What's likely fueling the confusion is a genuinely spectacular event coming up on Aug. 2, 2027, which we've been rightly calling the "eclipse of the century." On that day, the moon will completely block the sun for up to 6 minutes and 22 seconds, delivering the longest period of totality on land in the 21st century

For comparison, the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse across Mexico, the U.S. and Canada offered a maximum totality of 4 minutes and 28 seconds — already considered unusually long.

It may seem like hyperbole, but the total solar eclipse on Aug. 2, 2027, is being dubbed the "eclipse of the century" for good reason. It will bring the longest totality on land of the entire 21st century (since 1991, in fact) and will be the longest remaining totality until July. 16, 2114. So while the "won't happen again for 100 years" assertion is false, 2027's totality is the longest for 87 years.

The path of totality in 2027 — where it will "go dark" (though it's actually more like a 360-degree twilight) — is wider than usual, because the moon will be at its closest, but it's still narrow on a global scale. On Aug. 2, 2027, the path will be about 160 miles (258 kilometers) wide and surge across 9,462 miles (15,227 km) of Earth's surface. That's about 1.5 million square miles (2.5 million square km) — a lot, but a tiny fraction of Earth's 197 million square miles (510 million square kilometers).

The path of totality will cross parts of 11 countries, mostly across North Africa and the Middle East. The total solar eclipse will be visible in Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia. A partial eclipse will be visible across most of Africa, Europe and southern Asia. For the rest of the world — including North America — it will be business as usual.

To witness a total solar eclipse is a rare and awe-inspiring experience if you're in the right spot — and have clear skies. Within the path on Aug. 2, 2027, are some spectacular places to experience totality, from Tarifa at the southern tip of Spain to the beaches of Tunisia and Luxor, the temple-strewn capital of ancient Egypt.

That's all happening in August 2027, not this August. It's not possible for the entire Earth to simultaneously go dark. Besides, there is no solar eclipse of any type in August. The next one is a partial solar eclipse on Sept. 21, when up to 80% of the sun will be eclipsed by the moon as seen from the Pacific Ocean (including Fiji, Tahiti and New Zealand) and Antarctica.

The world will not go dark this August, but if the century's longest total solar eclipse appeals, circle Aug. 2, 2027, on your calendar and book a trip right now.

The exact timing of the new moon phase happens at 3:11 p.m. Eastern Time (1911 UTC), according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. The new phase of the moon is called that because in many lunar calendar systems, it marks the start of the month. At that time, the sun and moon are in conjunction, meaning they share the same celestial longitude. Unless there is a solar eclipse, the moon itself isn't visible since it is so close to the sun and the illuminated side is facing away from Earth. (The next partial solar eclipse is due in September, and will be visible in the Southern Hemisphere).

The time of a given Lunar phase is measured by where the moon is relative to the Earth, which means any differences are because of one's time zone. For example, the new moon is at 8:11 p.m. in London, 9:11 p.m. in Paris, and 5:11 a.m. July 25 in Beijing.

Visible Planets

For mid-northern latitudes, Mercury will be in the evening sky July 24 but lost in the glare of the sun; the planet sets soon after the sun does – in New York sunset is at 8:19 p.m. and Mercury sets at 8:30 p.m.; the sky background will be too bright to see the planet.

Mars will be low in the southwest on July 24; in New York Mars sets at 10:32 p.m. By 9 p.m. the sky is getting darker and Mars is about 16 degrees high. It will still be a bit hard to spot as the sky will be relatively light – civil twilight ends at 8:50 p.m. Eastern – but the reddish color will help distinguish it from other objects and stars.

Saturn is the first planet to rise after Mars sets, at 10:56 p.m. on July 24 in New York City. As the planet is in the constellation Pisces, it will be quite distinct in its region of sky as Pisces is fainter and hard to see from city locations. As the sky starts to lighten by about 4:30 to 5:00 a.m. (the morning of July 25) it will be about 37 degrees above the south-southeastern horizon.

Following Saturn is Venus, rising in New York at 2:51 a.m. on July 25. Venus is in Taurus, and so bright that it is immediately identifiable; it will look like the brightest "star" in the sky. By about 4:30 a.m. it is prominent in the east-northeast, though still low in the sky at about 17 degrees in altitude.

Jupiter rises at 3:58 a.m. EDT in New York. Jupiter is in Gemini, though the constellation itself will be harder to see as the planet rises so close to sunrise (5:46 a.m.). Jupiter will appear to the left and below Venus.

In the Southern Hemisphere, for example in Melbourne, Australia, (where the new moon is on July 25 at 5:11 a.m.) it is winter, and the sun sets early; at 5:27 p.m. on the evening of July 25; civil twilight ends at 5:55 p.m. so by about 6:30 p.m. the sky is dark enough to see the stars. Mars will be in the northwest about 32 degrees high at that point, in the constellation Leo near the Lion's tail (appearing to be between Leo and Virgo). Mars sets at 9:31 p.m.

Saturn rises in Melbourne at 10:09 p.m. and will be in the east; if it is a dark sky location one can see a "circlet" of Pisces (one of the Fish) to the left of the planet as it rises. The planet transits at 4:16 a.m., and it will be 53 degrees high in the northern sky.

Venus rises in Melbourne at 4:46 a.m. July 26, and as sunrise isn't until 7:25 a.m. it will have a chance to get quite high in the northeast before it fades from view in the dawn light; by 7 a.m. the planet will still look like the "morning star" and be 20 degrees above the horizon.

Jupiter rises last, at 6:03 a.m. local time in Melbourne, and won't be as easy to spot as Venus but if one has an unobstructed horizon (for example one is looking out over a plain or the ocean) one will see Jupiter about 4 degrees high forming a triangle with Jupiter, Venus and Aldebaran being the bottom and making a line up and to the left, with Betelgeuse as the top point above and to the right of Venus.

Summer Stars

For Northern Hemisphere sky watchers, by about 10 p.m. the Summer Triangle is high in the eastern sky; the "top" star is Vega, the brightest star in Lyra the Lyre, and it is about 74 degrees above the horizon. By about 11:30 p.m. local time (in most mid-northern latitude locations) Vega is almost directly overhead, within a few degrees of the zenith from the continental United States. The other two stars in the Summer triangle are Deneb and Altair, both of which are east (to the left) of Vega; Deneb is the more northerly of the two and higher in the sky. From a dark sky site one can see the Milky Way inside the Triangle.

Deneb is the tail of Cygnus the Swan –its name is from the Arabic word for tail, dhaneb  —  and also contains an asterism called the Northern Cross. Cygnus has been associated with more than one legendary swan – one is the form Zeus took to seduce Leda (mother of the twins represented by Gemini) and the other is the form Orpheus was given after being murdered, with the constellation [placed in the sky near Lyra, his Lyre. Chinese astronomers saw Cygnus as the "Black Tortoise of the North."

Turning left – towards the north one will see the Big Dipper to the left (in the northwest) part of the sky. The Big Dipper is an asterism that is part of the Ursa Major, the Great Bear; the end of the Dipper's handle is in the Bear's tail. Following the "pointers" (the two stars in the front of the bowl of the Dipper, called Dubhe and Merak) one can make a line to the left to find Polaris, the Pole Star and the end of the tail for Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, also called the Little Dipper.

Continuing straight across one encounter Cepheus, the king, and just below Cepheus is the "W" shape of Cassiopeia, the Queen (Cepheus' wife) which will be a bit lower in the northeast.

Going back to the Dipper, follow the handle of the big dipper and "arc to Arcturus" the brightest star in Boötes, the herdsman, and continuing downward you hit Spica, the brightest star in Virgo. If you stay at Boötes, and look left of Arcturus and a bit up, one can see a circlet of stars anchored by a brighter one in the middle of the arc; this is Corona Boreallis, the Northern Crown.

Turning south, putting the Big Dipper and Polaris behind you, one sees the bright red star Antares, the heart of Scorpius, and in darker sky locations looking up (north) from Scorpio one sees Ophiuchus the healer, with Sagittarius and its "teapot" shape to the left of Scorpius.

In the mid-southern latitudes one sees the stars of winter. – darkness comes earlier. By 7 p.m. at the latitude of Buenos Aires, Melbourne or Cape Town, the sky is dark and Crux, the Southern Cross is high above the southern horizon, about 60 degrees. To the left of the Cross (east) is Hadar, the second brightest star in Centaurus, the Centaur, and to the left of that is Alpha Centauri, also called Rigil Kentaurus, our nearest stellar neighbor.

Centaurus is a constellation associated with Chiron, who according to legend was Hercules' tutor. Looking east one sees Scorpius, though upside-down (from the point of view of a Northern Hemisphere observer) with its brightest star Antares very high in the sky; a full 60 degrees in altitude. If one looks straight downward from Scorpius one encounters the teapot shape of stars that is Sagittarius; in mid southern latitudes the teapot shape is almost vertical.

Towards the southwest, looking downwards from the Southern Cross is a large circle of seven to eight stars (depending on how dark your local sky is, given city lights) which is Vela, the Ship's Sail. Below Vela is the ship's keel, Carina, setting and marked by Canopus, about 11 degrees above the southwestern horizon. Canopus is the second-brightest star in the night sky after Sirius. Vela and Carina are parts of what was once a giant constellation called Argo, the ship of Jason.

Our solar system orbits within a 100,000-light-year-wide spiral galaxy known as the Milky Way. On clear nights under dark skies, we can see the profile of our galactic home from within — the galactic plane — stretching across the inky darkness as a glowing band of milky light interspersed with dense filaments of cosmic clouds.

Different aspects of the Milky Way become visible to us as Earth makes its year-long circuit around the sun. In the warm summer months of July and August, viewers in the northern hemisphere can gaze directly towards the core of our galaxy, while the winter months give us a better view of the outer spiral arms of the Milky Way.

From a dark sky site, viewers in the northern hemisphere will see the ribbon-like form of our galaxy stretching towards the southern horizon, passing through the constellations of Cygnus and Aquila, before tumbling towards the southern horizon past Sagittarius and the tail of Scorpius.

How to photograph the Milky Way

We asked award winning astrophotographer Josh Dury for some tips on capturing the Milky Way. "When photographing the milky way, it is best to photograph its presence amongst the night-sky from dark-sky locations," Dury told Space.com in an email. "Not only will this result in more contrast and brighter appearance, [but] there are more details to see in the structure of the galactic core and further afield."

Our galaxy will make for a particularly splendid sight on the dark nights surrounding the new moon phase on July 24, at which time the moon appears during the day alongside the sun, leaving the nights blissfully dark for viewing the ancient light of the galactic plane.

Stargazers hoping to get the best view of the Milky Way should head out a few hours after sunset and allow at least half an hour for their eyes to acclimatise to the dark. Observing from a dark sky location will help reveal the true glory of our galaxy, so be sure to check out a website like darksky.org to find the best spot near you.

"Deploy the Milky Way creatively within your image. Think about the context of the image and how the inclusion of the Milky Way can lend itself to your subject matter, framing and story," explained Dury. "Let as much light into your camera that is technically possible, but do not over do it on the ISO - this will result in a grainy image and harder to resolve finer detail."

Further advice on capturing the Milky Way and a range of other night sky targets can be found in Dury's first book, '52 Assignments: Night Photography', which was released earlier this year and can now be purchased through Amazon.com.

Photographers looking to upgrade their gear should check out our guide to the best cameras and lenses for astrophotography in 2025. Those looking for a closer view of the night sky should also read our roundups of the top telescopes and binoculars for exploring the post-sunset realm.

Editor's Note: If you capture an image of the Milky Way and want to share it with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s) and name alongside your comments and shooting location to spacephotos@space.com.

Look east around 4 a.m. local time, just before dawn, to see the slender form of the crescent moon climb above the horizon. Jupiter, appearing as a bright "star" will sit about 5 degrees to the right of the moon — roughly the combined width of your index, middle and ring fingers held at arms length against the night sky!

Venus will shine to the upper right of Jupiter in the pre-dawn sky, forming a fleeting cosmic triangle with the red supergiant star Betelgeuse, which will appear low on the eastern horizon before vanishing in the light of the rising sun.

A telescope with an aperture of 6 inches or more will allow viewers to observe Jupiter's four brightest moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, as well as the planet's gargantuan banded cloud layers. However, care must be taken to never point a telescope or binoculars in the direction of the rising sun, as doing so could result in a permanent loss of vision.

On the nights surrounding the new moon on July 24, you might notice a soft light suffusing the lunar disk This phenomenon, often referred to as Earthshine or the 'Da Vinci Glow', occurs when sunlight bounces off Earth and illuminates the moon's nightside and is often visible when the moon is a thin crescent.

This gentle glow reveals the vast basaltic plains of the lunar seas darkening swathes of the lunar surface. The formations were created billions of years ago when ancient lava flows flooded a network of gigantic impact basins left behind by cataclysmic asteroid strikes, which later hardened to renew the lunar surface.

The dark nights on either side of the new moon phase present a perfect opportunity to spot the diffuse light cast by the Pleiades open star cluster — a gravitationally bound collection of over 1,000 stellar bodies that orbits within the Milky Way some 410 light-years from Earth. The Pleiades will be visible as a hazy smudge of light from a dark sky location to the upper right of Venus on the night of July 23. A pair of 10x50 binoculars will allow viewers to pick out the most prominent of the blue-white stars, while a small telescope will help resolve a far greater number.

Stargazers hoping to explore the wonders of the night sky should read our guide to the top telescopes and binoculars available in 2025. Those new to the hobby should also check out our roundup of the best smartphone astronomy apps, which use augmented reality technology to pinpoint the locations of the stars, constellations, planets and deep sky objects that populate the night sky.

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Miguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory Photo Ambassador and member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical "Skyscapes" that connect both Earth and the night sky.

Last year, at the end of summer, we had a vibrant comet visiting the northern skies, so I took this opportunity to capture a few images over the course of several nights.

On the final night, I caught the comet in a time lapse showing C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas flying across the background starry skies of Dark Sky Alqueva territory in Portugal.

It was visible during a moonless winter night, which revealed both the Milky Way and the comet as it bid farewell to Earth for the next 80,000 years.

Fine art prints

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and if you want to support my work as an independent artist, you can buy one of my images as a print and a piece of art or a wall decor for your sweet home! Explore the size options and different types available on my Print gallery. Meanwhile, you can sign-up my newsletter to get early access of future releases.

The Sony A7R V is on sale for $3198 at Walmart.

We gave the Sony A7R V four and a half stars in our full Sony A7R V review, where we praised the AI-powered autofocus system, versatile LCD screen and notable upgrades from the Sony A7R IV. The A7R V has a huge 61MP sensor and performed well during our photography testing apart from some noise on higher ISO images of stars.

• We have guides for a range of skywatching gear and astrophotography optics including the best telescopes, best binoculars and best cameras for astrophotography.

In our Sony A7R V review, we were seriously impressed with the advanced autofocus that is now able to identify more objects and makes the camera perfect for versatile subjects. It has exceptional resolution and a robust build quality for detailed shots wherever you are. This camera is also frequently highlighted in our guides to the best cameras for photo and video and the best mirrorless cameras due to its cutting-edge features and outstanding performance, which are crucial for capturing fast-moving meteors and faint nebulas

This Walmart deal on the Sony A7R V is a great saving for anyone serious about upgrading their photography kit, especially with the Perseid meteor shower peaking soon. The Sony A7R V offers unparalleled detail with interval shooting, both of which are essential for capturing the streaks of light in the night sky.

The Sony A7R V is a powerhouse full-frame mirrorless camera, boasting a 61MP full-frame sensor that delivers breathtaking resolution and Sony's latest-generation BIONZ XR image processing engine, which provides phenomenal speed and enhanced image quality. The camera features an upgraded 8-stop in-body image stabilization system, crucial for handheld shooting in low-light conditions. The new multi-angle LCD monitor offers flexibility when composing shots from various angles and weather sealing ensures durability in difficult environments.

Key features: 61MP full-frame sensor, dual BIONZ XR processor, AI tracking, 693-point autofocus, 8-stop in-body image stabilization, multi-angle LCD Monitor, 8K video capability, dual memory card slots (1xCFexpress, 1xSD), wireless and Bluetooth connectivity.

Product launched: December 2022

Price history: The Sony A7R V typically retails around $4200 on Amazon but this Walmart deal brings the price to $3200, with $1000 off the Amazon listed price.

Price comparison: Walmart: $3198 | Amazon: $3798 | BHPhotoVideo: $3798

Reviews consensus: In our full Sony A7R V review we highlight its incredible 61MP resolution, advanced AI autofocus and versatile LCD screen, making it a top choice for professional photographers and astrophotographers.

Space.com: ★★★★½ | TechRadar: ★★★★½ | LiveScience: ★★★★½

Featured in guides: best cameras, best mirrorless cameras, best Sony cameras, best cameras for low light

✅ Buy it if: You're a serious photographer looking for a powerful camera capable of outstanding high-resolution stills with super-powered autofocus.

❌ Don't buy it if: You only shoot tripod-mounted astrophotography. There are other models which perform better at higher ISOs. Take a look at the best cameras for astrophotography.

Check out our other guides to the best telescopes, binoculars, cameras, star projectors, drones, lego and much more.

Totality lasts only a couple of minutes, but planning the perfect eclipse trip can take months or years. So we asked eclipse experts and seasoned eclipse chasers from around the world what it takes to witness totality in all its glory.

Whether you're a first-timer or a returning "umbraphile," this guide will help you prepare for one of nature's greatest events.

Why location is everything

To witness a total solar eclipse, you must be within the narrow path of totality — the strip of land where the moon completely blocks the sun. Even a 99% eclipse leaves the dazzling solar disk exposed, and the magic of the corona — the sun's ghostly outer atmosphere — is lost.

Those in eastern Greenland are likely to be on a cruise ship and almost certainly in Scoresby Sund, which is entirely within the path of totality. In Iceland, only the west coast is in the path. For Spain, the path narrowly misses both Madrid and Barcelona, but it crosses some of the country's most remote and beautiful regions. However, in Spain, the eclipse occurs shortly before sunset, so there's a risk that it will be too low to be seen.

Related: Where can I see the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026?

"Many national parks are in mountainous regions, which could block your view — not ideal for this eclipse," said Oscar Martín Mesonero, an astrotourism expert and eclipse chaser who runs Startrails in Salamanca, just south of the path. "But Spain has many beautiful rural areas with open skies, old towns, Roman aqueducts and castles — perfect for combining eclipse chasing with travel."

Cruise ships and Greenland

There will also be thousands of people on cruise ships; many typically sail into the Mediterranean anyway and have tweaked their itineraries to be off the coast of Spain. However, it may be trickier to find a clear view.

"The prospects are better on land than over the ocean," said Jay Anderson, a Canadian meteorologist and veteran eclipse chaser who provides eclipse-related climatology and weather information on Eclipsophile. "But even with high average cloud cover, satellite images often show that there are always some areas of clear skies." Images from the geostationary Eumetsat satellites will be crucial for finding a clear spot.

It will matter where the ship is. The places on the track that are most likely to be cloudy are along the Greenland coast and anywhere in the Atlantic, but clear skies are more likely off northern Spain and highly likely in the Mediterranean.

Related: Best total solar eclipse 2026 cruises for the ultimate adventure

For the adventurous, Greenland offers pristine Arctic landscapes, and for those on expedition-style cruises in Scoresby Sund, there will be a total solar eclipse of up to 2 minutes, 17 seconds, with the sun about 25 degrees above the western horizon. This is a bucket-list trip about more than just the eclipse, and travel costs are high — it's something for experienced eclipse chasers who want something new and exciting. With travel and logistics in hand, the only issue is the weather.

"It's not too unreasonable to expect decent conditions because air flowing off the ice cap and down to the ocean tends to dry out and clear the clouds," Anderson said of Scoresby Sund. "However, if a large weather system moves in, it can blanket the whole sky and stick around for days." Let's hope not; Scoresby Sund hasn't seen a total solar eclipse since 1187 and, after 2026, won't witness one again until 2911.

Iceland

Iceland offers one of the most photogenic landscapes on Earth — including waterfalls, volcanoes and geothermal spas — and boasts the longest totality on land, at 2 minutes, 13.7 seconds. It will be Iceland's first total solar eclipse since 1954. The eclipse also occurs 25 degrees above the southwest horizon, so there's no need to worry about sight lines.

"The path passes over the most populated areas of the country, about 290,000 people," said Sævar Helgi Bragason, Iceland's most famous eclipse chaser, who offers maps and more on Eclipse2026.is. Only the west of the country — the Reykjanes Peninsula, the Snaefellsnes Peninsula and the Westfjords — are in the path. The main roads are excellent, but mobility could be an issue.

"Tourism has taken its toll on many of the single-lane roads, and we're expecting heavy traffic," Sævar said. "Eclipse chasers won't be the problem because they will know where to go. But the eclipse is on a Wednesday, and locals will probably stop working at around noon and then drive to wherever they want to go."

That means lots of traffic, so get in the path as early in the day as possible. Arriving late for an eclipse aligns with Icelandic culture. "Nature is so unpredictable here — we could have a volcanic eruption happening the same day; it's a real possibility, Sævar said, "so we usually don't prepare for anything until very late."

Another issue with Iceland is the weather. "There's a saying in Iceland that if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes, and it'll change completely," Sævar said. "Even storms are sometimes broken up in patches. When we chase the northern lights in winter, we are bombarded by a blizzard for a few minutes, and then it clears up again." Iceland has exceptional weather forecasts from the Icelandic Met Office, which also provides aurora forecasts.

"Iceland is very seldom completely overcast in August — there's always a hole somewhere," Anderson said. He thinks it will likely be possible to stay in Reykjavik, which is in the path, and take a morning drive north for up to two-and-a-half hours to where clear weather is forecast. "Western Iceland is the sunniest part, but there's a lot of moisture, so get close to the water on one of these peninsulas to have a bit of an onshore flow."

Spain

Most travelers will head to Spain for the 2026 total solar eclipse. The path of totality — the first in Spain since 1905 — cuts a diagonal track across the northeast of the country, from Galicia to Catalonia, with the longest duration (about 1 minute, 44 seconds) occurring just before sunset.

Terrain matters. "Spain is the second-most mountainous country in Europe, after Switzerland," Eduard Masana Fresno, an astronomer at the Institute of Cosmos Sciences in Barcelona. "There are the Cantabrian Mountains in the north of the path, the Meseta plateau north of Madrid and the Iberian System in the east of the path."

In eastern regions and Mallorca, even modest hills could block the eclipse entirely. However, the new Eclipse Viewing Map from Spain's Geographic Institute accounts for the terrain, atmospheric refraction and azimuth (place on the horizon) of the sun to help observers avoid blocked sight lines. There's another reason to avoid shaded valleys and eastern slopes of mountain ranges: Late-day storms are common in August, although average August cloud cover across the path is less than 50%.

Travel in and around Spain will be fairly easy, but bear in mind that there will be a lot of locals traveling into the path on eclipse day, particularly from Madrid and Barcelona. "The Spanish love road trips, and many will be on holiday in the path," Mesonero said. "People from all over Spain will head to the path, and accommodation could be tricky — it's peak vacation season." He expects there to be eclipse events throughout the path, even in places near the edge that only get 30 seconds of totality.

From speaking to eclipse chasers in Spain, one thing is clear: Do not attempt to drive back to Madrid or Barcelona right after the eclipse, or you'll be queuing with perhaps millions of people. Instead, stay overnight in the path. Another reason to do so is the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks Aug. 12-13, just a few hours after the eclipse. Rural skies will also showcase the Milky Way arching across the southern sky.

Think like an eclipse chaser

Wherever you go, eclipse experts agree on three key strategies: Plan ahead, check weather forecasts and stay mobile. Whether you chase the eclipse from Spain's plains, Iceland's wild coast or Greenland's icy fjords, witnessing the 2026 total solar eclipse will be a moment you'll carry for life. And if you miss this one or you want to plan your next adventure, there will be another chance fairly soon: Spain will experience another total solar eclipse exactly one lunar year later, on Aug. 2, 2027.

Amateur astrophotographer and full-time wildlife conservationist Tim Henderson captured a trio of breathtaking nebula scenes adorning the pristine skies above the Central Australian Desert.

Henderson was able to capture detailed portraits of the Carina Nebula, along with the emission nebulas NGC 6188 and Sh2-1 in late April and May earlier this year using an Askar SQA55 scope coupled with a high-end astronomy camera and mount.

A total of 50 separate 240-second-long exposures were captured to reveal the colossal filaments of dust and gas that comprise the emission nebula NGC 6188, which orbits within the Milky Way some 4,000 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation Ara. The complex shapes are evocative of duelling monsters, granting it the unofficial nickname "the Dragons of Ara". The bright form of a second nebula, NGC 6164, can be seen towards the bottom of the image, surrounded by a faint gaseous shell.

"The skies here have zero light pollution (apart from the moon) and the nights are cloudless 90% of the time, especially during winter," Henderson told Space.com in an email. "It's such an amazing place to enjoy the night sky! I've been slowly progressing my astrophotography journey over the last two years, starting with a DSLR camera + lens setup, to something more dedicated for astro. There's some great targets in the southern hemisphere, including the Carina Nebula."

Located 7,500 light-years from Earth, the Carina Nebula is a vast stellar nursery, which is home to at least a dozen stars with a mass between 50-100 times that of our sun, according to NASA. The intense radiation blasted out from these stellar monsters ionizes the surrounding nebula, causing it to glow. Henderson was delighted to find that his view of the Carina Nebula — captured over the course of 50 minute-long exposures — happened to take on the vague outline of Australia!

Henderson's view of Sh2-1 — also known as Sharpless 1 — reveals the complex cloud-like structures and cavities of the emission nebula embedded in the constellation Scorpius, close to the magnitude +2.8 star Pi Scorpii.

"These images were all captured next to my house (which is a small cabin on a remote wildlife station), which allows for easy access to power, internet and clear skies," said Henderson. "I often work nights, as the animals I work with (e.g. Bilby) are nocturnal. This allows me to set-up my astrophotography rig before work and schedule it to take photos until I get home."

Stargazers interested in capturing the night sky for themselves should check out our roundup of the best cameras and lenses for astrophotography available in 2025. Those new to the night sky should also see our guide to the top smartphone astronomy apps, which use augmented reality to help you navigate the night sky.

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Armstrong's words, spoken less than seven hours before he and fellow NASA astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin took humanity's first steps on the surface of another world, marked a watershed moment in human history. However, the now famous phrase could easily have been uttered from the opposite side of the lunar disk from Tranquility Base.

In February 1968, NASA's Apollo Site Selection Board revealed five potential landing sites for Apollo 11 — whittled down from a list of 30 — including two that were on the opposite side of the lunar disk from Tranquility base, in Oceanus Procellarum (the Ocean of Storms).

Each of the 3-by-5-mile (5-by-8-kilometer) landing zones were subject to intensive orbital imaging and were ultimately selected based on a number of diverse criteria. For example, each site had to be located within 5 degrees of the lunar equator in order to expend the least amount of fuel and have no large hills or deep craters along the lander's approach, which could have confused its landing radar. Each site also had to have a slope of less than 2 degrees, with relatively few craters and excellent lighting during the selected landing windows.

Site 2 in the Sea of Tranquility was eventually selected as the prime landing site, while two of the remaining shortlisted zones were designated as contingency landing zones to be targeted should the launch of Apollo 11's gigantic Saturn V rocket be delayed.

Read on to discover the locations of the five landing zones considered as the setting for humanity's first steps on another world. The general lunar region containing each site can be found easily with the naked eye during the correct moon phases, but we've also included a more precise map for those observing the moon through a telescope. A 6-inch scope will allow you to spot the larger craters needed to hone in on the locations of the candidate sites. Happy hunting!

Candidate Site 1 —Mare Tranquillitatis (34° East, 2°40" North)

The first shortlisted site for the Apollo 11 landing can be found on the southern shore of the Sea of Tranquility and is best viewed as the moon approaches its first quarter moon phase, or during the full moon, when the entirety of the lunar surface is lit from the perspective of Earth.

First, locate the dark expanse of the Sea of Tranquility (Mare Tranquillitatis) located slightly above the lunar equator in the eastern region of the lunar surface. If you struggle, simply take a look at the graphic below! This lunar feature is an enormous basaltic plain, which formed billions of years ago when lava flows flooded gigantic impact basins, before hardening in the frigid space environment.

The Sea of Tranquility is large enough to be seen easily with the unaided eye. Using a telescope, you can also locate the prominent Maskelyne Crater (shown below) and draw an imaginary line east until you hit a brighter patch of terrain jutting up from the south. Apollo 11's first candidate landing zone can be found in the patch of lunar mare bordering this outcrop to the east.

Candidate Site 2 —Tranquility Base (23°37" East, 0°45" North)

Tranquility Base, the site of Apollo 11's historic 1969 landing — can be found to the southwest of the Sea of Tranquility and, like its predecessor, is best viewed in the buildup to the first quarter and full moon phases.

For a closer look, first find the tightly clustered Ritter and Sabine craters on the western edge of the lunar sea. Next, draw an imaginary line three times the width of the Sabine Crater from the lower edge of the impact site leading to the right. This will give you the approximate location of humanity's first footprints on another world.

Candidate Site 3 —Sinus Medii (1°20" West, 0°25" North)

Our third Apollo 11's landing site candidate is situated in the Sinus Medii region smack in the center of the Earth-facing lunar surface. The region containing the landing zone is almost equidistant between the northern edge of Ptolemaeus, and the smaller Ukert crater to the north is best viewed during the weeks straddling a full moon.

Sinus Medii would have been the site of the Apollo 11 landing had the mission's Saturn V launch been delayed by just two days from its historic date of July 16, 1969 to July 18.

Candidate Sites 4 & 5 —Oceanus Procellarum (36°25" West, 3°30" South, 41°40" West, 1°40" North)

Oceanus Procellarum plays host to the final two Apollo 11 landing zones considered in the runup to the historic mission, which are best viewed during the moon's third quarter, or full moon phases. Both can be found below the bright impact ejecta thrown out in the creation of the Kepler Crater to the north and to the right of the Flamsteep P formation.

Had the Apollo 11 Saturn V launch slipped to July 21 1969, then humanity's first steps on the moon would have been left in the regolith coating Oceanus Procellarum instead. 'Procellarum Base' just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it.

Editor's Note: If you capture the site of Apollo 11's shortlisted landing sites and want to share them with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Earlier this year, there were two other moon-Pleiades encounters. On the evening of January 9th, an 82%waxing gibbous moon temporarily hid the Pleiades for parts of the U.S., Canada and Central America and then during the overnight hours of February 5-6, a 61% waxing gibbous moon passed in front of the cluster. If you caught one, or both of the first two events (or if you didn't), make a note on your calendar to watch this final moon-Pleiades rendezvous of the year.

In this upcoming case, you will either have to stay up through the night (to await moonrise, which will occur around 1:00 a.m. local daylight time) or set your alarm for the predawn morning hours.

In addition, since the moon will be a lovely waning crescent, as opposed to a waxing gibbous in January and February, stars will disappear first along the bright lunar crescent.
You'll need at least a small telescope, for binoculars probably won't be enough for following stars in the final minutes or seconds as the moon's glare, sunlit edge creeps up to them. But practically any telescope will magnify enough to do the trick. Use 50x magnification, perhaps more if your scope has a solid mount that allows easy tracking.

Stars will reappear about an hour later from behind the moon's dark limb in dramatic fashion: appearing to suddenly "pop-on" as if someone threw a switch. Here, binoculars should do fine, especially if you mount them on a tripod, provided you're watching at exactly the right moment.

In Canada's Maritime Provinces and the northeastern U.S., advancing morning twilight will be an issue, since the eastern sky will be brightening as the moon approaches the Pleiades. As a result, the disappearance of some stars will not be visible because the sky will be too bright. Nonetheless, the view in binoculars of the crescent moon sitting to the upper right of the star cluster will still make for a very pretty sight.

Farther west, the sky will be darker, but the moon and the Pleiades will be lower. This will be especially true for the far-western states and the Canadian province of British Columbia; therefore, a clear and unobstructed view toward the east-northeast is recommended.

Below are two timetables giving local circumstances for the disappearance and reappearance of the four brightest members of the Pleiades that will be occulted. The information is based in part on data generated by the International Occultation Timers Association (IOTA) and is valid for fourteen U.S., two Canadian and one Mexican city. Keep in mind, however, that many other stars not listed here will also be occulted.

If the disappearance or reappearance of a star takes place during dawn twilight, the time is provided in italic font. Also, take note that if the disappearance or reappearance of a star occurs near or soon after the start of civil twilight (roughly 40 minutes before sunrise), it is assumed that the sky would probably be too bright to easily see it. In addition, the moon might miss the star entirely. In both such cases, the time is omitted. All times are in local civil time.

Specific times and zones of visibility

Courtesy of IOTA, detailed prediction pages are available for each of the four brightest stars — Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, and Maia. These include Universal Time (UT) disappearance and reappearance data, as well as Mercator maps showing where each occultation will be visible.

For example, from St. Louis, Missouri (in Central Daylight Time, UTC–5), Maia will disappear at 4:06 a.m. CDT and reappear at 4:51 a.m. CDT. At the moment of reappearance, the sun will be about 11 degrees below the horizon, meaning Maia should reappear in a twilight sky.

In addition to the timetable, a world map (Mercator projection) is provided, showing the region where the occultation will be visible. The boundaries are in different colors. The Cyan boundaries show the curves of the occultation disappearance or reappearance at moonrise or moonset. A continuous white line marks the nighttime northern and southern limits of the occultation. A continuous blue line denotes the occultation limits occurring during twilight, while a dotted red line depicts the occultation limits occurring in daylight.

For Alcyone, the occultation takes place over much of the western U.S. For Atlas, visibility occurs over the northwest U.S., western Canada and Alaska. For Electra, visibility will be over much of the U.S. and Canada, while the occultation of Maia will be visible primarily over the central and southern U.S. and Mexico.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, Sky and Telescope and other publications.

You can even combine the "eclipse of the century" with "Star Wars" film sets, a recently discovered "lost city" of ancient Egypt, the Rock of Gibraltar, and Andalusia's most splendid Moorish palaces. Here are 10 unique experiences to consider for the 2027 total solar eclipse.

Related: 16 best places to see the 2027 total solar eclipse

Midday at an oasis

Many organized tours are going to Luxor for the maximum totality, but there are other choices in Egypt. One is this nine-day expedition with Astro Trails from July 27 to Aug. 4, 2027, which will witness the total solar eclipse in the remote Siwa Oasis. Close to the Great Sand Sea in the Western Desert — and only 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of the border with Libya — Siwa Oasis will get 5 minutes, 25 seconds of totality. The tour also includes Cairo (with the Giza pyramids, Sphinx and the new Grand Egyptian Museum), Alexandria, and El Alamein.

Totality in a "Lost Golden City"

Would you like to witness the eclipse from Egypt but avoid the crowded temples, cruise ships and hotels in Luxor? Why not view the event as a VIP in the 3,000-year-old "lost golden city" of Aten? Built by the pharaoh Akhenaten, who was dedicated to worshipping the sun's disk, the ancient city was discovered in 2020 near Luxor by Zahi Hawass, one of the world's most famous archaeologists and former minister of tourism and antiquities in Egypt. On this expensive tour from Archaeological Paths, Hawass will take you to see the lost city, which was previously closed to tourists, to view the entire eclipse.

From Tatooine to totality

This eight-day odyssey from Astro Trails through Tunisia blends ancient culture, cinematic nostalgia and one of nature's greatest spectacles. After exploring the medinas of Tunis and Kairouan, Tunisia, travelers head deep into the Sahara to visit iconic "Star Wars" filming locations, including Mos Espa and the Sidi Idris Hotel (Lars' homestead). Visits include the Kerkennah Islands and the largest colosseum in North Africa, with a total solar eclipse visible for 5 minutes, 40 seconds from Chaffar Beach.

A British eclipse in Gibraltar

When you're looking at locations within the path of totality, it's tempting to choose somewhere dramatic. One such option is the Rock of Gibraltar, in the British overseas territory on the tip of the Iberian Peninsula. Imagine standing next to Barbary macaques while watching the eclipsed sun above the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.

One big risk for the eclipse, though, is that it's often very cloudy there. Be at sea level on the eastern side for 4 minutes, 32 seconds of totality. There are no organized tours, but Gibraltar is getting ready.

Birds and baboons in Saudi Arabia

Both Jeddah and Mecca in Saudi Arabia are in the path of totality. However, the 10-day "Wings and Wonders" tour from Saudi Birding is conducted through southwest Saudi Arabia, where endemic and rare migrant species are abundant. The tour begins in Jeddah and then travels down the Red Sea coast, where totality will be enjoyed on the second day from a resort. It will be followed by birding and animal spotting across wadis, mangroves and desert highlands, with targets including pelicans, flamingos, kingfishers, hamadryas baboons and gazelles. Visits include Thee Ain Heritage Village, the Hanging Village of Al Habala, and the Farasan Islands.

Red Sea resort

Hurghada, a beach resort town on Egypt's Red Sea coast, renowned for scuba diving, is just north of the path and gets only a 98.5% partial eclipse. However, a long stretch of the Red Sea coast to the south will experience totality. Red Sea Diving Safari has three coastal resorts in the path — Marsa Shagra (5 minutes, 8 seconds), Marsa Nakari (5 minutes, 42 seconds) and Wadi Lahami (6 minutes, 14 seconds). All can be booked through the German tour operator Beluga Reisen. If you'd prefer a solitary totality, it's even possible to reserve a "liveaboard" — floating accommodation — for a trip to a remote dive site.

Sustainability in the shadow

Eclipse chasing is about seeing the world according to a celestial timetable, but it's also a way to visit places you never knew existed. This unique 10-day journey — from Cairo's pyramids, museums and Coptic landmarks to the Bahariya Oasis in the Western Desert — blends ancient wonders and astronomy with something unexpected: sustainability. It begins with a few days at the pioneering SEKEM initiative — Egypt's acclaimed biodynamic farming and education project — before visiting Cairo, Bahariya Oasis, the White and Black Deserts, ancient tombs and the famed "Golden Mummies." Totality will be experienced from the grounds of a hotel and will last 6 minutes, 16 seconds.

Tapas and casbahs across the Strait of Gibraltar

Ask many eclipse chasers about the 2027 eclipse, and all you'll hear about is Egypt, where totality will last the longest. However, the path also crosses southern Spain and northern Morocco. This 13-day trip from Travel Leaders explores Madrid, Córdoba and Seville before crossing the Strait of Gibraltar to Tangier and visiting the blue-hued Chefchaouen Medina. It peaks with a totality of 4 minutes, 51 seconds from the centerline of the path of totality near M'diq on Morocco's Mediterranean coast.

Astrophotography in Andalucía

This exclusive 10-day photo workshop from Backcountry Journeys is all about photography, with two subjects: Spain's gorgeous region of Andalucía and the sun's corona above it. Beginning in Málaga, the journey winds through Andalucía's cultural gems — Granada, Sevilla and Córdoba — offering golden-hour shoots at iconic sites like La Alhambra and Plaza de España. But the real highlight comes on Aug. 12, when the group positions in a quaint village in the Spanish countryside to witness and photograph the total solar eclipse.

Medinas and the moon's shadow

From the spice-laden souks of Marrakech to the tiled courtyards of Fes, this 14-day cultural odyssey through Morocco with TravelQuest will be a feast for the senses. It gets started quickly, with a few days in coastal Tangier — complete with a pre-eclipse briefing from an eclipse expert — followed by totality for just shy of five minutes from close to Tétouan. Next is a fabulous journey through Chefchaouen and on to Fes, Meknes, Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech, with a community visit, camel rides, glamping and a visit to the Atlas Mountains.

The Southern Delta Aquariid shower is active from July 18 to Aug. 12, as Earth passes through a trail of ancient debris that is suspected to have been shed by the 4-mile-wide (6.4 km) comet 96P Machholz. When this debris hits Earth's atmosphere, the friction created by air molecules causes the particles to ignite, creating the visible streaks we see in the sky. The shower is at its strongest in the week surrounding its peak on July 29, at which time viewers could spot up to eight faint meteors per hour, according to NASA.

Shooting stars associated with the shower will appear to emanate from a patch of sky — known as a radiant — in the constellation Aquarius, close to the bright star Delta Aquarii, from which the annual event gets its name.

When is the best time to see the Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower?

Stargazers will have their best chance of spotting a Southern Delta Aquariid in the early morning hours in the week surrounding July 29, according to the American Meteor Association. Around that time, the radiant is at its highest in the southern sky and the waxing crescent moon will be hidden well below the horizon, providing a dark sky in which to hunt for the elusive shooting stars.

As its name suggests, the Southern Delta Aquariids will be most visible to stargazers situated in the Southern Hemisphere, where the radiant is higher in the post-sunset sky. However, the shower will still be visible to those north of the equator, albeit at a lower hourly rate.

To maximize your chances of catching a Southern Delta Aquariid, first locate the bright star Delta Aquarii in the constellation Aquarius above the southern horizon (or use a stargazing app to help you find it). Then, find a patch of sky 40 degrees away from the radiant in the direction of the local zenith, which is the point directly above your head. Remember: the width of your outstretched fist from your thumb to the outside of your little finger accounts for around 10 degrees in the night sky. The shooting stars seen here will have longer trails compared to those spotted closer to the radiant!

You'll have a much better chance of spotting one of the faint shooting stars if you head away from city lights and allow your eyes 30 minutes to adapt to the darkness. After that, it's a case of lying back — ideally on a deckchair, and losing yourself in the night sky. If you see a bright meteor streak across the sky from the north, you may well have spotted a member of the Perseid meteor shower, which has been active since mid-July.

Editor's Note: If you capture a picture of a meteor and want to share it with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Dupuy set off with a cohort of three astronomy enthusiasts on April 29 to begin a grueling two-day climb up the slopes of the famous Mont Blanc mountain, located in the Alps bordering Italy and France. Carried alongside the usual mountaineering provisions was a peculiar item— a Vaonis' Vespera Pro smart telescope.

"Climbing a mountain and exploring the sky share the same spirit: a drive to rise above," said Dupuy in a statement detailing the challenging ascent. "The mountaineer defies gravity; the astronomer looks up. Both seek to reach the unreachable."

The smartphone-controlled Vaonis' Vespera Pro smart telescope has a simple outward design, eschewing the use of traditional eyepieces while featuring a single touch sensitive button on its pill-like outer shell. Pressing that button wakes the telescope up, prompting one side of its pill-like body to rotate upwards to reveal a technological eye designed to capture the planets, stars and deep-sky objects that populate the universe.

Dupuy's goal was to forge a path to the mountain's summit — some 4,806 meters (15,767 ft) above sea level — where he would set up the Vespera Pro to capture a high-altitude image of the sun's ever changing surface. The team also hoped to use the telescope's high resolution sensor to capture light from the remote Malin 1 galaxy, located roughly 1.2 billion light-years from Earth.

"Inspired by the Janssen Observatory built atop Mont Blanc in the late 19th century, I decided to follow in trailblazer Jules Janssen's footsteps and capture from the Alpine skies a unique image of the sun as well as the largest known spiral galaxy, a nod to Janssen's research - though this time armed with 21st-century technology," continued Dupuy.

Each member of the team shouldered a 35 lb (16 kg) backpack — along with the compact 11 lb (5 kg) smart telescope — and set themselves against the freezing mountain slopes. Ultimately, a dangerous snow bridge would put pay to Dupuy's bid for the summit, leading the team to deploy the Vespera Pro telescope close to the well-known Vallot shelter, 14,100 feet (4,300 meters) above sea level.

From this lofty vantage point, Dupuy was able to successfully capture the surface of our parent star in impressive detail, capturing a cluster of sunspots form on the western edge of the sun's disk, 93 million miles (150 million km) away. The team also captured the faint light of Malin 1, along with a swarm of other galaxies that share the same patch of sky between the constellations Virgo, Leo and Coma Berenices.

Be sure to check out our guides to the best smart telescopes available in 2025, which includes a range of Vespera smart scopes including the Vaonis Vespera II, which we lauded as an inexpensive beginner telescope capable of producing amazing deep-sky images.

The brilliant planet is, of course, Venus, which outshines Aldebaran by almost five magnitudes or a light ratio difference of almost 100-fold. At this particular moment in time, both star and planet can be seen roughly one-quarter of the way up from the eastern horizon, roughly 45 minutes before sunrise.

Venus, a dazzling morning "star," rises about an hour prior to the first light of dawn and shines low in the east-northeast as dawn brightens. On Monday morning, you'll also see a delicately thin (14 percent illuminated) crescent moon hovering approximately 8 degrees above Venus. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures roughly 10 degrees in width, so on Monday morning, the slender lunar sliver will appear almost "one fist" above Venus.

In a telescope, Venus is a disappointment: just a tiny, gibbous blob, 72 percent illuminated by the sun. It has shrunk and become more nearly round in recent months as it has swung far around to the back side of the sun as seen from Earth.

And situated well to the right of both Venus and the moon will be Aldebaran. The trio will appear to form a broad isosceles triangle with Venus marking the vertex angle, while Aldebaran and the moon form the base of the triangle. It will not be a particularly "tight" array, but still should be attractive enough to catch the attention of early risers.

With the reappearance of Aldebaran, it is also a gentle reminder that while we are not yet at the midpoint of summer, the colder nights of fall and winter will be looming in the months to come. Aldebaran is crossing the meridian at midnight around Thanksgiving ... and at around 9 p.m. in mid-January.

Who knows? By then, some of you might be shoveling snow.

So take advantage of this week's opportunity to see not only an out-of-season winter star, but Venus as well, while they both "flirt" with a waning crescent moon.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, Sky and Telescope and other publications.

Once every 15 years, Saturn's tilted orbit brings its iconic rings — and Titan's orbital path — into an edge-on alignment with Earth. This event, known as a ring-plane crossing, heralds the onset of a season of dramatic 'shadow transits', as Titan's vast umbral silhouette periodically sweeps across the gas giant's surface.

"Sighting a shadow transit of Titan for an amateur astronomer is somewhat the equivalent of a fisherman hooking and reeling in a particularly large or elusive fish," Hayden Planetarium instructor and lecturer Joe Rao told Space.com in an email. "It is so unusual a sight that doesn't happen very often, which is why even veteran skywatchers are excited at the possibility of making such a sighting."

When is Titan's shadow transit?

Titan's next shadow transit will get underway at 3 a.m. EDT (0700 GMT) on July 18, at which time the moon's dark outline will be visible slowly progressing across Saturn's cloudy disk, according to Sky and Telescope.

Look for Saturn in the southeastern sky, just below the stars of the constellation Pisces shining like a bright star to the naked eye, with the moon in the east.

Observers in the U.S. will have a good view of the first two hours of the shadow transit, but by the time Titan's shadow leaves Saturn's disk at 8:05 a.m. EDT (12:05 GMT), the brightening dawn will overpower the view.

How powerful does a telescope need to be to spot Titan's shadow?

At the time of the shadow transit, Titan and Saturn will be separated by approximately 846 million miles (1.36 billion kilometers) from Earth — far beyond the capabilities of the naked eye or binoculars, but well within reach of many amateur telescopes.

We asked Rao for guidance on the kind of scope needed to view Titan's shadow transit. "An 8-inch telescope at 200-power or a 10-inch telescope at 250-power should provide a good view of Titan's shadow, especially on a night of good seeing," Rao explained.

To calculate the magnifcation of your telescope, you need only divide its focal length by the focal length of your chosen eyepiece. For example, a 1000 mm telescope with a 10 mm eyepiece yields 100-power magnification.

Rao also emphasised that stable atmospheric conditions are crucial to obtaining a clear view. This becomes more important when using higher power with a smaller aperture scope. It's best to use one-half magnification/power when viewing distant objects to avoid them appearing to "boil", or "scintilate" when viewed through the eyepiece.

"At least 200-power is necessary for getting a reasonably good view of the dark 'shadow dot' projected on Saturn's disk," continued Rao. "The general rule of thumb is to utilize 50-power for every inch of aperture of the telescope objective, or mirror. So, for a 4-inch telescope, the maximum magnification to be used is 200-power, which is considered the limit for a telescope of that size."

When are the next Titan shadow transits?

After the July 18 event, five more Titan shadow transits will be visible from Earth. Each occurs roughly16 days after the last — a result of Titan's 16-day orbital period — and starting progressively earlier in the night for viewers in the U.S.

The next transit after this week will begin at 2:25 a.m. (0625 GMT) on August 3, while the last chance to catch the moon's shadow fall on Saturn will take place on October 6.

After the October event, stargazers will have to wait another 15 years before the next ring crossing brings Titan — and its shadow — into alignment once more!

Titan's shadow through the eyes of the Cassini spacecraft

Without question, the most spectacular views of a Titan shadow transit came courtesy of NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which witnessed the moon's dark outline fall over Saturn's cloud surface in November 2009, while it travelled a mere 1.3 million miles (2.1 million km) from the colossal gas giant. Cassini has long since found its resting place beneath the cloud surface of Saturn, but amateur astronomers will have an opportunity to follow in Cassini's steps later this week and witness the next Titan shadow transit for themselves when it takes place on July 18.

"Though we, living in the 21st century, have grown accustomed to seeing the Saturnian system through the eyes of Cassini, there still remains the thrill of witnessing, with one's own eyes, a major celestial event in the life of another planet a billion miles away," Carolyn Porco, planetary scientists and imaging team leader for NASA's Cassini mission told Space.com in an email.

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your images of the Titan shadow transit with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Whether you're a beginner, a parent seeking a kid-friendly scope, or an astrophotographer chasing crisp deep-sky images, our curated list has you covered. We’ve scoured company websites and expert reviews to recommend top picks like the Vaonis Vespera II for unmatched smart imaging and the Celestron FirstScope 76 for young explorers.

From smart scopes to traditional Dobsonians, we’ll break down specifications, pros, and cons to help you choose the perfect model for your stargazing needs, ensuring portability and ease of use for all skill levels. But if you're looking to play the field, telescope-wise, then take a look at our guide to the best telescopes overall for a wider view of the telescope market. We also have a guide to the best small telescopes that are perfect for taking to dark sky sites and getting crystal clear stellar views.

The quick list

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Best tabletop telescopes we recommend in 2025

Best overall

The Vaonis Vespera II, priced at $1,590, redefines tabletop telescopes with its smart, automated design. Its 50mm aperture and 250mm focal length, paired with an 8.3-megapixel Sony IMX585 sensor, produce crisp images of deep-sky objects like the Orion Nebula (M42).

The CovalENS mosaic mode boosts resolution to 24MP, expanding the field of view to 2.5 x 1.4 degrees—ideal for wide-field astrophotography. Controlled via the Singularity app, it auto-aligns, tracks, and stacks images, making it beginner-friendly yet powerful for veterans. Its 25GB storage holds thousands of images, but the 4-hour battery life may require a power bank for extended sessions.

Weighing 11 lbs, it’s portable but lacks a standard tripod, an extra $100-$149 cost. Light pollution filters enhance performance in urban areas, capturing pin-sharp galaxies despite streetlights. While excellent for nebulae and galaxies, its aperture and focal length limits planetary detail, making it less suited for that task.

• Read our full Vaonis Vespera II review

Best for kids

Priced at just $70, the Celestron FirstScope 76 is a Dobsonian-style Newtonian reflector designed for young astronomers. Its 76mm aperture and 300mm focal length deliver clear views of bright celestial objects.

Weighing just 4.3 lbs, it’s easy for kids to handle and set up without tools. A variety of tube exterior designs are available such as a lunar themed tube assembly. Two eyepieces (20mm and 4mm) provide 15x and 75x magnification, respectively, which is enough to show the lunar craters or Saturn’s rings. Its simplicity suits ages 8 and up, but don’t expect impressive views of fainter galaxies or nebulae.

• Read our full Celestron FirstScope 76 review

Best intermediate

The Celestron StarSense Explorer 8-inch Dobsonian, priced around $799, is a robust choice for intermediate astronomers. Its large 203mm aperture and 1200mm focal length deliver impressive views of galaxies, nebulae, and the moon & planets.

The StarSense app uses smartphone plate-solving to guide users to 40,000+ celestial objects, ideal for those with limited knowledge of find their way around the night sky. Weighing a rather hefty 44 lbs, it’s much less portable than others listed here but offers significantly more aperture.

Two eyepieces (25mm and 10mm) offer 48x and 120x magnification. While it excels for visual observing, its size and weight mean it’s far from being a ‘grab and go’ telescope.

• Read our full Celestron StarSense Explorer 8-inch Dobsonian review

Best for beginners

At $479, the Celestron StarSense Explorer 130mm Tabletop Dobsonian is tailored for beginners. Its 130mm aperture and 650mm focal length provide clear views of the moon, planets, and bright deep-sky objects like the Andromeda Galaxy, with a 1.5-degree field of view.

Weighing 15.2 lbs, it’s portable and sets up quickly on a tabletop. The StarSense app, using smartphone plate-solving accurately guides users to thousands of objects, making navigation intuitive.

Two supplied eyepieces (25mm and 10mm) deliver 26x and 65x magnification. While excellent for visual observation, its manual operation and smaller aperture limit its astrophotography potential.

Best smart telescope

Priced at an attractive $499, the ZWO Seestar S50 is a game-changer for budget-conscious astrophotographers. Its 50mm aperture and 250mm focal length, combined with a 2-megapixel Sony IMX462 sensor, capture decent images of nebulae and galaxies, with a 1.8 x 1.0-degree field of view.

The Seestar app enables Wi-Fi control, auto-centering, and image stacking, ideal for beginners. Its 64GB storage holds ample data, and the 6-hour battery supports long imaging sessions.

Weighing just 5.5 lbs, it includes a tripod and solar filter, enhancing portability and versatility. However, the 2MP sensor produces somewhat lower resolution images compared to premium models, and planetary details are underwhelming.

• Read our full ZWO Seestar S50 review

Best for image capture

The ZWO Seestar S30, retailing at a remarkable $399, is the smallest smart telescope in this guide and the lowest cost such telescope available on the current market. Its 30mm aperture and 150mm focal length, paired with a 2-megapixel Sony IMX462 sensor, offer a wide 2.9 x 1.6-degree field of view, ideal for capturing large deep-sky objects like the Pleiades.

At 3.6 lbs, it’s highly portable, fitting easily into a backpack. The Seestar app provides Wi-Fi control, auto-tracking, and image stacking, with 64GB storage and a 6-hour battery life.

While its affordability and portability shine, the smaller aperture and low-resolution sensor produce less detailed images than the S50 or Vespera II, and planets appear tiny, though reasonable detail is visible when imaging the moon.

Best tabletop telescopes: Comparison

The best tabletop telescopes for stargazing: Frequently Asked Questions

How we test

Our telescope evaluations combine hands-on testing, online research, and expert level experience. We assess key features like aperture, focal ratio, mount stability, and optical quality to give a well-rounded view. The author’s extensive use of countless different telescopes including some of the models in this review also helps forms our insights. We also analyze user reviews from various platforms and retail sites to gauge real-world user experience. This rigorous approach ensures our recommendations meet diverse needs, from beginners to advanced imagers.

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We’ve curated a list based on performance, versatility, and value, drawing from company specifications and expert insights. From planetary detail to sprawling nebulas, our selections cover diverse needs. Whether you’re chasing sharp star clusters or vibrant deep-sky objects, our recommendations ensure quality results.

Veteran Astro-imager Damian Peach, our contributing expert, shares why each model excels: “These telescopes balance precision optics with user-friendly features, empowering astrophotographers to capture the universe’s beauty with clarity and ease.”

If imaging isn't your thing, or you just want to take a look at a variety of telescopes before taking the plunge, then be sure to read our full guide to the best telescopes overall. Some smart telescopes offer easy astrophotography ability so you may want to check out our best smart telescopes guide too.

The quick list

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Best telescopes for astrophotography in 2025

Best overall

The Celestron Advanced VX 8-inch EdgeHD is a powerhouse for astrophotography, blending advanced optics with a sturdy computerized mount. Its 203.2mm aperture captures ample light, ideal for detailed images of galaxies, nebulas, and planets. The 2032mm focal length at f/10 provides high magnification for small objects, while optional focal reducers (f/7) or Fastar (f/2) configurations broaden its scope for wide-field imaging.

StarBright XLT coatings enhance light transmission to 97.4%, ensuring vibrant, high-contrast images. The German equatorial mount, equipped with All-Star Polar Alignment and Celestron PWI software, offers precise tracking for long exposures, crucial for deep-sky work.

At 47 pounds, it’s less portable but excels in permanent setups. Users praise its flat field, free of coma, delivering pinpoint stars across large sensors. Setup takes about 20 minutes, with SkyAlign technology simplifying alignment by targeting three bright objects.

For astrophotographers seeking a balance of power and versatility, this telescope is a top contender, though beginners may find its complexity a little daunting.

• Read our full Celestron Advanced VX 8-inch HD review

Best smart telescope

The Celestron Origin Intelligent Home Observatory redefines astrophotography with its all-in-one design. Its 152mm Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph (RASA) at f/2.2 captures vast swaths of the night sky, ideal for nebulas and galaxies.

The 335mm focal length ensures a wide field, perfect for large targets like the North America Nebula. Controlled via a smartphone app, it automates alignment, target selection, and image stacking, delivering polished results without manual tweaking. StarBright XLT coatings boost light transmission, yielding bright, detailed images in relatively short exposures.

At 41.6 pounds, it’s portable for a smart telescope, though its $3,999 price tag reflects its advanced tech. The alt-azimuth mount tracks smoothly for up to 30-minute exposures, but it’s not suited for high-magnification planetary work.

Users report setup times under 10 minutes, with the app guiding novices through the process. For those prioritizing convenience and speed, the Origin is a game-changer, though traditionalists may prefer more hands-on systems.

• Read our full Celestron Nexstar 8SE review

Best classic astro

The Sky-Watcher Quattro 150P is a favorite among budget-conscious astrophotographers for its super-fast f/4 optics with high-quality ED Coma Corrector and 150mm aperture, delivering bright, detailed images of nebulas and galaxies.

Its 600mm focal length provides a wide field, capturing large targets in a single frame. The included high-quality Coma Corrector gives sharp stars across wide fields and an even faster F/3.45 system.

Weighing just 12.6 pounds, it’s easy to transport, but as an optical tube assembly (OTA), it requires a separate equatorial mount, such as the Sky-Watcher EQ6-R, for tracking. The dual-speed focuser, while functional, may need upgrading for heavy imaging setups.

Users report excellent color correction and tight stars, with exposures as short as 30 seconds yielding impressive results. Setup is straightforward and its affordability—often under $500—makes it accessible, though beginners may need to invest in additional gear. For deep-sky enthusiasts, the Quattro 150P punches above its weight, rivaling pricier models.

Best for planets

The Celestron C11 EdgeHD is a planetary imaging titan, boasting a large 280mm aperture and 2800mm focal length for jaw-dropping detail within Jupiter’s belts, Saturn’s rings, and lunar craters. Its f/10 focal ratio delivers high magnification, while StarBright XLT coatings maximize light transmission for crisp, vibrant images.

The aplanatic Schmidt-Cassegrain design ensures a flat field, free of coma or curvature, ideal for larger sensors. At 28 pounds, it’s hefty, requiring a robust mount like the Celestron CGX for stable tracking during long exposures.

Fastar compatibility allows f/2 imaging with an optional lens system, adding versatility. Users report setup times of 15-20 minutes, with precise focusing critical for planetary work. Priced around $4,000, it’s a premium OTA, but its light-gathering power—four times that of a 5-inch scope—makes it unmatched for small, bright targets.

Beginners may find its cost and weight prohibitive, but for dedicated planetary imagers, the C11 EdgeHD is a dream instrument that will provide a lifetime of enjoyment.

Best for nebulas

The William Optics RedCat 51 is a compact apochromatic refractor designed for wide-field astrophotography, excelling at capturing sprawling nebulas like the Veil or North America Nebula. Its 51mm f/4.9 Petzval lens, with a 250mm focal length, produces sharp, color-corrected images across a 45mm image circle, compatible with full-frame sensors.

Top-quality optics eliminate chromatic aberration, delivering pinpoint stars and vibrant colors. At just 3.9 pounds, it pairs well with lightweight mounts like the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer, making it ideal for travel. The internal focus design (WIFD) ensures smooth, sag-free focusing, even with heavy cameras. Priced around $1,500, it’s a premium choice, but users rave about its no-fuss setup and exceptional sharpness.

The small aperture does limit light-gathering for faint objects somewhat, requiring longer exposures for pleasing results. For astrophotographers chasing wide-field masterpieces, the RedCat 51’s portability and optical quality are hard to beat, though it’s less well suited for planetary or high-magnification work.

Best for smartphone astrophotography

The Celestron NexStar 8SE is a beginner-friendly telescope optimized for smartphone astrophotography, particularly for bright targets like the moon and planets. Its 203.2mm aperture and 2032mm focal length at f/10 deliver detailed, high-magnification images, enhanced by StarBright XLT coatings for 97.4% light transmission.

The computerized alt-azimuth mount, with a 40,000-object database and SkyAlign technology, locates targets in seconds. Pair it with the Celestron NexYZ smartphone adapter for easy smartphone astro-shots, though the alt-az mount limits deep-sky exposures without a wedge.

At 33 pounds, it’s portable but requires eight AA batteries, lasting around 2-4 hours, or an optional power tank. Users praise its sharp images and ease of use, with Jupiter’s belts and Saturn’s rings easily captured.

Priced around $1,600, it’s a solid investment for casual imagers, but serious deep-sky photographers may need an equatorial mount.

• Read our full Celestron NexStar 8SE review

Best for stars

The William Optics ZenithStar 73 is a high-performance apochromatic refractor tailored for astrophotographers chasing sharp, colorful star clusters and wide-field targets. Its 73mm aperture and 430mm focal length at f/5.9, paired with a Flat 73A field flattener, deliver pinpoint stars across a wide field, ideal for objects like the Pleiades or Andromeda Galaxy.

Fully multi-coated optics ensure excellent color correction, eliminating chromatic aberration for vibrant images. At 5.5 pounds, it’s perfect for portable mounts like the Sky-Watcher HEQ5, with setup taking under 10 minutes. Priced around $1,000, it’s a mid-range investment, but users laud its crisp, flat-field images, even with short exposures.

The moderate aperture limits light-gathering/resolution for faint galaxies or planetary details. Its compact design suits travel, but it’s an OTA-only purchase, so a mount is needed.

For star-focused astrophotographers, the ZenithStar 73 offers premium optics in a lightweight package, though it’s less suited for high-magnification planetary work.

Best telescopes for astrophotography

The best telescopes for astrophotography frequently asked questions

How we test

Our telescope evaluations combine hands-on testing, online research, and expert level experience. We assess key features like aperture, focal ratio, mount stability, and optical quality to give a well-rounded view. The author’s extensive use of countless different telescopes including some of the models in this review also helps forms our insights. We also analyze user reviews from various platforms and retail sites to gauge real-world user experience. This rigorous approach ensures our recommendations meet diverse needs, from beginners to advanced imagers.

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July's third quarter moon phase occurs at 8:38 EDT (0038 GMT) on July 17, according in-the-sky.org. At this moment, skywatchers in the northern hemisphere will see the left side of the lunar disk illuminated by sunlight, while the right side remains cloaked in shadow.

Stargazers across the U.S. will get their first glimpse at the third quarter moon as it rises above the eastern horizon shortly before midnight local time on July 17, with the bright planet Saturn shining off to the east. The exact time for moonrise will vary based on your location, so be sure to check a website like TimeandDate.com to find specifics for your locale.

Once risen, the third quarter moon will remain visible throughout the night, allowing plenty of time to explore the illuminated regions of the lunar disk.

The best place to look? Along the terminator — the line separating night from day on the moon's surface. Here, sunlight emphasises the rims of craters formed in violent asteroid impacts, while leaving swathes of their interiors bathed in shadow.

Look slightly to the left of the terminator near the equator to spot the 57-mile-wide (93-kilometers) Copernicus Crater on the southern rim of Mare Imbrium (Latin for the "Sea of Showers"). This ancient basaltic plain formed billions of years ago when lava flooded impact basins, before solidifying to re-pave the lunar surface.

The smaller Kepler Crater will also be visible Both Copernicus and the smaller Kepler Crater to its left are surrounded by bright streaks of reflective material that were thrown out in the violent aftermath of their creation.

While the third quarter moon will present a mesmerizing sight to the naked eye, a telescope with an aperture of 6 inches will help resolve a wealth of craters and finer details marking its ancient surface. If you're new to lunar observing, be sure to read our guide to exploring the moon with a telescope.

Stargazers interested in getting a closer view of Earth's natural satellite should check out our roundup of the best telescopes and binoculars for moongazing available in 2025.

Editor's Note: If you capture an image of the third quarter moon and want to share it with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s) and comments, along with your name and the location of your shoot to spacephotos@space.com.

Children are more likely to lose interest if operating the camera is too complex. It's not fun if it's difficult. Simple operation matters just as much as image quality, and in our opinion, image quality is just as important as it would be for an adult. Your children will want the images they take to look good!

The best cameras for kids will have an intuitive interface. For very young children, the camera should be easy to hold and should be able to survive drops and knocks. Not as much consideration needs to be given to this if you're buying for an older child, especially if they are briefed on the fragile components that 'real' cameras are made up of. Teenagers might be ready for one of the best cameras and if they are really into astronomy then we also have a guide to the best cameras for astrophotography.

The quick list

We've summarized our picks for the best cameras for kids below, including their main features and specs. If you want more in-depth information on a particular camera, scroll down or click the 'Read more below' links.

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The best cameras for kids we recommend in 2025

The best camera for kids overall

If your young photographer loves getting close to the action, without actually moving, the Nikon Coolpix P1000 could be your child's new favourite tool.

This bridge camera has a huge 125x optical zoom, the longest zoom range you'll find on a camera like this — it can go from wide-angle shots (24mm) to an incredible 3000mm, which means you can snap photos of the moon's craters right from your garden.

The P1000 includes a stabilization system called Dual Detect Optical Vibration Reduction. This helps keep images sharp, even if your young person is zoomed all the way in; there's no need to worry too much about shaky hands.

This camera captures respectable 16MP stills and can shoot 4K UHD video, making it a great all-rounder if your child is curious about both photography and filmmaking. It shoots in JPEG for quick sharing, but also in RAW, should your child want to try their hand at photo editing.

The flip-out 3.2-inch screen is handy for awkward angles or vlogging, and there's also a detailed electronic viewfinder. While it's not as fast in low light as a high-end DSLR, its ISO 6400 limit will be plenty for most of what you'll want to capture.

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The best camera for kids for vlogging

If your child is interested in vlogging as well as photography, the Sony ZV-1F is a fantastic camera to help them take their creativity to the next level.

It’s small, very light and easy to carry around—perfect for school trips and weekends away. It has a large 1-inch sensor that captures crisp, high-quality photos and impressive 4K video, which means their content will really look the part.

What makes it especially appealing for younger users is its ease of use. The touchscreen flips out, so they can easily film themselves, and the camera keeps everything in focus automatically. The face and eye tracking is fantastic. It also includes image stabilisation, which helps smooth out footage if your young person struggles to hold the camera still.

A clever feature called Product Showcase mode allows the camera to quickly shift focus between a person and an object held in front of the lens—great for things like video reviews, unboxings or art projects.

Overall, the Sony ZV-1F is a smart investment for kids eager to explore vlogging or photography more seriously, without things getting too complicated.

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The best camera for kids for action

If your young photographer has a passion for action, sports or just a faster pace of life, the GoPro Hero 13 Black could be the camera they need. Built for adventures, this tiny powerhouse is waterproof, rugged, and easy to stash in a backpack or pocket.

Not only can it capture 27MP stills, but it can also record stunning 5.3K video (bear in mind the file sizes will be huge and they will need a phone/ computer to cope with that).

Its HyperSmooth stabilization helps to create cinematic-looking footage. Other modes like time-lapse, slo-mo, and horizon lock can all be experimented with to create interesting and engaging videos. The GoPro Hero 13 (and previous versions of GoPro) pairs quickly with smartphones, so if your child has one, they can use their phone to edit their videos on the go.

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The best camera for kids for durability

If you've got a young explorer on your hands —someone who's always climbing, splashing, or just a little bit clumsy — the OM System Tough TG-7 is a camera that can keep up. It is designed to handle bumps and drops, it's waterproof, shockproof, freeze-proof, and even crushproof.

With a 12MP sensor and fast f/2.0-4.9 lens, it captures sharp, vibrant shots even in low light. It records in 4K video and has super slow-motion capabilities, making it perfect for capturing action in vivid detail.

Where the TG-7 really stands out for young creatives is in its macro capabilities. It turns everyday objects into otherworldly curiosities — impressive!

Built-in GPS and environmental sensors log where and when every shot was taken. Ideal for looking back over holiday snaps.

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The best camera for kids with built in stand

If your young creator is looking for a straightforward and compact solution to shooting videos on the go (and perhaps isn't old enough to have their own smartphone), the Canon PowerShot V10 could be it. It weighs a tiny 211g and is designed for easy one-handed use. The built-in stand allows for quick setup on various surfaces, eliminating the need to carry a separate tripod or stand with you.

Equipped with a 1-inch sensor, the V10 captures 4K video at 30fps and 15MP still images, providing clear and detailed content. Digital image stabilization helps maintain smooth footage during handheld shooting.

Audio-wise, there are dual stereo microphones and a third noise-reduction mic, ensuring clear sound recording. For those interested in live streaming, the V10 supports direct streaming to platforms like YouTube and Facebook via the Canon Camera Connect app. The camera can also function as a webcam when connected to a computer. There is built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for fast file transfer.

The 2-inch flip-up touchscreen simplifies framing and navigation, and it's quick to learn your way around the system. The V10's design focuses on ease of use, making it a practical choice for young individuals eager to explore vlogging and photography.

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The best for teenagers

If your young photographer is ready to move beyond smartphone and compact camera snapshots and wants to get started with a 'real' camera, the Canon EOS Rebel SL3 (also known as the EOS 250D outside of the US) is a solid choice.

Though DSLR cameras have typically given way to mirrorless models, we are still happy to recommend this model as a camera to delve further into the world of photography with, and get used to full manual control. Despite being over six years old, it still sits in our best beginner cameras guide. One of the main reasons for this is the built-in walk-through guides to show enthusiastic users how to get to grips with the camera. There's also in-camera image filters for those who like to edit their snaps quickly.

Though not a lightweight compact model like others in this guide, it's light for a DSLR, the world's lightest, in fact, at 449g. The camera features a 24.1MP APS-C sensor and DIGIC 8 processor, delivering sharp images and 4K video at 25fps. The autofocus system is fast and accurate, even in live view mode.

The SL3's vari-angle touchscreen simplifies framing shots from various angles, whether capturing landscapes or recording vlogs. This can help create creative compositions as your young person can see the screen from many more angles.

The Canon EOS Rebel SL3 is a practical choice for young individuals eager to explore photography and videography, offering a balance of performance and ease of use.

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The best cameras for kids frequently asked questions

How we tested these best cameras for kids

How we test the best cameras for kids

To guarantee you're getting honest, up-to-date advice on the best cameras to buy here at Space.com, we rigorously review every camera to fully test each product. Each camera is reviewed based on a multitude of aspects, in this case, with children in mind, mainly in terms of ease-of-use and durability, as well as image quality.

Cameras are selected for our shortlists by our expert staff or knowledgeable freelance contributors. With complete editorial independence, Space.com are here to ensure you get the best buying advice on cameras, whether you should purchase a specific model or not, making our buying guides and reviews reliable and transparent.

That's why, with the help of our expert reviewers, we have rounded up the best binoculars by price. Our guide covers a range of budgets from $50 through to full-on premium-priced models. However, you don't have to break the bank to get a quality pair of binoculars — even the lower-priced models we've chosen are excellent quality, all from brands you can rely on.

In our guide, we explore who and what each pair is best suited to and delve into their pros and cons. So read on and let us help you pick the best pair of binoculars to suit your pocket.

The quick list

Best premium

Best under $300

Best under $200

Best under $100

Best under $50

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Best binoculars by price 2025

Best premium for image quality

If you're after superb image quality, you really can't go wrong with the Nikon Monarch HG 10x42 binoculars. In our guide to the best binoculars we rank them as top for optical performance. Nikon is known for its top quality optics, and these binos are well up to their usual standard.

In our review of the Nikon Monarch HG 10x42s, we called them "Possibly the best we've ever tested: insane optical quality in a slim, polished package," and that still stands. These binoculars offer sharp views edge-to-edge and all but eliminate chromatic abberation. Despite their quality, they're lightweight that you can hold them steady without needing a tripod.

Ideally, you'd want 50mm objective lenses for stargazing, but you shouldn't completely rule these out if that's what you have in mind. They boast solid construction with some serious waterproofing, and the premium feel extends to the bundled accessories, including a carry case, objective lens caps and cushioned neckstrap. Unless you absolutely have to have image stabilization, the Nikon Monarch HG 10x42s are an amazing pair of premium binoculars.

• Read our full Nikon Monarch HG 10x42 review

Best compact premium

Leica is one of the most trusted names in the optics industry and while the Leica Trinovid 10x25s command a premium price, you're getting what you pay for. They boast premium glass and Leica's own HDC multi-layer coatings, designed to offer improved optical performance and durability.

With just 25mm objective lenses, we wouldn't recommend the Leica Trinovid 10x25 for low-light use, but these binos should otherwise deliver superb image quality, with the added bonus that you can easily slip them into your pocket. Glasses wearers will appreciate the adjustable eye-relief, too.

User reviews:

We've yet to go hands on with the Leica Trinovid 10x25s, but those who've purchased them sing their praises. They're impressed with the Leica Trinovid 10x25's build and image quality and their overall performance for bird-watching and nature watching. Many reviews praise these binos' compactness, including the way they fold up via a double hinge.

Best for stargazing under $300

These Celestron SkyMaster Pro ED 15x70 binoculars prove that you don't absolutely have to have a telescope to go stargazing. Thanks to their excellent low-light performance, they're superb for moon watching, planet spotting and surveying the night sky.

In our review of the Celestron SkyMaster Pro 15x70, we said that they offer an "Amazing stargazing experience, with a good combination of magnification, aperture and portability."

This model is essentially the same except that Celestron has added extra low dispersion, or "ED" glass for even better image quality. They're impressively well-built too, so what's not to like, especially at this price?

The only snag is their weight. At just over 2kg, they can be hard to hold steady for extended periods of time and we'd recommend you take advantage of the slightly fiddly tripod adapter for long stargazing sessions.

Best all-rounder under $300

The Celestron Nature DX 12x56 are an excellent pair of binoculars, capable of handling most tasks. In our guide to the best binoculars, we rate them as the best for affordable stargazing.

With their 56mm objective lenses, they're excellent in low-light conditions. In our review of the Celestron Nature DX 12x56, we called them "A good quality, inexpensive pair of binoculars that we wouldn't hesitate to recommend".

We were particularly impressed how they handled and, in particular, the ease at which the focus knob turned. Though we thought images could be slightly sharper, we were still impressed by the image quality. Couple that with their excellent build quality and weatherproofing and you've got a great pair of all-round binoculars.

• Read our full Celestron Nature DX 12x56 review

Best all-weather under $200

Want a pair of binoculars that can withstand torrential rain? If you're out in all weathers, the Nikon Prostaff P3 8x42 binoculars are for you. They're water-sealed up to 1m and fog-proof with it, a serious step up from just splash-resistant.

But there's more to these binos than just their ability to handle a downpour. We rank them as the best binoculars for beginners. And, in our review of the Nikon Prostaff P3 8x42, we were especially impressed that Nikon hadn't cut any corners when it came to optical quality.

After a quick set-up, we were treated to sharp and bright views, thanks in part to their superior BAK-4 glass. We found that they featured the lowest chromatic aberration of any similarly-priced binoculars we'd tested.

These aren't astro-specialists so don't buy them exclusively for stargazing. But they're lightweight enough to hang around your neck and are excellent for most other purposes.

• Read our full Nikon Prostaff P3 8x42 review

Best value for money under $200

With BaK-4 glass optics and FoV-enhancing Porro prisms, these Nikon 10x50 Aculon A211 binoculars offers quality and performance well above their price tag.

In our best binoculars guide, we ranked them as the best for entry-level astronomy, thanks to its 50mm objective lenses and excellent quality.

Reviewing the Nikon 10x50 Aculon A211 we found they were a delight to use, especially the smooth and resistant focus wheel. And while they're not technically waterproof, its easy-to-grip rubber armor should grant them some water resistance.

There's some chromatic aberration at the edge of their 6.5 degree field of view. But, even taking that into consideration, the Nikon 10x50 Aculon A211 binoculars represent excellent value for money.

• Read our full Nikon 10x50 Aculon A211 review

Best for low light under $100

Celestron is one of the leading names in astro-optics, and the Celestron SkyMaster 12x60 binoculars are everything you'd expect from the company. We rank them as the best binoculars for long distance for beginners.

Boasting a generous lifetime warranty, these well-built binos let in enough light through their 60mm objectives to excel in low-light conditions. Their optics are multi-coated, top-quality glass and you're all but guaranteed bright, clear images.

The one snag is that, like some of the other Celestrons in this guide, they're quite heavy. You may find it tricky to hold them motionless, and they're too large for children to use.

Reviewing the Celestron SkyMaster 12x60 binoculars, we were impressed by just how useful they were for stargazing. With a tripod, we were easily able to make out the Jupiter and the four four Galilean moons. Their daytime performance was nearly as impressive. For this asking price, weight aside, you can't go wrong.

• Read our full Celestron SkyMaster 12x60 review

Best for outdoors under $100

Given that Vortex Optics caters to heavily to hunters, it's not surprising that the Vortex Optics Copperhead HD 10x42 are built to stand up to heavy duty use.

Fogproof, shockproof and waterproof, they feature in our best budget binoculars guide as the best for adventurers. Vortex Optics seems willing to back that up, offering a lifetime warranty on these binos.

Durability aside, the Vortex Optics Copperhead HD 10x42 aren't dedicated astronomy binoculars, but their 42mm objective should let in enough light for stargazing.

They're also ideal for terrestrial use, though with a close focus of just over 15 feet, they're best suited to mid to longer-range viewing. Their compact size makes them easy to pack away.

User reviews:

We've yet to review the Vortex Optics Copperhead HD 10x42s, but purchasers have plenty of positive things to say about it. They're happy with the image quality and their ease of storage.

Best for beginners under $50

At under $50, the Celestron UpClose G2 10x50 binoculars are an excellent pair of entry-level binoculars, ideal for beginners or hobbyists on a budget. We ranked them as the best budget binoculars in our best binoculars guide.

This pair offers great image quality, considering its price band. In our review of the Celestron UpClose G2 10x50 we said that "They’re the perfect entry-level product, though they come with caveats." Those caveats include poor eye relief, so those wearing glasses may want to think carefully.

However, they're pleasingly lightweight, especially compared to some of the other Celestron models in this guide. If you're a beginner looking to get into stargazing or nature watching, these Celestron UpClose G2 10x50 binoculars are a great place to start

• Read our full Celestron Upclose G2 10x50 review

Best for kids under $50

If you're buying binoculars for children, you might balk at spending $200 on a pair. That's where the Celestron Cometron 7x50 binoculars come in, which we rank as the best family binoculars.

They're lightweight enough that children can carry them, and while they're not technically drop or water proof, they're reasonably sturdy.

In our review of the Celestron Cometron 7x50 binoculars we explained that they "Offer excellent views and remarkable value for money, all tied up in a lightweight package."

Their 50mm objectives are large enough to make them useful for stargazing and they're equally suited to daytime observations. It's also work keeping an out for binocular deals as we've even seen these drop past $25.

• Read our full Celestron Cometron 7x50 review

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Best binoculars by price FAQs

Update log

Astrophotographer Greg Meyer has captured a spectacular image of the Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946) shining close to the dark shape of the Seahorse Nebula.

The majestic spiral arms of the Fireworks Galaxy can be found to the lower right of Meyer's cosmic vista, surrounded by the foreground clouds of a dusty molecular cloud located within the Milky Way. The Fireworks Galaxy's nickname stems from the 10 observable supernovas seen brightening its expanse over the past century; for comparison, our galaxy is only expected to manifest one or maybe two such events over the same period of time.

Lurking to the left of the Fireworks Galaxy is the star-forming region Barnard 150 — an enormous cloud of interstellar dust also known as the Seahorse Nebula, due to its striking resemblance to the tiny sea creature. The 'Ghost Bush' open star cluster is also visible to the upper right of the Fireworks galaxy, twinkling with the light of countless gravitationally bound stellar bodies.

Meyer chose to frame all three objects in a single shot to create a breathtaking deep space vista. "I don't usually shoot galaxies with a telescope of just 400mm, but showing it in perspective to other objects maybe makes it more interesting as a wider shot," said Meyer in an email to Space.com"

As is often the case with astrophotography, the celestial objects captured in Meyer's portrait aren't anywhere near as close to one another as they appear. For example, the Seahorse Nebula orbits within the Milky Way at a distance of 1,200 light-years from Earth, while the Ghost Bush open cluster lies beyond, an impressive 5,600 light-years from our Blue Marble. The Fireworks Galaxy meanwhile is a staggering 22 million light-years from our planet.

The light that created this stunning cosmic vista was captured in the pristine skies above northern Arizona over the course of several nights in June earlier this year. Over 17 hours were spent imaging the deep sky objects with a Sky-Watcher Esprit 80mm telescope with a Player One Poseidon M pro astrophotography camera, using a range of filters and peripherals. The data was then post processed using Adobe editing software and Pixinsight.

Astrophotographers looking to upgrade their gear should read our guide to the best cameras for capturing the night sky in 2025. We also have a roundup of the top lenses for astrophotography if you're looking for new glass.

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

This year, a waning gibbous moon three days past full moon phase will seriously hamper the Perseid meteor shower, so why not take this opportunity to try and view the other four, all but one of which will enjoy dark skies?

Summertime meteors, occasionally flitting across your line of sight, are especially noticeable between early-July and the final week of August. And between Aug. 3 and 15, there are no fewer than four different minor displays (in addition to the Perseids) that are active.

Anyone gazing at the night sky these nights for even a short length of time is likely to spot a few "shooting stars" darting across the sky. In general, Earth encounters richer meteoric activity during the second half of the year. And you're more likely to see twice as many meteors per hour in the predawn hours as compared to the evening hours. This is due to the fact that during the pre-midnight hours we are on the "trailing" side of Earth, due to our orbital motion through space.

So, any meteoric particle generally must have an orbital velocity greater than that of Earth's to "catch" us. However, after midnight, when we are turned onto Earth's "leading" side, any particle that lies along Earth's orbital path will enter our atmosphere as a meteor.

As such objects collide with our atmosphere at speeds of 7 to 45 miles (11 to 72 km) per second, their energy of motion rapidly dissipates in the form of heat, light, and ionization, creating short-lived streaks of light popularly referred to as "shooting stars."

The only equipment you'll need is your eyes and a modest amount of patience. The actual number of meteors a single observer can see in an hour depends strongly on sky conditions. The rates given in the table are based on your ability to see stars as faint as magnitude +6.5 — considered to be the threshold of naked eye visibility — that you are an experienced observer, and an assumption that the radiant is directly overhead. The radiant is the place in the sky where the paths of shower members, if extended backward, would intersect when plotted on a star chart. Your clinched fist held at arm's length is equal to roughly 10 degrees in the sky. So, if the radiant is 30 degrees ("three-fists") above the horizon, the hourly rate is halved; at 15 degrees it is cut to a third.

Of the four minor showers active in the coming weeks, the Kappa Cygnids are the most favorably placed for northern observers: the constellation of Cygnus from where these meteors appear to dart from, lies high overhead at around 10:30 p.m. making it favorably placed for viewing all night long. Two of the other showers listed come from the region around the constellations of Aquarius and Capricornus. These constellations are currently highest in the southern sky between roughly 1:30 and 2:30 a.m. local daylight time.

While the hourly rates from the four minor meteor streams are but a fraction of the numbers produced by the Perseids, combined, overall, they provide a wide variety of meteors of differing colors, speeds and trajectories.

These four are listed in the table below:

The first of our showers is the Delta Aquarids, with a broad three-day maximum running from July 29 through 31. though activity has been noted as early as July 12, extending to Aug. 23. This shower actually is composed of two radiants, one north and the other south, suggesting that we are seeing two distinct streams of celestial debris burning up in Earth's atmosphere. As many as two dozen swift, faint meteors per hour are provided by this shower.

The moon will be at a waxing crescent phase during the time of peak activity and will set well before midnight; hence it's well out of the picture when the double radiant crosses the meridian at about 2:30 a.m., meaning favorable viewing circumstances throughout the morning hours. The pieces of space debris that interact with our atmosphere to create the southern Delta Aquariids are suspected to originate from comet 96P/Machholz. This short-period comet orbits the sun about once every five years. Comet Machholz was discovered by the late Donald Machholz in 1986.

A much weaker shower is the Alpha Capricornids, which begin about July 3, peaks on July 31, and ends on Aug. 15. Moonset comes at 11:00 p.m. on the evening of July 30, and the time when the radiant crosses the meridian comes at 1:30 a.m., which means that this stream is well-presented this year and also overlaps with the peak of the Delta Aquarids.

Though averaging only around 5 per hour, the Alpha Capricornids frequently produce bright yellow fireballs that can be quite spectacular. These meteors are the dross shed by the comet 169P/NEAT, whose path Earth crosses at this time each year.

The last minor shower before the Perseids is the Eta Eridanids, having detectable members from July 31 to Aug. 19. At peak activity on Aug. 7 the moon will not set until 3:30 a.m. as the radiant is gaining altitude in the southeast; dawn breaks an hour later, leaving little time for observing. Only about three members per hour are seen under good conditions. These meteors appear to be related to a trail of dust shed by a faint comet traveling in a parabolic orbit that was observed through telescopes between May and June 1852. by French astronomer, Jean Chacornac.

A waning gibbous moon (19 days old) will dominate morning skies on Aug. 12 to spoil the Perseids. The radiant, near the famous Double Star Cluster of Perseus, rises in the evening and is 70 degrees high in the north-northeast at the break of dawn. When maximum occurs in a dark sky, this rich stream averages more than 90 members per hour, though higher rates have been seen on occasion. Many flaring meteors with trains are seen under good skies, but only the brightest of them will be visible in 2025. This shower normally extends from July 17 through Aug. 24.

The last summer shower is the Kappa Cygnids (followed by the Orionids in the last half of October). The limits of this shower run from Aug. 3 to 28, with the peak on Aug. 16. Though the maximum is only three per hour, the stream does provide flaring fireballs and the careful observer may be nicely rewarded for the time spent. At 24 days in age, the waning crescent moon will come up at 11:45 p.m., but the hours before midnight are the ones to choose for this shower. The radiant passes almost directly overhead at 10:30 in the evening.

Our data is based on two sources: The international Meteor Organization (IMO) Meteor Shower Calendar for 2025, compiled by Jürgen Rendtel and the Meteor section of the 2025 Observer's Handbook of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, compiled by Margaret Campbell-Brown and Peter Brown.

We will have more to say about the Perseids in early August, so be sure to stay tuned to Space.com for further details.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, Sky and Telescope and other publications.

We've rounded up the cheapest prices we've found for the best telescopes, the best binoculars, the best cameras, the best star projectors, the best Lego space sets, the best drones and more to help you save some hard-earned dollars.

Not all remaining deals are exclusive to Amazon but if you missed the annual Summer sales event, fear not, as you'll find the biggest and best Prime Day deals that are still available. All you have to do is scroll down below.

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Heads up stargazers! The moon will rise close to Saturn and the ice giant Neptune in the eastern sky on the night of July 15, close enough to be seen together in a pair of binoculars!

Saturn will rise above the eastern horizon beneath the stars of the constellation Pisces shortly before midnight for viewers in the U.S. on July 15, with the waning gibbous moon shining roughly three degrees to its upper right. For context, the width of your little finger held at arms length against the night sky accounts for roughly 1 degree.

The planet Neptune can also be found lurking approximately 1 degree to the upper left of Saturn around this time, though its dim brightness, or magnitude of +7.8, will make it impossible to see with the naked eye. Remember: magnitude is the scale used by astronomers to measure the apparent brightness of night sky objects. The lower the number, the brighter a planet or star will appear in the night sky. The human eye is capable of picking out objects with a brightness of +6.5 or greater from a dark sky location.

All three celestial targets will fit nicely within the field of view of a pair of 10x50 binoculars, though Neptune will appear as nothing more than a dim point of blueish light —if it’s visible at all against the glare of the waning moon — so don't expect much too much from the ice giant.

Gazing through a telescope with a 6-inch aperture will help reveal the rings around Saturn, while an 8-inch scope may allow you to spot variations in color on the gas giant's cloud surface. A range of exciting observing targets will also be visible on the 75%-lit moon on July 15, including the long, thin form of Mare Frigolis — a vast basalt plain visible as a dark scar running across the northern extreme of the lunar surface.

The celestial trio will remain close to each other throughout the night, with Saturn and Neptune eventually fading from sight in the southern sky when the sun rises on July 16.

Stargazers looking to get a closer look at the myriad worlds of our solar system should check out our guides to the best telescopes and binoculars for exploring the night sky. We also have a handy roundup of the best cameras and lenses for astrophotography for those looking to immortalize their skywatching sessions.

We've rounded up the cheapest prices we've found for the best cameras, the best star projectors, the best Lego space sets and the best drones to help you save some more dollars.

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For the past 17 years, the Royal Observatory Greenwich — supported by astronomy camera maker ZWO — has called on the global photography community to compete in an open competition celebrating the majesty and variety of our night sky.

The 2025 competition saw photographers from 69 countries submit over 5,500 entries to compete in a plethora of diverse categories to gain recognition and, naturally, prize money. The overall winner of the ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the year will bag a £10,000 (about $13,560 U.S.) grand prize, while the photographers who come out on top in each individual category receive £1,500 (about $2,030 U.S.) for their valiant efforts.

"At ZWO, we believe that astrophotography is not only a way to record the cosmos, but also a way to inspire curiosity, foster education and build communities that transcend borders," said ZWO founder Sam Wen in a press release revealing the shortlisted images. "Everyone deserves a chance to connect with the universe — and through our support, we hope to bring that experience to more people."

The winners of each category will be announced in an awards ceremony in September later this year, with the victorious entries — and select runners-up — later being exhibited at the National Maritime Museum in London.

Read on to see the spectacular images shortlisted for the 2025 ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the year awards!

Auroras

This image of a swirling green aurora was captured from a remote location on the Senja Peninsula in northern Norway by Filip Brebenda on Sept 12, 2024. Silvery birch trees dominate the foreground, while a rocky outcrop frames the aurora dancing through the sky above, which is reflected in a placid pool of water between the trunks.

Photographer Daniel Zafra was able to capture a rare occurrence of a magenta and green aurora reflecting off the waters of California's Mono Lake in October 2024, alongside protruding rocky formations.

Vincent Beudez imaged a breathtaking auroral display reminiscent of an arctic flower unfolding in the skies over Tromsø in northern Norway on April 4, 2024, framed by the snowy peaks of nearby mountains. He used a Sony Alpha 7S III camera to get the shot.

Galaxies

An image of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33), as captured by astrophotographers Bence Tóth, Péter Feltóti, Bertalan Kecskés from Hungary over the course of several sessions over November-December 2024. The galaxy can be seen undergoing a burst of star formation thanks to the tidal influence of a galactic neighbor, with the glowing red form of an emission nebula visible throughout, giving the impression of a cosmic firework display.

The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) can be seen shining with the light of countless stars and nebulas in this image taken from the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, China in late 2024. It took around 216 hours to capture the ancient light used in the creation of the image, which shows the bright central bulge and spiral arms of the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbor in phenomenal detail.

The barred spiral galaxy NGC 2997 — also known as the Antlia Cabbage Galaxy — is pictured surrounded by glowing red cosmic clouds in this shot by Xinran Li taken from Río Hurtado, Chile in January and February earlier this year. The galaxy exists at a distance of 35 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Antlia and took around 10 hours of observing time to capture using a range of filters.

Our Moon

A distorted moon can be seen rising over the French château of Villebois-Lavalette in this shot by Flavien Beauvais. The shot was taken during the full moon phase in November 2024 using a Canon EOD R7 camera in conjunction with a Sigma 150-600 mm lens.

This composite image captured by Chayaphon Phanitloet from the Nakhon Ratchasima region of Thailand depicts a period in October 2024 when the moon slid in front of Saturn — visible to the left of the image — blocking its light.

Photographer Karthik Easvur created this portrait of a supermoon looming large in the sky over Delhi, India, in November 2024, by stitching together 24 separate images into a seamless mosaic. The so-called "Beaver Moon" was captured using a 6-inch aperture telescope in conjunction with a ZWO camera along with several more helpful peripherals and filters.

Our Sun

Zhang Yanguang was able to capture this perfectly timed composite shot of the International Space Station (ISS) sweeping across the face of the sun from the Fujian region of China on Jan. 24 ofthis year. The photographer deftly maintained the crisp profile of the space station when combining the images during post-processing, while revealing phenomenal detail on the surface of our parent star.

This image of a 311,000-mile-long (500,000 kilometers) solar prominence erupting from the sun was captured on Nov. 7, 2024 from Guangdong province in China by astrophotographer PengFei Chou. The image is constructed from 20 stacked data sets captured over the course of the hour-long eruption.

An artistic view of the sun captured by photographer Damien Cannane, depicting the different phases of a solar eclipse. The arcs in between the eclipsed suns represent a phenomenon known as "Baily's Beads," which arise as sunlight shines through valleys on the lunar surface in the moments before and after totality.

People & Space

Tianyao Yang took this picture of the July 2024 full moon behind skyscrapers in the Lujiazui district of Shanghai. The shot was the culmination of five years of planning and was taken from a distance of 16.5 miles (26.5 km) using a long lens, allowing the photographer to give the moon an outsized appearance compared to the foreground buildings.

This picture, taken from Songyang County, China by photographer Yujie Zhang in August 2024, shows the bright ribbon of the Milky Way tumbling toward a collection of geometric buildings reflected in a foreground body of water.

This placid scene taken with a Canon R6 Mark II camera by photographer Paul Joels captures the Milky Way in the sky over a boathouse in Lulworth Cove in the U.K. A multitude of stars can be seen shining down on the seaside vista, twinkling above a lone boat resting on the roadside.

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) is seen streaking through the sky above Honolulu, Hawaii, as captured from the Pu'u O Kaimukī Park by photographer Ran Shen on Oct. 12, 2024.

Chester Hall-Fernandez captured this view of the Milky Way setting parallel to the horizon over the Mount John Observatory in New Zealand on July 21, 2024. The MOA-II telescope — the largest telescope on New Zealand's South Island — can be seen to the right of the image, observing the countless stars populating the southern hemisphere night sky.

Planets, Comets & Asteroids

An image of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS captured from Namibia in southern Africa by photographers Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jäger in September last year, featuring dust (grey) and ion (blue) tails. The "kinks" in the more tenuous ion trail are created as the solar wind pouring from our parent star impacts the particle trail shed by the wandering comet.

This family portrait of solar system planets — excluding Earth for obvious reasons — was captured with the aid of a 20-inch Dobsonian telescope in Bavaria, Germany, between September 2023 and December 2024 by astrophotographer Sophie Paulin. The planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune — can be seen parading in a line from left to right in the composite piece.

Skyscapes

Benjamin Barakat captured this image of a lone tree standing in front of star trails from the Hidaybu district of Yemen on March 13, 2024 using a Sony Alpha 7 IV camera.

A full moon is pictured rising over the Dolomite mountains in Italy by photographer Fabian Dalpiaz in November 2024, as the last of the sunlight catches the upper slopes on a cloudless evening.

This composite shot of the Milky Way was captured by Yoshiki Abe from the mouth of a remote cave in the coastal region of Yamaguchi, Japan on Oct. 12, 2024. The foreground image was snapped during a brief window known to photographers as the "blue hour," which occurs around the time that the sun sets, infusing the environment with a blueish hue. Abe captured his image of the Milky Way later that same night.

A 23,000 pixel-wide panorama of the Utah Desert, imaged at night by astrophotographer Jim Hildreth with the Milky Way arcing high overhead amongst a sea of stars.

Photographer Andreas Karaolis captured this panorama of the Milky Way's Cygnus region streaking over a verdant hillside in Cyprus in October 2024. Karaolis also made use of the blue hour to capture the foreground image, snapping a series of 30- and 120-second exposures to capture it and the cosmic scene above, before combining them in the post-processing step.

Stars & Nebulas

This composite view of the Christmas Tree Nebula and Rosetta Nebula was captured from the Deep Sky Chile Observatory in November and December last year. The colorful view is the result of 150 hours of observation, during which the ancient light of the nebulas was collected using a wide range of filters.

A portrait of the "Running Chicken Nebula" (IC 2944) — an enormous stellar nursery located in the constellation Centaurus — captured by astrophotographer Rod Prazeres from Queensland, Australia over the course of several nights in March and April 2024.

Shaoyu Zhang took this electric view of the "Spaghetti Nebula" (Simeis 147) from Chile and Sichuan, China between December 2024 and February 2025. Over 148 hours of exposure time were used to obtain a "full-spectrum" image of the vast supernova remnant to reveal structures ordinarily hidden behind a veil of cosmic dust.

The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer

An image of the Abel 85 supernova remnant captured in the skies above China by Deqian Li. Li used 23.4 hours of light data to create the image, which was captured over the course of a six-day camping trip in Hongyuan county, China with a Takahashi Epsilon-160ED telescope paired with a ZWO astronomy camera.

ZWO Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year

A 22-megapixel panorama showing the different stages of a total solar eclipse captured during the April 8, 2024 event by photographer Louis Egan from Quebec, Canada. The final piece was created using around 200 individual images.

Annie Maunder Open Category

Peter Ward's "neon sun" effect was created using ultraviolet data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which was remapped to colors visible to the naked eye, and turned "inside out" to surround the sun.

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

What brought me here wasn't just astronomy but astrotourism. "The U.S. has just announced an astrotourism project along U.S. Route 89, from Canada to Mexico," said Stéphane Picard, an astronomer and astrophotographer at Cliff Valley Astronomy. "It's impressive, but it stretches a thousand miles. We'll have six dark-sky sites within 100 miles [160 kilometers] — and dozens of unique astrotourism experiences."

Picard is one of the driving forces behind a corridor of dark-sky destinations along the dramatic coast of the Bay of Fundy, which is famous for its great range of tides (as well as its maple syrup). Dubbed the Fundy Dark-Sky Corridor, it could soon become the densest cluster of certified dark-sky reserves on Earth.

New Brunswick's dark-sky reserves

New Brunswick has a pedigree of dark-sky sites. The 70%-forested province, which borders Maine, is already home to three Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC)-designated Dark-Sky Preserves: Kouchibouguac National Park, Mount Carleton Provincial Park farther north, and Fundy National Park on the coast. It's the latter, which hosts RASC's annual star party, that's the anchor for the project.

"Tourism here has always relied on things like snowmobiling and fishing because those have measurable data — permits and licenses — but now we have real numbers for the night sky," Picard said, noting that the 2024 total solar eclipse generated almost $40 million in economic activity. Recent years have seen a surge of sightings of the aurora borealis, further contributing to this trend.

"When the night sky is clear, there's nothing like it," Picard said.

The Fundy Dark-Sky Corridor

With Fundy National Park at its center, the corridor would include the following sites:

• New River Beach Provincial Park nocturnal preserve: This area would include campsites, picnics, scenic coastal nature trails, beaches and breathtaking coastal views halfway between the U.S. border and Saint John, New Brunswick.
• Irving Nature Park urban star park: This wooded park on the immediate west side of Saint John is home to Saints Rest Beach, which would be perfect for urban dwellers seeking easily accessible dark skies.
• Fundy-St. Martins international dark sky community: This is a proposed community on the Bay of Fundy with historic country inns and spectacular coastal views. It's also where two UNESCO designations — Stonehammer UNESCO Global Geopark and the Fundy Biosphere Region — overlap.
• Fundy Trail Provincial Park dark-sky preserve: There are plans to add an RV park and cabins to the campground at this 6,323-acre (2,559 hectares) park with a scenic drive along the Bay of Fundy coast, hiking and biking trails, coastal lookouts, beaches and waterfalls.
• Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park nocturnal preserve: This site features picture-perfect views of the "flowerpot rocks," the 39-to-69-foot-tall (12 to 21 m) sea stacks caused by tidal erosion.

The northern edge may eventually expand toward Kouchibouguac National Park and even spill into Nova Scotia, but for now, it's all about protecting dark skies and encouraging astrotourism in rural southern New Brunswick.

Astrotourism experiences

The dark-sky designations now being sought serve as the foundation for astrotourism in New Brunswick. I was wowed by the unpretentiousness of the corridor's parks, from the sheer accessibility of Irving Nature Park and New River Beach Provincial Park to the remote feel of Fundy Trail Provincial Park and Fundy National Park itself. There are places to stay within them — largely campgrounds and cabins — but it's the dark-sky destinations in between that are the real jewels. In beautiful St. Martins (population 4,000) is Tide Watcher's Cottage, whose vast lawn and hot tub overlook the world's highest tides on the Bay of Fundy.

It's minutes from a few historic covered bridges (New Brunswick has 58 of these "kissing bridges") and the wild, majestic Fundy Trail Provincial Park. In nearby Norton to the north, far from light pollution (and close to the Midland Ice Caves) is Forest Lane Domes & Experiences, where a couple of eco-conscious geodesic domes have every luxury possible, including stargazing decks, a wood-fired hot tub and Bortle Level 2 skies. (The Bortle scale ranges from 1, which designates the darkest skies, to 9, which corresponds to inner-city skies with the most light pollution.)

Just outside Fundy National Park in Alma is Falcon Ridge Inn, a bed-and-breakfast with stunning views across the Bay of Fundy to Cape Chignecto Provincial Park in Nova Scotia. "We've had guests come who wanted to photograph the stars but were afraid to go into Fundy National Park alone at night," said the owner, William MacCallum. The park is home to black bears, coyotes and moose.

"I set one guest up right outside, and she got some great astro-shots — there's not too much light pollution here," MacCallum said.

Another completely different astrotourism experience can be had at Broadleaf Ranch, located nearby in Riverside-Albert. The ranch features wood-paneled log cabins, a mountain chalet and several glamping pods that resemble lighthouses, tipis, and even covered bridges. All are south-facing for spectacular Milky Way views. It's an astrophotographer's dream — as is the nearby Cape Enrage, photographed during my trip by legendary astro-imager Alan Dyer.

There are so many stories and experiences to tap into in New Brunswick, from the star lore of the Mi'kmaw First Nations people to night hikes that tell the story of how Black families escaped slavery by following the stars out of Maine in the 19th century.

"We could have 200 astrotourism experiences in New Brunswick, and they would all be unique," Picard said.

People of the night

For small communities on the Bay of Fundy coast, such as St. Martins, astrotourism is a no-brainer. "People here always knew they had great skies, but they didn't know what to do with them," said Elaine Shannon, vice president of the St. Martins and District Chamber of Commerce. "Now, more folks are starting to understand what this could mean."

A gateway to the Fundy Trail Provincial Park, it's known for red cliffs, caves and bird-watching, as well as its out-of-the-way location. It's also beginning to host star parties and astronomy events while promoting its dark skies.

"We have three campgrounds here where you can stargaze and a lighthouse nearby with great views, but when I searched online for photos of this area at night, there's almost nothing. No one knows about it," said Jordan Jamison, owner and operations manager at Bay of Fundy Adventures and president of the St. Martins and District Chamber of Commerce.

For astrophotographers who prioritize originality, that's gold dust. The same could be true for St. Martins, which reliably sees a lot of day-trippers.

"If 1 in 10 people take an astrotourism-themed trip, it means people staying overnight, eating in our restaurants, going on our tours — it's massive for a small place like this," Jamison said. That sentiment was echoed by Micha Fardy, executive director at Friends of Fundy in Alma, which tries to increase tourism in the area around Fundy National Park.

"Astrotourism is slow tourism — it turns day-trippers into overnight guests, especially in the off-season," she said. "But the number one thing is that the local community understands the importance of dark skies — not because it's a tourism draw, but because it's vital to the ecosystem that we live in."

A rising tide for astrotourism

Few places in Canada showcase nature's raw power like the Bay of Fundy, which moves 100 billion tons of water every day — more than all the world's rivers combined — and has a tidal range of about 52 feet (16 meters). At Hopewell Rocks, you can walk the ocean floor beneath towering "flowerpot" sea stacks at low tide and kayak among their crowns just hours later.

Before I left the province, I stopped in Moncton to witness the famous tidal bore up the Petitcodiac (which locals call the "chocolate river"). At Bore Park downtown, a low rumble marked the moment the tide reversed the river, sending a meter-high wave upstream. Heightened by the gravitational pull of a recent supermoon, it was a reminder that the moon's influence on the tides is more potent along the New Brunswick coast than anywhere else on Earth.

"Astronomy is looking at objects beyond the horizon," Picard said. "Astrotourism is about what's within the horizon."

With its dark-sky corridor, astrotourism in New Brunswick looks set to rise like its tides.

Editor's note: Travel and accommodations for this article were partially supported by Tourism New Brunswick.

Each of the Summer Triangle's three prominent stars — Vega, Deneb and Altair — belong to a different constellation in the night sky and will be among the first twinkling lights to appear as the glow of the setting sun gives way to darkness in the coming months.

The blue supergiant star Deneb can be found shining above the eastern horizon in the hours following sunset in July, forming the tail of the great swan represented by the constellation Cygnus. Vega, the brightest star in the constellation Lyra, will be visible to its upper right, forming the apex of the triangle, while Altair — the most dazzling of the three stellar bodies — will twinkle to the lower right of the pair in the constellation Aquila.

Whilst their brightness makes them fairly easy to spot with the naked eye, inexperienced stargazers may want to enlist the aid of a smartphone astronomy app to help pinpoint the locations of the stars and their constellations in the night sky.

Each evening will see the stars of the Summer Triangle embark on a lazy journey through the night sky, travelling overhead from their sunset position above the eastern horizon to end the night in the western sky as dawn breaks, hiding them from view.

Our view of the Summer Triangle will become all the more spectacular on the nights surrounding the new moon phase on July 24, at which time the bright ribbon of light from the Milky Way may be visible from dark sky areas, tumbling directly through the cosmic triangle.

Skywatchers looking to make the most of those warm summer stargazing sessions should check out our guides to the top telescopes and binoculars for exploring the wonders of the post-sunset realm. Photographers looking to upgrade their gear should also read up on the best lenses and cameras for astrophotography.

Editor's Note: If you would like to take a picture of the Summer Triangle and want to share it with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), name, comments and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Now is a great time to invest in a new camera with the Perseid meteor shower starting on July 14 and peaking on August 11, so be prepared! We have reviewed most of these models so you can trust that we are only recommending the best cameras. We have a bigger roundup on our Amazon Prime Day hub which has the best current deals across cameras, skywatching gear, drones and entertainment.

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You can get this Sony A7R IV camera on sale at Walmart for $2485.

The Sony A7R IV camera is a powerhouse of a pro-level camera, pitched at professional photographers, and it's packed with features to match. It excels at most types of photography, astrophotography included, due to its excellent low-light performance.

We think it's one of the best cameras for astrophotography and best mirrorless cameras, awarding it four and a half stars in our Sony A7R IV camera review. We called it "..an incredible camera in a class of its own," and this is the lowest price we've seen this camera at. We don't know how long this price will stick around as Amazon's own Prime Day ends tonight, so grab this one while you can.

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Sony's A7R IV mirrorless camera may be five years old but it's still an amazing powerhouse of a camera, aimed at photographers who want superb quality and performance. At $200 off, it's a no-brainer if you're planning on taking your snapping skills to the next level.

We sang its praises in our Sony A7R IV camera review and not only does it excel at astrophotography, it's perfect for studio work, landscapes and much more. It's capable of producing 61-megapixel shots in raw format, so you're all but guaranteed beautiful pictures. It also boasts customisable buttons with 100 optional functions, though that may take a little getting used to; we did find the menu slightly fiddly.

But if you're a pro photographer or an aspiring pro photographer, this is a steal at under $2500. Snap it up before it disappears along with Prime Day!

Key features: 61MP full-frame sensor, Sony E lens mount, ISO 100-32,000 range, 4K UHD 30p video, 1.4 lb (665g) weight.

Product launched: September 2019

Price history: Before today's deal, we've seen this camera drop $200 in price, but never this low. This is the cheapest seen this camera get.

Price comparison: Amazon: $2699 | Walmart: $2485

Reviews consensus: In our review of the Sony A7R IV, we praised its image quality and, in particular, we were seriously impressed with its autofocus and low-light performance. This is a brilliant camera for professionals, the only catch being that the menu system can a little unwieldy.

TechRadar: ★★★★½ | Space: ★★★★½ Toms Guide: ★★★★

Featured in guides: Best cameras, Best cameras for astrophotography, Best mirrorless cameras.

✅ Buy it if: You want a high-quality pro-level camera that delivers absolutely superb images, with the option of compressionless raw format.

❌ Don't buy it if: You're not a professional photographer. It's not just the price tag, you'll need the experience to make the most of this camera.

Check out our other guides to the best telescopes, binoculars, cameras, star projectors, drones, lego and much more.

The optics we are recommending feature in our expert buying guides that cover the best telescopes, the best binoculars, the best smart telescopes and more categories. For a full round-up of all the best deals across skywatching, cameras, technology and entertainment, check out our Amazon Prime Day hub.

Read on for our hand-picked selection of the best savings on skywatching you can still get post-Prime Day. If we know when a deal will be ending, we will tell you, but there may be some deals that have already finished.

Top post-Prime Day skywatching deals

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The Sony A7R V is on sale for $3200 at Walmart.

The Sony A7R V is our best for autofocus in our best cameras guide thanks to its AI-powered subject recognition that can attain sharp detail even during tricky shoots. It has a 61MP full-frame sensor, eight stops of in-body image stabilization (IBIS) and 8K video capability. For more deals on cameras, skywatching gear and technology, check out our Amazon Prime Day hub.

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