Stunning Winners of the ZWO Astronomical Photographer of the Year 2026

Cosmic curiosity. Stargazer Ali Alobaid collected 28 hours of observations from the Kuwaiti desert to create this composite image of the Shark Nebula, a dusty region 200 parsecs (650 light-years) from the Sun. His image is featured in the ZWO Astronomical Photographer of the Year competition.

Our Sun: Active Area 4122

In the “Our Sun” section of the contest, Active Area 4122 came first. Miguel Claro captured the sunspot with a telescope in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal.

Skyscape winner: Botswana Star Trail

The winner of the skyscape category is Botswana Star Trail. Stefano Pellegrini combined 340 individual exposures taken on an August night in 2025. From beneath the canopy of a baobab tree, the image reveals the movement of the sky above Nusaypan National Park in Botswana.

Our Moon: Venus Pearl

In the “Our Moon” category, Petr Horalek won with his time-lapse of the Moon passing in front of Venus. Venus Pearl was taken during the day. “It looked like a shining pearl on the edge of the Moon,” said Horalek, who photographed it in Ceci, Czech Republic.

Aurora winner: The Crown

Radoslav Sviretsov’s The Crown won first place in the aurora category. The photograph shows a mesmerizing aurora caused by charged particles from the Sun colliding with Earth’s atmosphere, glowing above a small church in Iceland.

Ali Alobaid