We recently camped in the Pacific Northwest, and got a faint view of the Milky Way in the sky, the gorgeous swirling galaxy that we’re decidedly part of. What we saw pales in comparison to some of these incredible images, however.
Capturing the Milky Way from a photographer’s point of view takes patience, skill, and the right location. These winners of the 2024 Milky Way Photographer of the Year contest give us a sense of just how vast and beautiful this celestial body is.
Capture the Atlas hosts the friendly competition, which draws photographers from around the world.
Here are some of our favorites from this year’s entries, which include locations like New Zealand, the deserts of Chile, Yemen, and more.
Images © Copyright the respective photographers. Photographs used with permission from Capture the Atlas.
“Lightning Lake” – Tom Rae | Aoraki, Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand
“A Clear Welcome” – Francesco Dall’Olmo | Laguna de los Tres, Patagonia, Argentina
“Blooming Bottle Tree” – Rositsa Dimitrova | Socotra island, Yemen
“Blue Lagoon Under the Stars” – Yuri Beletsky | Atacama Desert, Chile
“Bluff Hut” – Rachel Roberts | Mungo River Valley, West Coast, New Zealand
“Desert Bloom” – Marcin Zajac | Goblin Valley State Park, Utah
“Starlight Therapy” – Kavan Chay | Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, New Zealand
“The Lions Den” – Lorenzo Ranieri | Atacama Desert, Chile
“Atmospheric fireworks” – Julien Looten | Dordogne, France
“Rainbow Valley” – Baillie Farley | Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve, Northern Territory – Australia
“Mungo Dreamtime” – John Rutter | Mungo National Park, NSW, Australia
“The vanity of life” – Mihail Minkov | Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan
If you’re out chasing the Milky Way yourself, Luminar Neo is a photo editor with sky tools that help the stars come through in night shots. (We may earn a commission if you buy through that link.)
