Ready to throw yourself in a heap across the finish line of yet another decade?

Say goodbye to the Nads and hello to the Tweens with our roundup-roundup: the best photos of 2009 as chosen by experts at Time, National Geographic, Billboard, and more.

Of course, it’s fun to reminisce about Twitpics of planes on the Hudson, or to imagine that there could have been life before Glee.

But it’s even more fun to imagine the photo-ops that await us in the new year.

Your mission: Say a proper goodbye to 2009, and go make two-thousand-and-awesome the best photo year yet!

The Best Roundups of the Best Photos of 2009

Outdoor Photos

National Geographic’s Best Earth Photos of 2009 are just that: a glowing, explosive reminder that we planet atop which you stand is the very best Earth there is.

 

Runners up:

• New Scientist’s list of Environment Wildlife Photographers of the Year
  We love that photo of the wolf, even if it was maybe-staged. Just off-camera: three terrified pigs.
• Banff Center’s Mountain Photography
  Mountains can be beautiful even without Julie Andrews twirling all over them.
• National Geographic’s Best Wallpapers
  Now you, too, can enjoy the desktop decor of a jet-setting adventurer.

Science Images

Discover Magazine’s top space-photos of 2009 evoke what Carl Sagan called “not a sunrise, but a galaxy-rise.”

 

Runners up:

• National Geographic’s Bioscapes Microscopy
  The world is comprised of billions upon billions of beautiful invisible sculptures.
• 2009 Winners of Nikon’s Small World Microscopy Contest
  Is it just us, or does the aquatic larva look a bit like a Lady Gaga costume?
• Popular Science’s Top Science Images of 2009
  Picture #2 is of a slimy human brain! We are all just walking sacks of goo.

Art & Culture Photos

Prom season 2009 as captured by MassLive.com: an annual celebration of impractical hairstyles and aspirational mustaches.

 

Runners up:

• Billboard’s Photos of the Year
  The star of this gallery is the lady making a face behind Miley Cyrus in photo #32.
• 2009′s Best Live Music photos from Sound on the Sound
  The singer from Scraps has a particularly close relationship with his mic.
• The Year’s Top 10 Architectural Moments from the LA Times
  Oh, High Line Park, you wonderful thing, we could just gaze upon you all day.

Sports Photos

As chosen by the experts at Dammage Control, there’s no word for what The 10 Best Mixed Martial Arts Photos of 2009 deliver other than “impact.”

 

Runners up:

• Life Magazine’s Sports Photos of the Year
  Life gets the award for best photo titles.
• You Can Choose the WNBA’s Top Photo of 2009
  A bracket lets readers pick their top photos — which ones are your faves?
• 2009′s Most Memorable NFL fans
  Nothing evokes the quiet dignity of sport like a cheese-shaped hat.

World News Photos

2009 in Photos from The Boston Globe’s Big Picture made us gasp so hard that we got light-headed and had to collapse onto our fainting couch.

 

Runners up:

• National Post’s Top Photos of 2009 as Seen From Canada
  It starts with a baby lemur and gets better from there.
• Time Magazine 48 Favorite Photos of 2009
  A brief 2009 roundup if you’re in a hurry…
• The Denver Post’s 80 Favorite Photos of 2009
  …and a longer one if you have time to linger.

Top Photos of 2010

Oh, hey, that’s right — a whole new year is about to start! Get to work, photogs!

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