Out of this world! Astrophotography awards winners are revealed
The winners of this year’s international astrophotography awards have been announced, with stunning images captured around the world that wowed the judges.
These awe-inspiring photos were taken as part of the David Malin Awards, which showcase the best images of the night sky.
Named after British-Australian astronomer and astrophotographer David Frederick Malin, the awards are administered by the Mid-West Astronomical Society in New South Wales, Australia.
Malin, now 85, is known for his discovery of the massive spiral galaxy (aptly named Malin 1) in 1986, as well as for his color images and photographic processing techniques of astronomical objects.
Malin used giant telescopes at the Anglo-Australian Observatory in New South Wales to develop groundbreaking new photographic techniques that allowed astronomers to better resolve galactic distance, motion, structure and elements.
This year’s award winners certainly applied these techniques and achieved incredible results.
The competition was held as part of AstroFest, the Midwest’s annual astronomy festival.
It invited amateur astronomers and photographers from around the world to participate in the prestigious awards and submit their photographs for consideration.
The winner of the Large Field category was Jarrod Koh’s ‘The Dividing Line’ featuring the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex.
Brighton Seeley’s Zenith won the Nightscapes category. This striking image taken from a beach captures the Aurora Australis in vibrant red and green
Stefan Buda’s Lunar Apennines won the Overall winner and the Solar System winner category. The image, illuminated in subtle shades of gray, also shows the Apollo 15 landing site
Luke Tscharke’s Tasman Arc, showing the Aurora Aurealis scanning the Tasman Island, received an honorable mention in the Night Landscapes category
Shooting at a star! Murray Parkinson’s 2025 R3 PanSTARRS was cleverly created using 45 one-minute exposures individually aligned to the stars and comet, and then the two images were recombined to create a realistic shot of the comet.
This spectacular sunrise image taken by Ed Hurst in the world’s second largest canyon shows a sky full of star trails. ‘Pantoneys Crown’ received an honorable mention in the Night Landscapes category
Andy Campbell’s ‘Winged Sandals of Mercury’ showed incredible structure within the Vela supernova remnant and received an honorable mention in the Deep Sky category.
This image, which looks more like a mythical creature than a photograph of the night sky, shows a star-forming region within the constellation Puppis, about 1,300 light-years from Earth. Frank Alvaro called it ‘The Hand of God’ and it received an honorable mention in the Deep Sky category.
Jarrod Rueff’s ‘Bran 56’ received an honorable mention in the Deep Sky category. This image, which looks like an emerging sea wave, actually captures the blurry region, BRAN 56
This biblical image captured by Luke Rasmussen and titled ‘The Wishing Tree’ captures an aurora australis off Tasmania’s Bruny Island.
Rodney Watters’s Rembrandt flame-like image shows the Gum12b nebula in the southern hemisphere constellations Antlia and Vela. Won an honorable mention in the Large Area category
Andy Campbell’s Waving Flames – Chamaeleon III: Deep Sky won the Deep Sky category. Beautiful image captures star-filled Chameleon molecular cloud
This ethereal image captured by Elizabeth Armarego earned an honorable mention in the Deep Sky category. Called ‘Celestial Dolphin’, this image captured a doubly ionized oxygen object created by intense stellar winds
Judges for this year’s category winners were Peter Ward, Alex Cherney and Selena Simpson.
Photography Editor’s Choice Reviewed by Nicola Amoros.
The winning images were truly breathtaking, with views of the solar system, Orion’s belt, stars and atmosphere illuminated in high resolution.
Stefan Buda’s painting ‘Lunar Apennines’, depicting the lunar surface in gray and white, won the overall winner category.
The image of the Moon’s Apennine mountain region looks as if it was taken from lunar orbit rather than from Earth.
The winning image is so high resolution that Apollo 15’s landing site is visible.
Other highlights include Andy Campbell’s Deep Sky category winner ‘The Rippling Flames – Chamaeleon III’.
Campbell’s image looks more like a painting than a photograph; It depicts an incredible number of stars illuminating the Chamaeleon molecular cloud in greys, browns, blues and purples.
Winner of the Nightscapes (International) category by Brighton Seeley, ‘Zenith’ is perhaps the most colourful, depicting a geomagnetic storm high above a beach on Earth.
Seeley captured the beautiful image of the Aurora Australis peaking in vibrant green and red light.
Winners of the prestigious awards receive a share of the prize pool, which includes trophies as well as world-class photography and imaging equipment.
The best entries also win a professional edition and a year-round public exhibition at Parkes Observatory, as well as a touring exhibition around the country.
