Milky Way Photographer of the Year Honors 25 Dark-Sky Images as Light Pollution Spreads
Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · May 18
Milky Way Photographer of the Year Honors 25 Dark-Sky Images as Light Pollution Spreads
3 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · May 18
Twenty-five winning images were recognized in this year’s Milky Way Photographer of the Year awards, spotlighting photos made in remote deserts, islands, coasts and mountains under exceptionally dark skies.
The awards frame dark night skies as an increasingly protected resource, with growing light pollution pushing photographers farther from populated areas to capture the galaxy’s arch and other celestial features.
Several honored shots required days of effort: Uros Fink used six cameras over five nights above La Palma’s observatory, while Alejandra Heis waited through snow, wind and repeated exposures to align the Milky Way over a 45-meter waterfall in Argentina.
Other winners tied the night sky to distinctive landscapes and local stories, from Baja California’s historic Camino Real and New Zealand lupine fields to France’s sea cliffs and Australia’s Pinnacles Desert.
With booming astrotourism and thousands of new satellites, is our access to a pristine night sky actually getting better or worse?
Beyond just obscuring stars, how is the artificial glow from our cities silently disrupting wildlife and entire ecosystems?
As light pollution doubles every seven years, can urban design realistically reclaim the night sky for city dwellers?