Our 10 favorite Space.com reader astronomy photos of 2025

three panel image showing on the left meteors streaking through the sky above an arch rock formation , top right a blue green meteor with a long tail and bottom right northern lights captured from a plane, showing ribbons of purple and green lights above the city lights below.

From auroras at 36,000 feet to comet flybys and eclipses, these are the standout images our readers shared with Space.com in 2025. (Image credit: Left: Josh Dury, top: Dan Bartlett, bottom: Matt Melnyk.)

The sky served up no shortage of spectacle in 2025 —from lunar liaisons, solar prominences and fleeting meteor showers, to aurora and nebula scenes that unfold on a scale almost too massive for the human mind to comprehend.

And while we experience the cosmos first through the human eye, our vision has limits. We can't zoom in on distant nebulas, see the faintest glows, or safely take in the brightest targets — and much of the electromagnetic spectrum is invisible to us entirely.

10 Incredible astrophotography highlights of 2025

1. Plasma twists above the solar surface

a close up view of the sun with a fiery tendril extending from the surface out into space and looping back down. the sun's surface looks fuzzy and soft, like you'd want to touch it - but you really shouldn't.

A solar prominence extends out from the sun (Image credit: Mark Johnston)

Astrophotographer Mark Johnston captured a jaw-droppingly detailed view of hydrogen plasma suspended in the powerful magnetic field above the sun on Oct. 20 from Willow Springs, Arizona, using a TEC160FL refractor telescope fitted with specialized filters.

2. A nebula shark is spied hunting through the depths of space

A huge cloud of dark brown gas is pictured hanging against a colourful starfield. The left section of the cloud takes the form of a gaping shark's may as seen from the side, with a bright star forming its eye, while the remainder forms the body to the right of the image with a suggestion of dorsal and pectoral fins.

A cosmic shark hunts through deep space. (Image credit: Ronald Brecher)

Ronald Brecher, meanwhile, set his sights further afield, targeting a spectacular deep-space nebula vista in the constellation Cepheus, some 650 light-years from Earth, which happens to resemble a vast cosmic shark swimming through deep space.

3. The moon and sun meet over Stonehenge

partial solar eclipse on March 29

Partial solar eclipse sequence over Stonehenge, U.K. (Image credit: Josh Dury)

This gorgeous composite shot detailing the phases of a partial solar eclipse unfolding above the ancient monument of Stonehenge was captured by award-winning photographer Josh Dury as the moon slid between the sun and Earth on March 29.

4. Comet Lemmon twists in the solar wind

A bright green comet is pictured to the bottom left of a starfield against a black sky, with a long tail extending to the upper right of the screen.

Astrophotographer Dan Bartlett captured this view of comet Lemmon (Image credit: Dan Bartlett)

In a year packed full of phenomenal cometary capers, astrophotographer Dan Bartlett captured a staggering image of comet C/2025 A6 (LEMMON) looking its best as it shone in the skies over June Lake, California, on Sept. 26, as its tail twisted in the relentless stream of the solar wind.

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5. The northern lights from 36,000 feet

aurora from a plane

When a severe G4 geomagnetic storm hit, this Dreamliner pilot had the perfect front-row seat. (Image credit: Matt Melnyk)

Of course, not all of the best astrophotography subjects exist beyond Earth's atmosphere. Airline pilot Matt Melnyk snapped an impressive view of the northern lights shining in the upper atmosphere from a height of 36,000 feet (11 kilometers), while shepherding a Boeing 787 from London to Calgary during a geomagnetic storm on Nov. 12.

6. A cosmic baboon rages light-years from Earth

A deep space scene in which swirling brown clouds of molecular dusk appear to form the hairy outline of a baboon's face, while blue emission nebulas appear like eyes in the middle of the image, and a knot of dense material forms a dark mouth to the lower left. A globular star cluster is visible shining to the upper right of the shot.

The Raging Baboon Nebula, as captured by astrophotographer Greg Meyer in 2025. (Image credit: Greg Meyer)

Astrophotographer Greg Meyer captured light of a more ancient variety while imaging a nebula 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Corona Australis, which takes on the shape of a mandrill with glowing blue eyes in long-exposure photography.

7. Perseid meteors race the Milky Way

Perseid meteors are pictured alongside the Milky Way above a coastal scene featuring an arch-like rocky outcrop

Perseid meteors streak towards Durdle Door in this 2025 image from photographer Josh Dury. (Image credit: Josh Dury)

This stunning composite from Josh Dury shows shooting stars belonging to the annual Perseid meteor shower streaking towards the horizon alongside the glowing band of the Milky Way above the iconic Durdle Door rock formation in Dorset, United Kingdom.

8. An 'Elve' red halo flashes to life over the Italian Alps

a red halo appears as an eerie symbol in the night sky.

An "elve" lasts for less than a thousandth of a second. (Image credit: Valter Binotto)

Valter Binotto, meanwhile, was able to capture a split-second view of a red ring manifesting over the Italian Alps on Nov. 17. This strange phenomenon, known as an "elve", is a super-rare form of lightning that occurs in the upper atmosphere, which lasts less than a thousandth of a second and can span up to 300 miles (480 km) in diameter, according to NOAA.

9. Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) crosses the Eagle Nebula

A green comet can be seen glowing to the right of a deep-space image, with a faint tail extending to the lower left. A swirling red nebula can be seen dominating the background to the left of the screen, with a number of particularly bright stars clustered below a dense horizontal filament of cosmic dust.

Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) glows alongside the Eagle Nebula. (Image credit: Daniele Gasparri)

Astronomer Daniele Gasparri seized the opportunity to image the glowing green coma and diffuse tail of comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) as it passed in front of the Eagle Nebula in the constellation Serpens, the serpent on the night of Oct. 17. Look to the left of the comet to find the iconic Pillars of Creation — vast collections of dust and gas made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope — nestled beneath a population of stars close to the nebula's glowing core.

10. A blood moon over Egypt

A composite image showing the phases of a blood moon total lunar eclipse unfolding in a line through a starry sky above a desert featuring two large chalk formations.

The phases of the Sept. 7 blood moon arrayed over the White Desert in Egypt. (Image credit: © Osama Fathi / Night Sky Watcher.)

Finally, photographer Osama Fathi captured a beautiful composite scene chronicling the rise of the Sept. 7 "Blood Moon" as it soared into the skies over the chalk formations in Egypt's White Desert, while contending with the shifting light conditions and destabilizing gusts of wind.

Feeling inspired to take the first steps on your own astrophotography journey? Then why not check out our picks of the best cameras and lenses for imaging the night sky to ensure that you're ready for 2026.

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Anthony Wood joined Space.com in April 2025 after contributing articles to outlets including IGN, New Atlas and Gizmodo. He has a passion for the night sky, science, Hideo Kojima, and human space exploration, and can’t wait for the day when astronauts once again set foot on the moon.

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