Astrophotography

Whether you’re an astrophotography expert or beginner, our guides and galleries will inspire and help you get the most out of imaging the night sky.

M106 Spiral Galaxy by Mark Griffith, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK. Equipment: Teleskop service 12

Gallery Messier 106

M34 by Jaspal Chadha, London, UK. Equipment: TAK 130, iOptron CEM60 Mount, QSI 690 CCD

Gallery Messier 34

NGC 2403 by Dan Crowson, Animas, New Mexico, USA. Equipment: SBIG STF-8300M, Astro-Tech AT12RCT

Gallery Caldwell 7

IC1318 Butterfly in Cygnus by Sheila Whysall, Derbyshire, UK. Equipment: Takahashi 106 FSQ reduced, QSI 690 wsg-8, Astrodon 3nm narrowband filters

Gallery IC 1318, Gamma Cygni Nebula

Total Eclipse-Corona by Pauline Phillips, Shoshone, Wyoming, USA. Equipment: Canon 6d, Tamron 28-300 lens, tripod

Gallery Solar eclipses

NGC457 - The ET Cluster in Cassiopeia by Bill McSorley, Leeds, UK. Equipment: SW 150P Newtonian, EQ5 GoTo Mount, QHY8L cooled ccd.

Gallery Owl Cluster

Comet 45P Sails in the Dark by José J. Chambó, Mayhill, New Mexico. Equipment: Takahashi FSQ-106ED 530mm f/5, SBIG STL-11000M

Gallery Short-period comets

Globular cluster Omega Centauri is thought to contain about ten million stars. These ancient objects may not be as old as once thought. Credit: ESO

Gallery Omega Centauri globular cluster

The Heart and Soul Nebulae, Keith Bramley, Lancashire, 14-22 February 2019. Equipment: Atik 383L+ mono camera, Samyang 135mm f/2 telephoto lens, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount.

Gallery Heart and Soul Nebulae

Snow Moon and Ryanair 737-800 by Mark Pelleymounter, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK. Equipment: Canon 7D, Tamron 150-600mm.

Astrophotography

Gallery Planes in front of the Sun and Moon

Space Shuttle Discovery can be seen docked to the ISS (on the left) in this stereo image from 2011. Image Credit: Thierry Legault

How to take a photo of the International Space Station

LDN 673 - Dark Nebula by Bob Franke, Chino Valley, AZ USA. Equipment: Takahashi FSQ-106ED, SBIG STF-8300, Baader LRGB filters, Losmandy Gll mount

Gallery Dark nebulae

M78 by Alvaro Ibañez Perez, Las Inviernas, Guadalajara, Spain. Equipment: Takahashi FSQ106EDX, Takahashi EM400 Temma2, CCD Atik 460EX mono, Astrodon LRGB, IDAS LPS P2, SX USB Filter Wheel, Lunático EZG-60, SXLodestar, RoboFocus, AstroMatic (ftorrev).

Gallery Messier 78

NGC 6188, the fighting dragons of Ara Shawn Nielsen, remotely via Siding Springs Observatory, Australia, March 2016 and October 2020. Equipment: SBIG STL-11000M camera, Takahashi FSQ ED 106mm refractor, Paramount ME EQ mount

Gallery NGC 6188

Young stars forming - NGC 7822 by Rob Little, Corbridge, UK. Equipment: Takahashi FSQ106 F5, ATIK 383L CCD, Baader narrowband HA, OII and SII filters, NEQ6 Pro Mount, Straight Express Lodestar autoguider.

Gallery NGC 7822