This Week In Photos: Northern Lights, Solar Eclipse, And Comet ATLAS [30 September-8 October]

The first week of October has passed, and it’s time for our fresh collection of the best astrophotos of the week made by amateur photographers. What did we see in the night sky during this week?

Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) was a prominent celestial guest, resulting in several stunning astrophotos. The anticipated annular solar eclipse with its “Ring of Fire” was a great spectacle as well. Also, a massive solar flare produced another geomagnetic storm, resulting in amazing Northern Lights worldwide. Finally, the Venus-Moon conjunction occurred, wowing viewers across the globe. Scroll the article down to see them all!

Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) By Bray Falls

This stunning shot highlights the vibrant tail of Comet ATLAS in the dark Namibian sky.

“Comet atlas as seen from Namibia a couple days ago! Captured with my remote observatory using a 135mm lens,” Bray Falls shared on his X account.

Annular Solar Eclipse By Yuri Beletsky

This astrophoto shows the annular solar eclipse as seen from Easter Island in the South Pacific.

“The view was absolutely stunning!!!” the author, Yuri, wrote on X. “We were so lucky with the weather, and we managed to see all phases. The sky got slightly darker, but not as dark as it gets during a total eclipse. Amazing experience.”

Northern Lights Over Canada By Jean-Guy Willman

An awe-inspiring display of vibrant colours dancing across the Canadian sky!

“Beautiful Aurora, taken Sunday Oct 6th/2024 in Woodridge, MB Canada,” photographer wrote on his Facebook.

“Never seen them quite like this before,” added Jean-Guy Willman.

“Red Pillars Dance” By Nathan Barker

This striking image captures the rare and vivid red aurora pillars swaying across the dark sky. An inspiring spectacle!

“Red Pillars dance in the Sunday night sky. Taken: West Perth, Ontario 🇨🇦,” the author captioned his shot.

Northern Lights Over Minnesota By Melanie Metz

“Wow! The Northern Lights finally showed up tonight in Minnesota!” Melanie Metz shared via her X page. “This old building, partially illuminated by an approaching car, made a cool foreground. Dayton, MN 10/6/24.”

Northern Lights By “One Man & His Nikon”

Another great shot of Aurora and a man watching it at all its glory. A reminder of how small we are in this wonderful world.

Northern Lights Over Northern Germany By “Benjameme”

This red Northern Lights lit up the skies of northern Germany, offering a rare and spectacular view, as seen through the astrophotographer’s lens.

Northern Lights As Seen From Space

A special delight is this amazing image of the Northern Lights as seen from the International Space station (ISS)!

“270 miles above the Indian Ocean, Expedition 71 astronauts aboard the @Space_Station captured photos of beautiful green and red auroras dancing through the Earth’s atmosphere,” NASA’s Johnson Space Center shared via X.

Sun’s Activity By Dawid Glawdzin

The next three astrophotos show us the reason of the Northern Lights appearance in October sky: the massive solar flare at the beginning of the month.

This first one depicts the Sun’s activity on the 5th October, captured by Dawid Glawdzin.

Solar Flare By Sven Wischmann

These two photos highlight our Sun with huge prominence, also on 5th October.

This one by Sven Wischmann is especially striking thanks to a contrast of the dark sun and a bright flare!

Moon And Venus By Jasmine

Here is the Moon-Venus conjunction, an astronomical event where the Moon and Venus appear very close together in the night sky.This one occurred on 6th October, as Venus appeared near the bright crescent Moon in the early evening sky.

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! All captures kept original.