New Horizons probe

With some blockbuster space missions underway, 2019 saw some amazing images beamed back to Earth.

The US space agency reprocesses the Voyager probe's iconic "Pale Blue Dot" picture of Planet Earth.

We look back at some of the major stories of the year in science and the environment.

Ultima Thule has been described as a Frankenstein object, composed of "poorly formed snowmen".

At first the distant icy object Ultima Thule looked like a snowman. Now it's a "gingerbread man".

Deep pits on the surface of the small, icy object Ultima Thule come into much sharper view.

The first detailed picture from Tuesday's historic flyby in the outer Solar System is released.

The New Horizons spacecraft confirms its "healthy" status after a historic encounter with an icy world.

The New Horizons spacecraft is expected to confirm its successful pass of a far-flung world.

Ex-Pluto spacecraft New Horizons maintains the trajectory taking it to its next dramatic encounter.

New observations suggest America's Pluto probe will see more than one object on its next flyby.

Pluto may harbour a slushy water ocean beneath its most prominent surface feature, known as the "heart".

The spectacular, flat landscape that dominates the left side of Pluto's icy "heart" can now be explained, say scientists.