From a unanimously perfect-scoring nebula shot to a backyard capture that stunned the panel, this year’s entries pushed the boundaries of what amateur and professional astrophotographers can achieve.
The Astrophotography Prize has announced the winners of its 2026 edition of the competition. Astrophotographer Evan McKay took home the Photographer of the Year prize, while Alpha Zhang earned a unanimous Gold rating from all five judges in the Remote Imaging category.
The contest, which is independent and astrophotographer-run, is still in its early years, with this year marking the fourth edition. It drew approximately 500 entries from 22 countries. The competition offers four categories: Aurora, Deep Space, Astro Landscape and Remote Imaging.
The Astrophotography Prize hosts public, live judging for each category. The judging panel provides constructive feedback on entries, allowing the public to hear the rationale behind the decisions and gain insight into the technical and artistic qualities of exceptional astrophotography. The judging panel also made written feedback available to entrants to help them continue to improve their work.
Below you’ll find a selection of the 2026 winners, along with captions provided by entrants and statements from the judging panel. You can see all of the winning images and learn more about the Astrophotography Prize at the competition website. You can also rewatch the judging panels on the competition’s YouTube channel.
Photographer of the Year
Evan McKayPhotographer: Evan McKay
Awards: 2026 Photographer of the Year, Astro Landscape Category Winner
Entrant statement: This is a multilayer 24-panel mosaic taken from Cathedral Cove before and during a moonrise. I timed it in such a way that I was able to finish capturing the sky just before the moon started to rise.
Exposure: Full color sky: F2, 15 sec, ISO 1600 | Duoband: F2, 120 sec, ISO 1600
Total integration time: 15 hours
Equipment: Nikon Z6a, Sigma 40mm F1.4 DG HSM , Optolong L-Para
Location: Cathedral Cove, New Zealand
Judges’ statement: McKay’s winning image was praised for its exceptional detail and depth, drawing viewers into the scene. Judges highlighted its balanced composition and strong sense of atmosphere and place, describing it as beautifully executed and deserving of the award.
Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist
Evan McKayPhotographer: Evan McKay
Award: Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist
Entrant statement: This is a multilayer 2-panel mosaic in full color and duoband data of the Comet C/2025 R3 PANSTARRS with Orion above Mount Taranaki. All was shot with a 135mm lens on location.
Exposure: Full colour sky: F1.8, 30 sec, ISO 1600 | Duoband data: F1.8, 60 sec, ISO 1600
Total integration time: 1.5 hours
Equipment: Nikon Z6a, Sigma 135mm F1.8 DG HSM IF ART, Optolong L-Para
Location: Mount Taranaki, New Zealand
Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist
Matteo StrasseraPhotographer: Matteo Strassera
Award: Astro Landscape Category Top 5 Finalist
Entrant statement: Panorama of the Milky Way captured in Rub’ al-Khali desert, in the UAE. A solitary figure is framed between two elements, the cosmos and the dunes, both immutable but in constant evolution.
Exposure: Land: 6 x 120 sec + manual bracketing for light; Sky: 8 frames x 360 sec + bracketing for light pollution
Total integration time: 360 seconds each frame, total around 42 minutes
Equipment: Canon R5, Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG HSM Art
Location: Rub’ al-Khali, United Arab Emirates
Gateway Award
Brian PuhlPhotographer: Brian Puhl
Awards: Gateway Award, Deep Space Category Finalist
Entrant statement: LDN 1251, the Rotten Fish Nebula. A dark nebula of rich brown dust in Cepheus. A little over 19 hours of LRGB from my North Carolina back yard.
Exposure: 232 x 300 seconds
Total integration time: 19 hours, 20 minutes
Equipment: Esprit 150, QHY-268M, Antlia LRGB
Location: North Carolina
Judges’ statement: The 2026 Gateway Award was presented to Brian Puhl of the United States for his image of LDN 1251, commonly known as the Rotten Fish Nebula.
Sponsored by Nebula Nest, the award provides a year of free hosting at its remote observatory in rural Victoria, Australia, under Bortle 1 skies. The award is valued at $2150 and is selected from the ten highest-scoring Deep Space images.
Deep Space Category Winner
Marzena RogozińskaPhotographer: Marzena Rogozińska
Award: Deep Space Category Winner
Entrant statement: The Chameleon Dark Clouds in the constellation Chamaeleon, captured from Namibia. The image reveals intricate streams of interstellar dust illuminated by delicate blue reflection nebulae.
Exposure: 300 x 180 seconds
Total integration time: About 15 hours
Equipment: ZWO Asi 2600MC Pro, Takahashi Epsilon 130d, UV/IR Cut filter
Location: Hakos, Namibia (during the expedition in may 2025)
Judges’ statement: Rogozińska’s image stood out for its dynamic treatment of interstellar dust. Judges described the structures as appearing almost alive and turbulent, like a tornado, and praised the image’s detail, processing and composition. The panel found the result both beautiful and exciting, and considered it thoroughly deserving of recognition.
Deep Space Category Top 5 Finalist
Dan BartlettPhotographer: Dan Bartlett
Award: Deep Space Category Top 5 Finalist
Entrant statement: Fifteen Consecutive Nights, Star-aligned sequence of Comet 13P/Olbers Surrounding Perihelion, June 26 – July 10, 2024. The first comet to show the extreme variability of its blue ion tail by solar winds.
Exposure: 440 x 60 seconds, 46 x 45 seconds
Total integration time: 7 hours 54 minutes 30 seconds
Equipment: asi6200mcPro, RASA11
Location: June Lake, California USA
Aurora Category Winner
Jason PerryPhotographer: Jason Perry
Award: Aurora Category Winner
Entrant statement: The Aurora Borealis dances above the mountains of Å in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, its vibrant green light reflected across the calm waters below.
Exposure: A single exposure at 6 seconds
Total integration time: 6 seconds
Equipment: Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S
Location: Å, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Judges’ statement: Perry’s image impressed the judges with its technical quality and depth. The foreground detail was particularly notable, with the image remaining pin-sharp from front to back, an impressive achievement for a single-exposure photograph. The judges considered it a beautifully executed image.
Aurora Category Top 5 Finalist
Kavan ChayPhotographer: Kavan Chay
Award: Aurora Category Top 5
Entrant statement: This Aurora Australis display was so expansive, it needed a 12 frame panorama to capture the full display, with another 6 to capture the lighthouse in the foreground.
Exposure: 12 at 5 seconds + 6 at 30 seconds(sky/foreground)
Total integration time: 0.016 hours
Equipment: Nikon Z7a, Nikkor Z 14-24mm F2.8 S
Location: Waipapa Point, New Zealand
Remote Imaging Category Winner
Alpha ZhangPhotographer: Alpha Zhang
Award: Remote Imaging Category Winner
Entrant statement: Galileo’s Finger Through a Faint Hα Veil. A near-threshold Hα veil rather than a bright red sea: dust sets the direction, Ha builds the depth, and distant galaxies still thread through the field.
Exposure: 74 exposures
Total integration time: 14 hours
Equipment: ToupTek SkyEye 62AM, SkyRover 180APO Pro, Sky-Watcher EQ8-Rh
Location: SiChuan China
Judges’ statement: Zhang’s image received a unanimous Gold rating from all five judges, a rare result in the competition. Judges praised its natural presentation, framing and sense of movement, describing it as exceptionally
well presented and close to flawless.
Remote Imaging Category Top 5 Finalist
Kevin MorefieldPhotographer: Kevin Morefield
Award: Remote Imaging Category Top 5 Finalist
Entrant statement: As this complex is in the distant LMC, it is really a collection of many objects. I wanted to highlight the similarity with the Rosette. Massive young stars carving out the central cavity.
Exposure: Red: 32 x 300 sec | Green: 33 x 300 sec | Blue: 33 x 300 sec | Hydrogen-alpha: 50 x 900 sec | Sulfur II: 50 x 900 sec | Oxygen III: 49 x 900 sec
Total integration time: 45 Hours 25 minutes
Equipment: QHY600M, Planewave DR350, Chroma SHORGB
Location: El Sauce Observatory
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