FAR OUT
Peer carefully at the lower right of this image and you might just spot the tiny dot that is Earth, seen from more than a billion kilometres away. This vista of Saturn’s famous rings backlit by the Sun was assembled from 141 individual images taken by NASA’s Cassini probe after it moved into Saturn’s shadow in July.
FIRE IN THE SKY
This huge fireball was created by the largest meteor known to hit Earth since the Tunguska rock landed in 1908. Russia was once again the unlucky recipient: the meteor exploded some 30 kilometres above Chelyabinsk in the Urals and shone brighter than the Sun.
BONUS ONLINE-ONLY EDITORS’ CHOICE
Although this image didn’t make our end-of-year print piece, it captivated our selection team. It shows Terry Headley, a volunteer with the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, rescuing an injured bald eagle in April.
365 days: Images of the year http://www.nature.com/news/365-days-images-of-the-year-1.14303