The 2026 Astrophotography Prize has announced its winners, showcasing some truly remarkable images of the night sky.

Congratulations to this year’s category winners:

• Astro Landscape: Evan McKay, New Zealand
• Aurora: Jason Perry, Australia
• Deep Space: Marzena Rogozińska, Poland
• Remote Imaging: Alpha Zhang, China

Special congratulations also go to Evan McKay of New Zealand, the 2026 overall winner, and Brian Puhl of the USA, winner of the 2026 Gateway Award.

The winning images, medal recipients and other awarded entries are now available to explore on the competition website. They offer a wonderful look at the creativity, patience and technical skill behind modern astrophotography.

My 2026 competition entry

I was also pleased to take part in this year’s competition, entering the Deep Space category with my photograph of the Orion Nebula, or M42.

The Orion Nebula is a stellar nursery in Orion where new stars are actively forming. Its bright Trapezium Cluster illuminates the surrounding clouds of gas and dust, creating one of the most recognizable and fascinating deep-sky subjects.

I captured this image from my backyard observatory in Mill Valley, California, using a Celestron Origin Mark II Telescope. The photograph was created from 12 ten-second exposures, for a total integration time of two minutes.

Although my entry did not receive an award, I was encouraged by the judges’ feedback. They described it as a promising first target and noted that the telescope had captured the overall shape of the nebula in a very short time. Their suggestions about framing, exposure time, colour balance and processing have given me plenty to work on in future images.

I’m happy to share the photograph here as part of my own astrophotography journey. Competitions like this are valuable opportunities to learn, improve and celebrate the work of photographers around the world.

Congratulations again to all the 2026 winners and participants. I’m looking forward to spending more time under the stars and continuing to develop my astrophotography.