Astro

With two volcanoes (Mount Bromo in the foreground and Mount Semeru beyond), a cloud inversion and the Milky Way core, it’s difficult to imagine how this view of Indonesia’s Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park could look any better. The image comprises two exposures – taken from exactly the same position – that have been blended together seamlessly.

This solar eclipse was captured from a farm in Tennessee in 2017, and is particularly impressive, given the presence of the flaring diamond ring effect and dots of light known as Baily’s Beads. Two cameras were set up with different shutter speeds to double the odds of capturing a suitable exposure. It worked, as the image wasn’t edited.

We like how the Milky Way core traces the diagonal lines on the bridge. Both the bridge and the Milky Way core provide leading lines that direct the viewer towards the castle in the mid ground. A fantastic blend of astro and architecture.

This painterly landscape would look great on a wall. The warm sunset red and orange hues contrast with the cooler blues from the night sky. The moon adds interest to an otherwise large area of negative space. A fantastic sunset image!

This image is proof that the Milky Way core – although present in the background – doesn't have to be the main subject of an image. The flowers in the foreground, stone arch and stone outcrop beyond in the mid ground and Milky Way in the background create a real sense of depth.

This is a beautifully composed image, with the joshua tree in the foreground and the Milky Way core scything its way through what would otherwise be dead space. The starry sky is perfectly sharp and the Milky Way is punchy and perfectly visible.

We really like this amazing image of the northern lights. The punchy greens and blues really make this image stand out and the way the aurora fans out has created leading lines that have been perfectly reflected in the glassy lake. A great image!

This incredible shot has everything: beautiful foreground interest, a compelling mid-ground subject, a cloud inversion and a beautifully realised, arching Milky Way core. We like the dramatic processing on the starry sky too, pulling out a variety of vibrant colours.

These star trails were captured in San Antonio’s Confluence Park, Texas. The park’s distinctive pavilions have made for very effective foreground interest and the north star (Polaris) has been centred between the structure, producing an eye‑catching spiral of star trails. Readers in the Southern Hemisphere could identify and frame the south celestial pole, located in the Octans constellation, for a similar effect.

The location was visited ahead of time to precisely calculate the position of the Milky Way using the PhotoPills app. It certainly paid off! The glowing stars were achieved using a Kase Starglow filter and have resulted in an astro image that really stands out.

Illuminating a subject in the foreground or midground usually involves a bright flash or a bit of light painting, but this is on a whole other level. Lanterns were used to illuminate half the standing stones individually and then the other half, with both exposures blended together in post. Add the Milky Way’s core, looming above Castlerigg Stone Circle in Cumbria, and this beautiful exposure is bursting with ancient atmosphere.

Lake Buttermere is one of the most popular landscape hotspots in the UK and timing this astro shoot so the Milky Way was precisely above the famous body of water was no mean feat. The glassy water and beautifully realised starry sky are both highlights.

A total of 99 three-minute exposures were captured over two nights to create this incredibly detailed section of the Milky Way – that’s a combined exposure of nearly five hours! Star trails appear beyond exposures of 30 secs, so a star tracker was used to mitigate the Earth’s rotation. Methods to reduce noise and vignetting were also employed, resulting in a crystal-clear photograph.