These Ten Breathtaking Photos From the 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year Contest Capture the Great thing about Our Galaxy

The attractive astrophotographs spotlight the dazzling night time sky and remind viewers what we threat dropping to mild air pollution

Margherita Bassi

| Daily Correspondent

May 19, 2026 12:03 p.m.

Since 2018, astrophotographer Dan Zafra has organized and curated Capture the Atlas’ Milky Way Photographer of the Year, a contest that acknowledges 25 attractive snapshots of the exceptional spiral galaxy that our photo voltaic system resides in. Now in its ninth version, this yr’s stellar winners have simply been announced, and the images have been captured from a number of corners of the globe, together with Florida, Italy, Botswana, New Zealand and Australia.

“Every year, this collection reminds us that photographing the Milky Way is not only about technique or planning,” says Zafra, chief photographer and self-defined “astro freak” at Capture the Atlas, as reported by Popular Science. “It is about curiosity, patience and the desire to experience the night sky in places where it still feels wild,” he provides. “Many of these skies are becoming increasingly rare, and we hope these images inspire people not only to admire them, but also to value and protect them.”

One of the winners is featured above and is Tom Rae’s “Night at the Remarkables.” The astrophotographer’s picture captures New Zealand’s Remarkables mountain vary with the Milky Way stretching overhead and Queenstown within the distance, on the sting of Lake Wakatipu.

Here are 9 extra award-winning pictures that present the great thing about our galaxy.

Astrophotographer Alvin Wu captured this picture in Twizel, a city that sits inside New Zealand’s Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, on the South Island. With the fisheye perspective, he photographed the night time sky at 360 levels and a surrounding area of pink and purple lupines. The band of shiny inexperienced across the circumference of the sky is the Southern Lights.

“To me, this recognition is more than just being selected,” Wu writes on Instagram. “It’s a window that helps bring the beauty of the night sky to more people around the world. Beyond city lights, the sky can still be incredibly vivid and alive.”

Uroš Fink’s masterpiece includes a rainbow-lit winter night time sky over the Gran Telescopio Canarias on La Palma, one among Spain’s Canary Islands. The astrophotographer captured the Geminid meteor bathe, whose meteors all the time seem to shoot from the Gemini constellation. The “shooting stars” occur when Earth passes by means of the path of asteroid 3200 Phaethon.

“Although the dome could not be opened due to humidity, the experience of witnessing such dark skies for the first time was remarkable, with the Milky Way appearing almost three-dimensional,” Fink says within the assertion revealing the winners.

In his aptly named “Galactic Gandalf,” astrophotographer Evan McKay captured a wizard-looking determine holding a brightly lit workers as they pose between two arches—the one among stone they stand on, the starry Milky Way they stand beneath. You can virtually hear the enduring line, “You shall not pass!” echoing amongst the celebs. The {photograph}, appropriately snapped in New Zealand, the place The Lord of the Rings motion pictures have been filmed, options one other particular person apart from Gandalf, nonetheless.

“I found that a seal had settled exactly where I had planned to set up my tripod. It showed little interest in moving, and judging by how worn and polished the rock was, it was clearly one of its preferred resting spots,” McKay says within the assertion. “Eventually, the seal shifted slightly to the side, remaining within the scene for the duration of the shoot. It can still be seen in the final image for those who look closely.”

This picture snapped by astrophotographer Anthony Lopez immortalizes our galaxy because it stretches above the shoreline of Saint Raphaël alongside the French Riviera. Besides the galaxy, the Orion constellation can also be a central character within the {photograph}, with a nebula—a cloud of cosmic mud with child stars—aligning to provide the enduring hunter a shiny pink head.

“Night photography has evolved so much. With new techniques and more powerful gear, it’s becoming more accessible than ever… and the level keeps rising every single year,” Lopez writes on Instagram, after seeing all of the profitable photos. The competitors “has inspired an entire generation of nightscape photographers.”

“Lost in the Ripples of Space and Time” by astrophotographer Leonel Padrón captures the Milky Way curving over Pinnacles Desert in Nambung, Western Australia. Rock formations jut out of the sandy floor, with the central one aligning intently with the South Celestial Pole. The proper aspect of the sky options the brilliant pink Gum Nebula, the leftover shell of gasoline and mud from an exploded star.

“There’s something uniquely powerful about a calm, windless night in the Pinnacles Desert, a place that never fails to remind me how fortunate we are to have such pristine dark skies so close to home, just a short drive away,” Padrón says within the assertion. “As the sun sets beyond the Indian Ocean, a profound stillness settles over Nambung, transforming the landscape into an almost otherworldly scene and drawing me back here time and time again.”

Astrophotographer Anastasia Gulova looked for the proper spot to snap images for nearly 4 hours—and the hassle seems to have been price it. Also captured within the Canary Islands, “Galaxy on the Rise” frames the Milky Way within the mouth of a cave, as seen from contained in the rock construction. The ocean gives a strikingly flat horizon over which the sky places on a stunning present of mud and glittering stars.

“Turns out my highly questionable habit of freezing alone in remote places in the dark at 3 a.m. has officially paid off,” Gulova writes on Instagram, after studying about her win.

In astrophotographer Jason Rice’s picture, a meteor blazes over Cape San Blas in Florida at a slight angle in comparison with the Milky Way. The house rock’s look was an surprising however extremely appreciated photobomb, particularly since Rice hadn’t initially deliberate to go to the seaside due to forecast cloudy, wet climate.

“After setting up the sequence, I left the camera running and returned to my vehicle. Several hours later, shortly after midnight, I noticed the ground around me suddenly illuminated by a green glow, prompting me to look up. What followed was the largest meteor I have ever witnessed,” Rice says within the assertion.

“It was one of the most memorable moments I have experienced in astrophotography, completely unplanned and impossible to anticipate,” he provides.

Translating to “the Garden of Stars,” astrophotographer Luca Fornaciari captured this picture in Italy’s Apennine mountain vary. In a snapshot that appears prefer it comes from a fairy story, the composition consists of the Milky Way extending diagonally throughout a star-peppered sky and above a lavender area stuffed with fireflies. A warmly lit home sits nestled on the sting of a treeline, and you may virtually hear the crickets chirping on this summer time night time. 

“Astrophotography and night photography are defined by moments, brief instances when everything aligns, and each element falls into place,” Fornaciari says within the assertion. “The effort is always rewarded by the emotion of the final result.”  

Astrophotographer Stefano Pellegrini received this shot whereas touring alone by means of Botswana and residing out of his automotive. As the title suggests, the {photograph} options the galaxy sprawling over baobabs, that are terribly long-lived timber with thick trunks. They can stay as much as 2,500 years, although doubtlessly even longer. 

During his ten-day journey shifting by means of distant desert landscapes, Pellegrini was “focused entirely on photographing the night sky,” he says within the assertion. “This location [in the award-winning image] became the highlight of the trip: a small, ancient island rising from the middle of a vast salt pan.”

On Instagram, Pellegrini writes that he’s completely satisfied that this picture was among the many awardees as a result of he desires “to share with the world this secluded and little-known location and its pristine skies.”