Each month at BBC Sky at Night Magazine we receive incredible astrophotos from readers across the globe, and select the best for our monthly Gallery. Here we present the 12 winning images from 2017, in all their glory.
Thanks to everyone who sent in their images this year. From incredible captures of deep-sky objects, to impromptu nightscapes captured on a smartphone, it's been another fantastic year of astrophotography.
If you would like to submit your most recent and favourite astrophotos for the chance to appear in the mag, you can do so via our online gallery.
Sarah and Simon Fisher, Worcestershire, 30 October 2016
Sarah says: “My husband Simon and I were delighted to have consecutive clear nights in October to image our nearest natural neighbour. The seeing was outstanding, and with UK skies being so changeable (and cloudy) we were ecstatic to be able to have our telescope out four nights on the trot.”
Equipment: Canon EOS 600D DSLR camera, 5-inch Maksutov-Cassegrain.
Simon Todd, Haywards Heath, 28 November 2016
Simon says: “I chose M33 as a target because I have always had challenges in the past when attempting to image it. It’s not as bright as some of the other galaxies but there’s a lot of detail in there; you just have to get a decent number of exposures.”
Equipment: Atik 383L CCD camera, Sky-Watcher Quattro-8CF imaging Newtonian, Sky-Watcher EQ8 Pro SynScan mount
NGC 2264, Chris Heapy, Macclesfield, 29 December 2016
Chris says: “I had imaged this area back in 2014 using a smaller camera, but using the same 5-inch refractor with my new G4-16000 enabled me to capture the surrounding structures at similar resolution, revealing NGC 2259 in the bottom-left corner.”
Equipment: Moravian G4-16000 CCD camera, Televue NP127is apo refractor, 10 Micron GM 2000 HPS II mount.
Mark Large, Colchester, 31 January 2017
Mark says: “I came across an image of this galaxy in a calendar I was given at Christmas and knew straight away I had to get it! Having imaged for some time with a modified DSLR, the first thing you notice is how much more time is required with a CCD. It is well worth it though to get the amount of data required to produce an image like this.”
Equipment: Altair Astro 10-inch Ritchey Chrétien astrograph, QSI 683WSG-C-8 mono CCD camera, Sky-Watcher AZ EQ6-GT mount.
Mariusz Szymaszek, Crawley, West Sussex, 26 February 2017
Mariusz says: “Last winter wasn’t very kind to astrophotographers in southern areas of the UK. With fewer opportunities because of the conditions during those cold winter nights, planning was key. I recently modified my camera and wanted to see if it could register more nebulosity from objects like this. If feel it turned out very well with just one hour of exposure.”
Equipment: Modified Sony α7S camera, Evostar 80ED Pro refractor, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro SynScan mount, Optolong L-PRO MAX Luminosity Filter.
Kevin Jackson, Southport, 5 October 2017
Kevin says: “I love taking pictures of the Moon so the full Harvest Moon was extremely appealing. I'm a back garden amateur astrophotographer and find lunar photography a great and easy way of learning basic astrophotography skills.”
Equipment: Altair Hypercam IMX178C, Altair Astro Starwave 102 ED doublet refractor (2017 version), Astro Physics CCDT67 Telecompressor, EQ3-2 mount, Moon filter.
The variability of Betelgeuse is seen in this image captured by Amanda Cross: a composite showing Betelgeuse's apparent movement across the sky. Credit: Amanda Cross.
Haim Huli, Namibia, 12 May 2017
Haim says: “At the end of April I traveled for the first time to the southern hemisphere to an astro farm in Namibia. For the first three days after I arrived the sky was full of clouds. At the fourth night I ‘wowed’ when I finally saw the southern dark sky for the first time. My number one planned target was NGC5128, AKA the Centaurus A Galaxy.”
Equipment: FLI MicroLine ML8300 mono CCD camera, ASA 12-inch astrograph, ASA DDM85 mount.
Ian Carruthers, County Waterford, Ireland, 23 August 2017
Ian says: “As the best part of the Milky Way season here in Ireland was nearing its end, myself and four photographers took a chance on a not so promising forecast. Three hours drive from Dublin with rain and cloud all the way down. Then we arrived in Waterford and the clouds cleared and the stars began to shine. We were ecstatic!”
Equipment: Nikon D610 DSLR camera, iOptron Skytracker, Samyang 24mm lens.
Gábor Szendrői, Kendig, Hungary, 16 July 2017
Gábor says: “Since these nebulae never rise very high in the sky in Hungary, it was necessary to find a dark observation site, preferably one at high altitude to capture the vivid colours and the delicate structure of the nebulae embedded into a rich star field. My father and I decided to return to Kendig, our favourite observation site, 726 metres above sea level.”
Equipment: Modified Canon EOS 700D DSLR camera, GPU 100/635 apochromatic refractor, Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 Go-To mount.
David Searles, Kent, 9 July 2017
David says: “With the Sun getting towards the solar minimum, this shot chose itself rather than being chosen! Working at a focal length of about 5m, achieving good focus is always a big challenge as the daytime seeing can be quite variable.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI120MM-S mono CMOS camera, Celestron CPC 925 XLT Schmidt Cassegrain, 2x Barlow lens, Baader solar film.
Avani Soares, Canoas, Brazil, 3 June 2017
Avani says: “Photographing Saturn and the main planets of the Solar System is one of my favorite hobbies. Although there is much to be said for observing Jupiter due to the dynamics of its atmosphere, Saturn is the planet that causes greater visual impact, both in direct observation and in a beautiful astrophoto.”
Equipment: ZWO ASI224MC CMOS camera, Celestron EdgeHD 14 Schmidt-Cassegrain.
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Sarah and Simon Fisher, Worcestershire, 30 October 2016
Sarah says: “My husband Simon and I were delighted to have consecutive clear nights in October to image our nearest natural neighbour. The seeing was outstanding, and with UK skies being so changeable (and cloudy) we were ecstatic to be able to have our telescope out four nights on the trot.”
Equipment: Canon EOS 600D DSLR camera, 5-inch Maksutov-Cassegrain.
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