Photography

Astronomy Magazine’s 31 winning images include a Greek astrophotographer

The Dementors of Cepheus take the grand prize; Apostolos Kyriazis earns a Nightscapes runner-up award.

pttl team October 28, 2026 8 min read

Τα «Φαντάσματα του Κηφέα» με σκοτεινά νεφελώματα και το υπόλειμμα υπερκαινοφανούς SNR G110.3+11.3 — “The Dementors of Cepheus,” overall winner, Astronomy Magazine Astrophotography Contest 2026. © Julien De Winter, Landon Boehm, Brian Diaz.

Summary

Astronomy Magazine announced 31 honors from more than 1,400 submissions.
The Dementors of Cepheus won the grand prize after also being recognized at Capture the Dark.
Greek photographer Apostolos Kyriazis received a Nightscapes runner-up distinction for a composite of a total lunar eclipse above dunes in the United Arab Emirates.
The article covers all eight categories, every honored image, and key technical details.

Contents

The Dementors of Cepheus win a second competition
Deep sky — broadband
Deep sky — narrowband
Solar System objects
Solar imaging
Nightscapes
Greek distinction: Apostolos Kyriazis among the Nightscapes runners-up
Smartscopes — smart telescopes
Processing — one dataset, different interpretations
Newcomer — early-career astrophotographers
What the results reveal
What we think

A previously celebrated image of Cepheus has now won Astronomy Magazine’s overall prize, heading a contest with more than 1,400 submissions and 31 honored photographs.

Astronomy Magazine announced its results on October 23, 2026, for its first astrophotography contest in 13 years: one grand prize, eight category winners, and 22 runners-up. Presented by Celestron, the contest spans faint nebulae, solar imaging, planetary work, and nightscapes.

The Dementors of Cepheus win a second competition

Julien De Winter, Landon Boehm, and Brian Diaz take the grand prize for “The Dementors of Cepheus.” Their dark clouds of dust resemble ghostly figures set against the filaments of supernova remnant SNR G110.3+11.3. The team borrowed the nickname from the Dementors in the Harry Potter stories.

This very photograph had already won the Deep Sky Observations category of Capture the Dark 2026. The news is its distinct achievement in another international contest, this time as the overall top-ranked image.

The team acquired the data between November 2025 and January 2026 at Starfront Observatories in Texas: 29.6 hours overall, including 19 hours 45 minutes of broadband imaging and 9.8 hours of Hα through an Antlia 3nm filter. Their setup combined a 7-inch Takahashi Epsilon-180ED f/2.8 astrograph with ZWO ASI6200MC Pro and ASI6200MM Pro cameras. The grand prize is a Celestron RASA 8 astrograph.

The Dementors of Cepheus around supernova remnant G110.3+11.3 — Julien De Winter, Landon Boehm, and Brian Diaz — The Dementors of Cepheus around supernova remnant G110.3+11.3 — Grand prize. © Julien De Winter, Landon Boehm, and Brian Diaz.

The eight categories provide a useful look at very different techniques. This is a separate competition from the 2026 Astronomy Photographer of the Year, which also recognized a different group of outstanding astronomical images.

Deep sky — broadband

Prasaad Milner wins with the Blue Horsehead Nebula and Rho Ophiuchi complex, captured over 18 hours and 45 minutes using a 105mm f/2.8 lens and a ZWO ASI2600MC Pro, without filters. This category covers RGB/LRGB and one-shot color imagery without narrowband emission filters.

The Blue Horsehead Nebula and Rho Ophiuchi clouds — Prasaad Milner — The Blue Horsehead Nebula and Rho Ophiuchi clouds — Category winner. © Prasaad Milner.

The dark nebula LDN 673 in Aquila — André Vilhena — The dark nebula LDN 673 in Aquila — Runner-up. © André Vilhena.

The Coma Galaxy Cluster — Stefan Muckenhuber — The Coma Galaxy Cluster — Runner-up. © Stefan Muckenhuber.

Deep sky — narrowband

Emmanuel Joly captured Sharpless 2-115 in Cygnus with 54.6 hours of Hα, OIII, and SII data plus brief RGB exposures for the stars. Narrow emission-line filters isolate different gases and reveal subtle structures within nebulae. The runners-up also include two images by Adam Block.

The Sharpless 2-115 region in Cygnus — Emmanuel Joly — The Sharpless 2-115 region in Cygnus — Category winner. © Emmanuel Joly.

The Wolf–Rayet star WR 134 in Cygnus — Rob Lyons — The Wolf–Rayet star WR 134 in Cygnus — Runner-up. © Rob Lyons.

OED-1 near the Vela supernova remnant — Andy Campbell — OED-1 near the Vela supernova remnant — Runner-up. © Andy Campbell.

The dark nebula CG 30 — Kfir Simon — The dark nebula CG 30 — Runner-up. © Kfir Simon.

NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud — Adam Block — NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud — Runner-up. © Adam Block.

The Spare Tyre Nebula (IC 5148) — Adam Block — The Spare Tyre Nebula (IC 5148) — Runner-up. © Adam Block.

Solar System objects

Simon Labergère wins with Saturn, Titan, and Tethys, photographed on October 14, 2025 with a 16-inch Meade Schmidt–Cassegrain and Player One Uranus 585C/585M cameras, using eighteen 240-second SER video files.

Saturn with Titan and Tethys — Simon Labergère — Saturn with Titan and Tethys — Category winner. © Simon Labergère.

Saturn from 2020 to 2025 — Jorge Segura Gallego — Saturn from 2020 to 2025 — Runner-up. © Jorge Segura Gallego.

Comet C/2025 R3 beside the Witch Head Nebula — Gerald Rhemann — Comet C/2025 R3 beside the Witch Head Nebula — Runner-up. © Gerald Rhemann.

Solar imaging

Mehmet Ergün photographed the full solar disk in hydrogen-alpha with a Lunt LS60 solar telescope, a double-stacked etalon, and a ZWO ASI678MM. The result uses 1,000 frames and reveals structures not seen in ordinary white-light solar photographs.

The full solar disk in hydrogen-alpha — Mehmet Ergün — The full solar disk in hydrogen-alpha — Category winner. © Mehmet Ergün.

An eruptive solar prominence — Mark Johnston — An eruptive solar prominence — Runner-up. © Mark Johnston.

A sunspot with light bridges — Mark Johnston — A sunspot with light bridges — Runner-up. © Mark Johnston.

Nightscapes

Tom Rae wins with the Milky Way above New Zealand’s Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. He used an astromodified Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 20mm f/1.8, and tracking mount, combining separate sky and foreground panoramas with blue-hour focus stacking.

The Milky Way above Aoraki/Mount Cook — Tom Rae — The Milky Way above Aoraki/Mount Cook — Category winner. © Tom Rae.

The winter Milky Way above Plitvice Lakes — Branko Nađ — The winter Milky Way above Plitvice Lakes — Runner-up. © Branko Nađ.

Aurora and a meteor above the Arctic Henge — Yi Fan Cao — Aurora and a meteor above the Arctic Henge — Runner-up. © Yi Fan Cao.

Greek distinction: Apostolos Kyriazis among the Nightscapes runners-up

Greek astrophotographer Apostolos Kyriazis received a runner-up distinction in the Nightscapes category for a composite of the September 7, 2025 total lunar eclipse over dunes about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Tom Rae won the category, so the Greek photograph was recognized as a runner-up, not the category winner.

Kyriazis used a Canon Ra and a Sigma Art 14mm f/1.8 lens, stopped down to f/7.1 at ISO 800. His composite comprises 388 three-second exposures, captured at 30-second intervals. The successive frames trace the Moon’s path and shifting color during the eclipse, placing the celestial event within a striking desert landscape.

A total lunar eclipse above the dunes near Abu Dhabi — Apostolos Kyriazis — A total lunar eclipse above the dunes near Abu Dhabi — Runner-up. © Apostolos Kyriazis.

Smartscopes — smart telescopes

Nathanael Martin wins with the Angel Nebula (NGC 2170), using three Vaonis Vespera 2 smart telescopes and 3,684 sub-exposures of 20 seconds each. The category is dedicated to all-in-one smart telescopes and permits disclosed external processing.

The Angel Nebula (NGC 2170) — Nathanael Martin — The Angel Nebula (NGC 2170) — Category winner. © Nathanael Martin.

The Iris Nebula (NGC 7023) — Stephan Küppers — The Iris Nebula (NGC 7023) — Runner-up. © Stephan Küppers.

The Rosette Nebula — Sylvain Villet — The Rosette Nebula — Runner-up. © Sylvain Villet.

Reflection nebula M78 — Jason Marriott — Reflection nebula M78 — Runner-up. © Jason Marriott.

Processing — one dataset, different interpretations

This category judges the processing rather than the photographer’s capture hardware: everyone worked with the same 15-hour Hα/OIII/SII dataset of RCW 38 supplied by Telescope Live. Marius Dinga wins, with Ravinder Krishnan and Alan Daly as runners-up. Their three images invite direct comparison of color, contrast, and structural detail.

Star-forming region RCW 38 — processed by Marius Dinga — Marius Dinga — Star-forming region RCW 38 — processed by Marius Dinga — Category winner. © Marius Dinga.

RCW 38 — processed by Ravinder Krishnan — Ravinder Krishnan — RCW 38 — processed by Ravinder Krishnan — Runner-up. © Ravinder Krishnan.

RCW 38 — processed by Alan Daly — Alan Daly — RCW 38 — processed by Alan Daly — Runner-up. © Alan Daly.

Newcomer — early-career astrophotographers

Andy Garrett wins with the Rosette Nebula, combining 19.4 hours of Hα/OIII/SII data with 36 minutes of RGB star data. The category admitted photographers aged 13–17 or those with fewer than two years of experience, giving newer astrophotographers a separate platform.

The Rosette Nebula by Andy Garrett — Andy Garrett — The Rosette Nebula by Andy Garrett — Category winner. © Andy Garrett.

Rho Ophiuchi and the Blue Horsehead Nebula — Gavin Bent — Rho Ophiuchi and the Blue Horsehead Nebula — Runner-up. © Gavin Bent.

Aurora and the Andromeda Galaxy in Lapland — Joshua Benarroch — Aurora and the Andromeda Galaxy in Lapland — Runner-up. © Joshua Benarroch.

The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula — Bowen Vincent — The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula — Runner-up. © Bowen Vincent.

What the results reveal

The 31 images comprise eight category winners, 22 runners-up, and the grand-prize photograph. Magazine editors judged alongside Tony Hallas, Molly Wakeling, Michael Bakich, Damian Peach, and Dave Eicher. More detailed photographer profiles and stories are scheduled for Astronomy’s December 2026 issue.

What we think

What stands out is that there is no single recipe for great astrophotography. The grand-prize image required almost 30 hours of carefully acquired data, yet the same gallery includes a meteor captured in a three-second exposure and images made with smart telescopes. A powerful result is not defined by the price of the setup alone.

Kyriazis’s photograph illustrates the different challenge of nightscape work: following an unfolding event, capturing a consistent sequence, and anchoring the final result to a real landscape. Bringing 388 frames together without losing the scene’s natural sense of place calls for careful decisions.

Processing is especially revealing: three people start with exactly the same telescope data and create visibly different pictures. It is a practical demonstration of how color choices, noise treatment, and decisions about which structures to emphasize shape the final photograph.

The repeated success of the Dementors image also makes an important point about entering competitions: a strong photograph does not lose its relevance after one award. Its composition matters just as much as the patience behind the capture and the choices made in post-processing.