Feast Your Eyes on the 12 Winning Astronomy Photographer of the Year Images

Best Newcomer

The Falcon 9 rocket launching across the moon in February 2021. Photo: Paul Eckhardt

The competition’s Manju Mehrotra Family Trust Prize for Best Newcomer went to Paul Eckhardt of the United States, for his shot of Falcon 9. Hours before the craft launched, Eckhardt used a program to figure out the rocket’s trajectory and the precise location it would intersect with the Moon in the sky. After an unexpected stop near the Florida launch site due to a closed gate, he only just got the shot.

Falcon 9 most recently launched yesterday, carrying an all-civilian crew as part of the Inspiration4 mission. The February 2021 flight the photographer captured was carrying satellites.

Previous Next

The artistic rendering shows the center of the galaxy Markarian 501, from which two powerful jets emanate. The supermassive black hole at the centre, whose existence was already known, partially bends the light from the jet behind it into a so-called Einstein ring.

Unprecedented Observation Reveals 2 Supermassive Black Holes Locked in a Tight Death Spiral

New research describes an unexpected double jet in a distant galaxy, revealing a pair of supermassive black holes on the verge of colliding.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie Apr 7

An illustration of a red giant star near the Milky Way.

Astronomers Found the Closest Thing Yet to the Universe’s First Stars

The pristine star formed outside the Milky Way and later drifted into our galaxy.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie Apr 7

Asteroid Ryugu Contains All 5 DNA and RNA Building Blocks, Study Shows

A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests asteroid impacts played a critical role in the emergence of life on our planet.

Space & Spaceflight Ellyn Lapointe Mar 16

An illustration of a group of stars in the Milky Way galaxy

Our Sun Was Born in a Hellish Part of the Milky Way. New Research Explains How It Escaped

Without the mass stellar migration, life may not have been able to form on Earth.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie Mar 13

$A bright, greenish coma and a tail are shown in this three-minute exposure taken using a 6″ Takahashi refractor located in New Mexico. At the time of this image, comet Lovejoy was 40 million miles from Earth and 88 million miles from the sun.$

Newly Discovered Comet Could Appear During the Day—If It’s Not Destroyed First

Comet MAPS (C/2026 A1) is set for a dangerous brush with our star.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie Mar 12

An illustration of a row of mirror satellites in Earth orbit.

California Startup Wants to Send Thousands of Mirrors to Orbit For the Dumbest Reason Ever

The planned orbital illumination system seeks to deliver sunlight after dark.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie Mar 11