Astrophotography

After decades of planning and building, the world's largest digital camera at the heart of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory on the summit of Cerro Pachón in Chile has snapped its first imagery – from test observations spanning a 10-hour window.

Space is one of the most versatile and photogenic subjects, and this year was no different. From a sunrise captured by the International Space Station to the most distant star ever observed, here are some of the best space photographs taken in 2023.

The annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition highlights the beauty of the night sky. The shortlist for 2023 has now been published, starring some stunning shots of the Sun, our majestic Milky Way, and awe-inspiring aurorae.

Astronomers have captured a stunning image of one of the Milky Way’s neighboring spiral galaxies. The portrait was taken using an instrument that was created to hunt down dark energy – a force that may be accelerating the expansion of the universe.

This mind-expanding assortment of images affirm the Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year as the world’s top astrophotography competition.

In its 11th year the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year is one of the world’s most impressive astrophotography competitions. This year’s shortlist highlights a variety of entries including an incredible nebulae shot reminiscent of the Eye of Mordor, and a series of gorgeous skyscapes.

The David Malin Awards is an astrophotography competition based in Australia celebrating the greatest astronomical photos from the last twelve months. This year’s overall winner was a magnificent image from Luke Tscharke showing the Milky Way rising over a lake at night in southern Tasmania.

Astronomy researchers have created a specialized camera for hunting small, Earth-like exoplanets that can be millions of times fainter than the star which they orbit, and are often lost in its glare

Innovations Foresight has introduced an on-axis guiding accessory for astrophotography that uses a cold mirror to separate a visible image from a near-infrared image for guiding.

Approval has been given for the next phase of development on what will be the world's largest digital camera, for use in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

NASA has released space images captured with Nikon dSLRs.