From a selfie on Mars to swirling 'oil painting' clouds on Jupiter: Stunning pictures document humanity's exploration of space in 2018

NASA's Juno spacecraft captures Jupiter's southern hemisphere, as the spacecraft performed its 13th close flyby of Jupiter on May 23, 2018

Swirling cloud belts and vortices are seen in Jupiter's northern hemisphere in this colour-enhanced image taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft on a close flyby, May 23, 2018

A selfie of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle on Vera Rubin Ridge on the planet Mars, which the rover has been investigating for the past several months, according to NASA, in this handout photo mosaic assembled from dozens of images taken January 23, 2018 and released January 31, 2018

A globular cluster of stars known as NGC 1898 is seen in this image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) to show near-infrared to ultraviolet wavelengths, and the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) to show near-infrared to near-ultraviolet wavelengths, obtained November 16, 2018

The Cat's Paw Nebula, a star-forming region in the Milky Way galaxy so named because it resembles a feline footprint, is seen in this image compiled from data from the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) aboard the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope, obtained November 16, 2018

Ultraviolet radiation and stellar winds from a giant star called Herschel 36 push through dust in curtain-like sheets in the Lagoon Nebula stellar nursery, located 4,000 light-years away, in this Hubble Space Telescope image obtained September 26, 2018

An artist's rendering created by the National Science Foundation of how the first stars in the universe may have looked. The massive blue star is embedded within filaments of gas and dust, while the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is shown on the outer edges. Researchers recently inferred the existence of these massive blue stars by measuring the dimming of the CMB

A composite image made from nine frames shows the International Space Station in silhouette as it transits the Sun at roughly five miles per second, as seen from Suffolk, Virginia, October 7, 2018

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exits the atmosphere for a cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, over Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., June 29, 2018

Dunes on Mars are almost free of their seasonal ice cover during early Martian summer, with pockets of ice still visible in areas protected by shade, as seen in this Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image obtained September 26, 2018

Hubble Space Telescope image shows bright blue gas threading through the galaxy IC 4870 that shines because it emits radio wave and gamma-ray radiation, in this image obtained September 26, 2018

An image captured by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite shows the process of cold air (seen as bright areas) sinking into valleys and turning into fog, during autumn in the Cumberland Mountains of West Virginia, October 24, 2018

Snow from the previous winter melts into slush on Canada's Lowell Glacier, in this false-color satellite image showing frozen (light blue), meltwater (dark blue), rocks (brown) and vegetation (green) and the progression of rapid snow melt in the Kluane National Park in the Yukon Territory, Canada, July 26, 2018

Long, narrow clouds known as "ship tracks", which form when water vapor condenses around tiny particles in the exhaust emitted by ships, are seen over the Pacific Ocean 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) west of the California-Oregon border in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer image captured August 26, 2018

This composite image from NASA's Parker Solar Probe using first-light data shows the Milky Way's galactic center in the left image, and Jupiter as a bright spot in the center of the right image, in this image obtained November 16, 2018

A photo taken from the International Space Station and moved on social media by astronaut Ricky Arnold shows Hurricane Lane in the early morning hours near Hawaii, U.S., August 22, 2018

An orange hue envelops the Earth, known as 'airglow,' a phenomenon that occurs when ultraviolet radiation hits molecules in the atmosphere and creates a band of light that reaches 50 to 400 miles high, in this image taken on board the International Space Station

The sun is seen in this image taken by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which studies the Sun's magnetic field and atmosphere, May 15, 2018

A Hubble Space Telescope image shows the spiral galaxy NGC 1032, a disc of gas, dust and stars that resembles a glowing wizard's staff when seen edge-on, in the constellation Cetus (The Sea Monster) located a hundred million light years from Earth in this image obtained September 26, 2018

A field of barchan sand dunes appears turquoise blue on the surface of Mars in this enhanced image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, January 24, 2018