Best Astrophotos Of The Week: See The Sun, Perseids, And Great Orion As Never Before! [12-19 August]

What does the mid-August have in-store for space enthusiasts? As always, last week was remarkable in terms of astrophotography, so welcome to our collection of the best astrophotos of the week! In it, you will find several celestial wonders: from Aurora to Great Orion, from the iconic Perseids to the unusual perspective of our closest star.

Aurora Over US

Auroras were the central focus of several amazing photos last week. Kitty Schwanitz took this one in Sherod Park, Vermilion, Ohio.

Sun: Unusual Perspective

“Solar photography from Driftless Skies Observatory in southwestern Wisconsin from 8-8-24. Here are a few more I shot the other day, the author has written. “I captured a few more prominences in CaK (ultraviolet). It’s pretty interesting they show up in CaK. The full disk images are 24-panel mosaics. The large suns spot shows a lot of detail in CaK! Technical details: Lunt LS100MT telescope, hydrogen alpha shot with the single stake etalon and the CaK images shot with the single stack etalon removed and using the Antlia Solar Discover 5A filter, Teleview 5X Powermate, ZWO ASI432MM camera, processed with Autostakkert4, IMPPG, PTGui Pro and Photoshop. Enjoy!”

An NGC 7380 Cluster Of Stars

“NGC 7380 is a young open cluster of stars in the northern circumpolar constellation of Cepheus, discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. The surrounding emission nebula is colloquially known as the Wizard Nebula, which extends across an angle of 25′. The nebula is designated Sh2 142 in the 1959 Sharpless catalog. It is extremely difficult to observe visually, usually requiring very dark skies and an O-III filter. The NGC 7380 complex is located at a distance of about 8.5 light-years from the Sun, in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way,” the photographer shared.

Cosmic Chaos

“I wish I had closed the aperture down a bit…too much chaos,” the photographer commented on this astrophoto. But we absolutely love the way it looks – just cosmic chaos!

Sh2-123 – Tick Nebula

“Sh2-123 also known as Tick nebula. Skywatcher 300pds, hypercam 26c + L-extreme oag, eq8r pro
Just over 2 hours of integration @ 5min subs,” wrote the author.

Perseids And Aurora

One more Northern Lights image.

“Perseid through absolute insane aurora display ongoing,” the photographer captured it.

NGC 6820 In The Vulpecula Constellation

“NGC 6820 in SHO captured from my patio on 13 nights between June and August this year,” says the astrophotographer.

“This was shot on the EdgeHD 8 for a total integration time of about 40 hours in Mono using narrowband filters and later combined with RGB stars shot with an OSC cam.”

Wolf-Rayet Star WR134 In Cygnus

WR 134 is a Wolf-Rayet star located in the constellation Cygnus, known for its intense stellar winds and high surface temperature. This massive star is also notable for its variability in brightness.

Nebula Complex NGC 6914

“The nebula complex NGC 6914 is located at a distance of about 6,000 light-years towards the northern constellation of the Swan and the plane of our Galaxy,” the photographer told Orbital Today. “In this photograph, reddish hydrogen emission nebulae and dusty blue reflection nebulae are visible with the silhouette of dust clouds in the foreground. Ultraviolet radiation from the massive, hot and young stars of the large-scale Cygnus OB2 association ionizes the atomic hydrogen gas in the region, producing the characteristic red glow as protons and electrons recombine. The embedded stars of Cygnus OB2 also provide blue starlight that is strongly reflected from dust clouds.”

Great Orion Nebula

Another image shared with Orbital Today is the Great Orion Nebula.

“This was taken in December of 2023 and processed yesterday. The great Orion Nebula is my favorite Target and always captures the imagination for me. It was acquired using a “dwarf II” astrophotography scope,” shared the author of it.

July’s Full Moon

And finally, an image was sent to us by Nicole, whose astrophoto was part of our previous collection of the best astrophotos – the July full moon.

Thank you to all the photographers who shared their amazing images for our best astrophotos of last week’s list! We greatly appreciate your dedication and passion for astrophotography and wish you clear skies for your future captures!