a tough one. #sunrise"
NASAのソーラー・ダイナミクス・オブザーバトリーが撮影した、太陽のコロナループ

NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory

This image taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a profile view of coronal loops. Coronal loops are found around sunspots and in active regions.
赤外線写真で撮影された土星の環

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

This image shows the sunlit side of Saturn's rings. It was taken in red light by the Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle camera on Aug. 23.
天体写真家ロゲリオ・アンドレオが撮影した「勾玉星雲」ことIC 405

Rogelio Bernal Andreo/Deep Sky Colors

Several celestial objects photographed in the same field of view by Spanish-American astrophotographer Rogelio Bernal Andreo, including supernova remnant Simeas 147, the "Flaming Star" nebula, nebula IC 410, and galactic clusters M36 and M38.
天体写真家リック・スティーブンソンが撮影した輝線星雲「SH2-199」

Rick Stevenson/Flickr

Astrophotographer Rick Stevenson released this photo of SH2-199, also known as the "Soul Nebula," in December. This emission nebula is located about 6,500 light-years from Earth.
地球が属する「天の川銀河」の中にある大マゼラン雲

ESA/Hubble & NASA

This Hubble image shows a portion of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small nearby galaxy that orbits our galaxy, the Milky Way.
土星探査機カッシーニが撮影した土星の夜明け

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

A new day dawns on Saturn. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft's wide-angle camera on Aug. 23.
1億3千万光年離れたところにある2つの渦巻銀河「NGC 2207」と「IC2163」

X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/S.Mineo et al, Optical: NASA/STScI, Infr

The photo is a composite image of the spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163, located 130 million light years away in the constellation Canis Major. The image contains data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory in pink, optical light data from the Hubble Space Telescope in red, green, and blue, and infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope in red.
1979年に撮影された木星の白黒写真をカラーに

NASA/JPL

In January and February 1979, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft zoomed toward Jupiter, capturing hundreds of images during its approach, including this close-up of swirling clouds around Jupiter's Great Red Spot. This image was assembled from three black and white negatives and newly released.
太陽の紫外線

AP Photo/NASA

An extreme ultra-violet wavelength image of a solar flare captured on Sept. 10.
110万5千光年離れた超新星「SN 2014J」

NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

This Hubble Space Telescope composite image shows a supernova explosion designated SN 2014J in the galaxy M82, at a distance of approximately 11.5 million light-years from Earth. It was taken on Jan. 31, as the supernova approached its peak brightness.
大マゼラン雲の中にある「タランチュラ星雲」ことNGC 2070

NASA, ESA, and E. Sabbi (STScI)

An image of the Tarantula Nebula (or NGC 2070), located about 160,000 lights years away, released in January.
「火炎星雲」ことNGC 2024

X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/K.Getman, E.Feigelson, M.Kuhn and the MYStIX team; Infrared: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This composite image shows one of the clusters, NGC 2024, which is found in the center of the so-called Flame Nebula about 1,400 light years from Earth. In this image, X-rays from Chandra are seen as purple, while infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope are colored red, green and blue.
土星の衛星・テティス

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Saturn's moon Tethys captured by the Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle camera on July 14.
フィラエ無人ランダーが撮影したロゼッタ彗星探査機

ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA

The Philae lander took this portrait of the Rosetta spacecraft on Sept. 7, 2014, at a distance of about 30 miles from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
凍りついた木星の衛星エウロパ

NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute

The puzzling, fascinating surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view, made from images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s.
「火炎星雲（NGC 2024）」と「馬頭星雲（IC 434）」

Roger Hutchinson/Flickr

A widefield view of the Flame (NGC2024) and Horsehead (IC434) Nebulae in Orion, captured in December by astrophotographer Roger Hutchinson. The pair are approximately 900 to 1,500 light years away.
ロゼッタ彗星探査機が着陸に成功したチュリュモフ・ゲラシメンコ彗星

AP Photo/ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, captured on Aug. 3, 2014 by Rosetta's OSIRIS narrow-angle camera.
1500光年離れたオリオン大星雲

NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Orion Nebula, an immense stellar nursery some 1,500 light-years away. This stunning false-color view was constructed using infrared data from the Spitzer Space Telescope.
ワイズマン宇宙飛行士が撮影した国際宇宙ステーション

NASA/Reid Wiseman

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman captured this image from the International Space Station and tweeted it on Sept. 28, writing, "The Milky Way steals the show from Sahara sands that make the Earth glow orange."
ガースト宇宙飛行士が撮影したオーロラ

NASA/ESA/Alexander Gerst

European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst tweeted this photograph taken from the International Space Station to social media on Aug. 29, 2014, writing, "words can't describe how it feels flying through an #aurora. I wouldn't even know where to begin…."
非常に明るい中心核を持つセイファート銀河のひとつ「NGC 1433」

ESA/Hubble & NASA, Acknowledgements: D. Calzetti (UMass) and the LEGUS Team

This view, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and released in July, shows a nearby spiral galaxy known as NGC 1433. At about 32 million light-years from Earth, it is a type of very active galaxy known as a Seyfert galaxy--with a bright, luminous center comparable in brightness to that of our entire galaxy, the Milky Way.

Photos curated by Damon Scheleur and Macrina Cooper-White.

この記事はハフポストUS版に掲載されたものを翻訳しました。

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The Best Space Photos Of 2013

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This image, shot by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows the iconic supernova remnant first observed by Chinese astronomers 960 years ago.
A 200,000-mile magnetic filament of solar material erupts on the sun. This event, which took place in September, ripped through the sun's atmosphere and left behind what looks like a "canyon of fire."
This nebula's name comes from its resemblance to a wicked witch screaming into space. Taken by NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, this photo captures the billowy clouds of the nebula, where baby stars are being made.
This 10-minute exposure reveals nebula M-78, a set of more than 40 young, still-forming stars in the constellation of Orion.
The Hubble Space Telescope took this breathtaking shot of the iconic Horsehead Nebula.
This view of Earth from space shows mushrooming clouds over the Indonesian island of Flores, as seen by NASA's Aqua Satellite.
This image, generated by the Hubble Space Telescope, shows dust and gas clouds surrounding the supermassive star Eta Carinae.
This is NGC 6946, a medium-sized spiral galaxy located 22 million light years from Earth. It got its nickname, "The Fireworks Galaxy," because eight supernovas have been observed exploding inside it.
NASA's WISE spacecraft took this striking shot of asteroids zooming past a dying star. As the heated gas and dust get sloughed away from the star, it creates the beautiful blue appearance.
The Spitzer Space Telescope captured this image of the star-forming region W5. There are generations of stars in this photo -- the oldest stars appear as blue dots, while the youngest stars outline the cavities where the old ones reside. The white areas are where young stars are forming.
The Cassini spacecraft captured this image of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, on July 14.
On November 27, Comet ISON was imaged by the European Space Agency/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. In this coronagraph, the sun is blocked so you can see structures around it. The comet is at lower right. The billowy white streams coming from the sun are giant clouds of solar material.
This natural-light mosaic image was captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP (National Polar-orbiting Partnership) satellite on Oct. 1.
The Hubble Space Telescope took this photo of Galaxy 4921, an anemic spiral galaxy about 320 million light years from Earth. It's been dubbed "anemic" because it has a low rate of star formation and low surface brightness. In this image, its bright nucleus can be seen in the center. Blue clusters of recently formed stars gather around it.
These nanosatellites, or cubesats, were deployed by the International Space Station's Small Satellite Orbital Deployer on November 19.
This image of the planet Mercury was taken on October 2.
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this image of a star exploding in the spiral galaxy NGC 6984. The new supernova, SN 2013ek, is the bright star-like object just slightly above and to the right of the galaxy's center.
The photo shows the Upsala Glacier on the Argentine side of the North Patagonian Icefield as seen by an astronaut aboard the ISS.
This image, taken by the Cassini spacecraft over 10 hours on December 10, shows a vast hexagonal weather pattern capping Saturn's north pole.
This image, taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope, shows the disembodied remnants of a dying star. The infrared view shows the cooler outer halo of the dying star in red.
On October 22, ISS astronauts released Orbital Sciences Corporation's Cygnus spacecraft. It headed back to Earth on October 23 after delivering to the ISS 1,300 pounds of cargo -- including food, clothing and student experiments.
NASA's Mercury-orbiting MESSENGER spacecraft captured this dazzling false-color image.
This sparkly satellite galaxy is about 163,000 light years from our own.
Mike Hopkins, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, took this picture.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft provided views of the massive asteroid Vesta. The mountain on the asteroid's south pole is more than twice the height of Mount Everest.
This image was captured by the Juno spacecraft on October 9. The craft used Earth's gravity to get a boost to reach its destination: Jupiter.
This photo shows a Soyuz spacecraft as it approached the International Space Station on September 25.