The collective upward human gaze yields numerous special images of space every year. Being a curious lot with a certain mastery of technology, we keep looking deeper and with greater resolution at the most remarkable features of the universe, near and far.

In 2001, amateurs got in on the game in an unprecedented way, as two near-space spectacles provided rare and compelling opportunities to enjoy and record the night sky.

The glorious Leonid meteor shower in November enthralled amateur and professional photographers around the world. And the Sun-powered Northern Lights raged off and on throughout the year, showing off as far south as Texas.

Deep space, however is still the realm of professional photography and expensive equipment. As always, the Hubble Space Telescope acted as our remote eyes, providing vision to see our dreams.

This was also the year of surprises. Two intrepid spacecraft returned images no one had counted on. NEAR-Shoemaker's photographs of asteroid Eros and Deep Space 1's shots of comet Borrelly brought us up-close to strange worlds, the likes of which we've rarely seen. Both missions will yield relatively cheap science for years to come.

Top 10 lists inevitably leave off more successes than they celebrate. But the photographs we've chosen as the Coolest Space Science Images of 2001 stood out for their beauty, their contribution to science, or the sheer surprise and wonder they inspired.

-- Robert Roy Britt, Senior Science Writer