Milky Way Photographer of the Year 2025: This year's winners
This fiery picture was taken in the central American country of Guatemala.The photographer hiked up Acatenango volcano for the first time, hoping to photot the neighbouring Volcán de Fuego against the Milky Way's backdrop. He managed to capture the volcano erupting, with huge ash plumes rising from it, with the galaxy right above - creating an amazing contrast.
The Milky Way, the galaxy in which we live, gets its name from its milky-looking texture - which inspired a Greek myth that a goddess put milk into the sky.This photo was taken in the Coyote Buttes, which spans across the US states of Arizona and Utah.It shows the famous sandstone waves with their spectacular shapes and colours with a colourful galaxy shining above them.The geological area is protected, and the photographer needed special permit to get access.
Most of the photos are taken at night in places where there's not much light pollution. For example, places far away from cities or where people live, making the starry night sky much easier to see.This shot above was taken in a remote area of the Atacama Cactus Valley, in the South American country of Chile, known for its large amount of cactus plants. The picture shows the Gum Nebula on the right-hand side, which is widely believed to be the expanded remains of a supernova that took place around a million years ago.
It's not just here on Earth where this year's entries were snapped.Nasa astronaut Don Pettit is a keen photographer and is known for taking plenty of pictures while on missions with the US space agency.This photo was taken while he was on board the ISS (International Space Station) and Don explained how special his job is. "There are over eight billion people that call this planet home. There are seven of us that can say the same for Space Station. What a privilege it is to be here," he said.
Over to Austria now, where this picture was taken in the country's Dobratsch mountains. It wasn't an easy task capturing this photo.The photographer embarked on a two-hour hike through the snow with a heavy backpack and sled in order to get to the cabin which is visible in the picture above.They waited for three hours in freezing -12°C weather, waiting for the perfect shot of the Milky Way's core.
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