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Dancing plasma on the Sun, a rocket destroyed in a fireball and a view of Earth rising above the Moon’s horizon are some of the astonishing sights from 2007.

1. Dazzling new images reveal the ‘impossible’ on the Sun

The Hinode telescope observed the restless of the Sun’s surface in astonishing detail.

2. Crash destroys rocket ahead of X Prize contest

The front-runner for a $2 million competition to build mock lunar landers , adding drama to the upcoming contest.

3. Private space firm tests futuristic rocket engine

XCOR Aerospace performed six short of a new rocket engine fuelled by liquid methane and liquid oxygen – future versions could be used on lunar landers.

4. Watching Earthrise from the Moon

Japan’s Kaguya spacecraft of the Earth rising above the horizon and setting again as the spacecraft orbited around the Moon.

5. Jupiter moon spews volcanic plumes in new images

were among the dazzling images taken during the New Horizons spacecraft’s swing past Jupiter.

6. New 3D ‘flyovers’ let viewers swoop down on Mars

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images were woven into that helped the Opportunity rover find a path into Victoria crater.

7. Flying by Saturn’s walnut moon

In honour of the Cassini spacecraft’s 10-year launch anniversary, the Cassini team released a video from the spacecraft’s September 2007 Iapetus.

8. Powerful solar outburst rips off comet’s tail

A wave of charged particles from the Sun in a dramatic video from NASA’s STEREO spacecraft.

9. Saturn gets star treatment in trio of Hubble movies

Hubble Space Telescope images were seamlessly woven together into three movies showcasing .

10. Three-armed robot to work on space station

‘Eurobot’ successfully completed simulating microgravity – it will one day help maintain the International Space Station.

11. Bizarre hexagon circles Saturn’s north pole

A as wide as two Earths lies above the Ringed Planet’s north pole and has remained curiously stable for more than 20 years.

12. Sound waves reverberate through solar ‘pipes’

Loops in the Sun’s outer atmosphere act as that are triggered by explosions down below.