Best Astrophotos Of The Week: Starlink “Train”, Jupiter, and SpaceX 400th Launch [29 Oct-4 Nov]

The week of 29 October to 4 November dazzled us with captivating new views of space. These astrophotos feature some unforgettable moments in both natural and human-made space phenomena.

This week’s highlights include a mesmerizing “train” of Starlink satellites crossing the sky, the ghostly Shark Nebula, SpaceX’s landmark 400th launch, and other incredible shots. Join us as we explore the beauty and diversity of the universe through the stunning best astrophotos of the week!

Crescent Moon And Spica Star

Diana “@onlybeci posted a charming image of a Crescent Moon and the Spica Star.

“An evening walk under a beautiful Crescent Moon and Spica during #MoonHour.

My #MoonSnap of a crescent moon with Spica above after sunset does no justice to how beautiful the evening was with clear skies freckled with stars and a slight cold that brought the feeling of winter,” she wrote on her X.

Jupiter And Its Moon Europa

Christian Fröschlin shared an impressive clear astrophoto of the planet Jupiter and its moon Europa. “Meanwhile, on #Jupiter: Start of Europa shadow transit. 500 x 25 ms RGB in Celestron 8″ + 3x barlow + ADC,” the photographer wrote on Facebook.

Starlink “Train”

This stunning photo by Kieron Vernon shows a series of bright dots forming a straight line in the night sky – a sighting of a group of Starlink satellites. Starlink satellites, launched by SpaceX, often appear in a “train” formation shortly after they are deployed, creating a line of bright lights that move across the sky. This phenomenon can be striking and is commonly seen shortly after a launch when the satellites are still close together in orbit.

Double Rainbow

Dr Andrew Dzambo shared a great shot of a rare double rainbow on his X account. A double rainbow is a natural event when sunlight shines through raindrops in the air, creating two colourful arcs in the sky. The inner arc is the brightest and shows the usual rainbow colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet (ROYGBIV). The outer arc is usually fainter and has its colours in reverse order, starting with violet on the outside and red on the inside.

Double rainbows don’t happen often, but they’re not extremely rare. For a double rainbow to appear, certain conditions are needed: there must be both sunlight and rain simultaneously, and the sunlight has to hit the raindrops at a precise angle.

Orion Nebula By Hubble

“Take a deep breath and gaze into the Orion Nebula,” NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory wrote on their X.

“Data from @NASAHubble and NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope create this swirling composite image that shows baby stars within the cosmic cloud.”

Shark Nebula

Another beautiful astrophoto by Cody Davis’ features Ldn 1235 – the Shark Nebula.

“This is the hardest and dimmest object in the night sky that I have ever imaged in 4 years. I took a series of exposures from a Dark Sky Sight In Florida for the first time,” the author wrote on his X account.

SpaceX 400th Successful Falcon Launch

The next two astrophotos are truly outstanding and historic, as they show the Falcon 9 launching Dragon to the International Space Station (ISS), completing our 400th successful Falcon launch!

An incredible view of a cloud of illuminated gases and particles from the exhaust of the SpaceX Falcon rocket after its launch.

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!