{"id":77753,"date":"2025-08-18T15:55:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T15:55:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/77753\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T15:55:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T15:55:14","slug":"winners-of-capture-the-dark-2025-photo-contest-show-why-dark-skies-are-worth-protecting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/77753\/","title":{"rendered":"Winners of Capture the Dark 2025 Photo Contest Show Why Dark Skies Are Worth Protecting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

DarkSky International announced the winners of its fifth annual Capture the Dark photography contest<\/a>. Winners across eight main categories showcase the best in astrophotography and demonstrate why it is vital to protect dark skies worldwide. <\/p>\n

The 2025 DarkSky Capture the Dark photo competition features eight main categories: Capture the Dark, International Dark Sky Places, Dark Sky Friendly Lighting and Design, The Impact of Light Pollution, Creatures of the Night (flora and fauna), Deep Sky Observations, Mobile Nighttime Photography, and Young Astrophotographers.<\/p>\n

Capture the Dark <\/p>\n

JJ Rao\u2019s winning image, \u201cThe Watchers,\u201d shows rare red sprites dancing in the night sky over tidal flats in Western Australia. <\/p>\n

\"A\u2018The Watchers\u2019 by JJ Rao | Capture the Dark 2025 <\/p>\n

\u201cA large sprite like this exists for 10 milliseconds, up to 40x faster than an eye blink. This makes photographing them challenging and requires very dark skies,\u201d explains the photographer, Rao. \u201cThe central sprite is unusual. It\u2019s known as a \u2018jellyfish\u2019 sprite, the largest and fastest of all sprites.\u201d <\/p>\n

International Dark Sky Places <\/p>\n

\u201cStarlight Highway\u201d by Tom Rae took top honors in the International Dark Sky Places category. This fantastic shot shows the iconic \u201cStarlight Highway\u201d sign that welcomes visitors to the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve, which Rae describes as \u201cone of the most significant dark sky reserves on Earth.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"A\u2018Starlight Highway\u2019 by Tom Rae | Capture the Dark 2025 Dark Sky Friendly Lighting and Design <\/p>\n

While Paris is known as the \u201cCity of Lights,\u201d photographer Gwenael Blanck notes that after midnight, many of the city\u2019s iconic, illuminated landmarks shut off to conserve energy and reduce light pollution. Blanck took full advantage of this to capture this wonderful night photo of Paris. <\/p>\n

\"Pre-dawn\u2018Paris, Asleep In The Pre-Dawn Hours\u2019 by Gwenael Blanck | Capture the Dark 2025 The Impact of Light Pollution <\/p>\n

Ambre de l\u2019AIPe\u2019s winning photo, \u201cRequiem for a Dream,\u201d shows how significant light pollution can affect iconic French landscapes. This image from the northern Alps in France shows the lights shining up from the town of Chamonix, illuminating the mountain summit. <\/p>\n

\"Snowy\u2018Requiem for a Dream\u2019 by Ambre de l\u2019AIPe | Capture the Dark 2025 Creatures of the Night <\/p>\n

Oscar Leonardo Chavez Torres\u2019 nighttime portrait of a scorpion shows psychedelic colors, the Milky Way, and defocused stars in Mexico. <\/p>\n

\"A\u2018Scorpion and Scorpio\u2019 by Oscar Leonardo Chavez Torres | Capture the Dark 2025<\/p>\n

\u201cScorpions use the darkness to hunt in the desert, these organisms thrive in the dark nights of the desert, and even the moon can be enough light to drop their activity,\u201d Torres explains. <\/p>\n

Deep Sky Observations <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the most breathtaking nebula I\u2019ve ever captured. The Vela Supernova Remnant is a target that no astrophotographer should miss in a lifetime. A four-panel mosaic covers the primary emission signals of the nebula. The OIII outer shell wraps around the ionized Ha and SII, forming a complex, layered structure that is beyond words,\u201d says photographer Alpha Zhang of his award-winning image, \u201cBreathing Vela Supernova Remnant Mosaic.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"A\u2018Breathing Vela Supernova Remnant Mosaic\u2019 by Alpha Zhang | Capture the Dark 2025 <\/p>\n

The astrophotographer exposed for 109 total hours to capture this brilliant deep space scene. <\/p>\n

Mobile Nighttime Photography <\/p>\n

Sadeq Hayati captured this colorful aurora nightscape in Iceland using his Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Smartphone camera technology has sure come a long way in recent years. <\/p>\n

\"A\u2018A Gateway to the Universe\u2019 by Sadeq Hayati | Capture the Dark 2025 Young Astrophotographers <\/p>\n

Budding photographer Old\u0159ich \u0160p\u016frek captured this love panoramic scene in Jizerka, Czech Republic, using a modified Canon 6D DSLR and Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 prime lens. <\/p>\n

\"A\u2018Gems of Jizerka\u2019 by Old\u0159ich \u0160p\u016frek | Capture the Dark 2025 More From Capture the Dark \"A\u2018Celestial Dance Over Lupine Fields\u2019 by Lucy Yunxi, Third Place, International Dark Sky Places | Capture the Dark 2025 <\/p>\n

The top three photos from each category, plus the special category winners, are available on the DarkSky.org website<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Image credits: DarkSky.org, 2025 Capture the Dark Photo Contest. All photographers are credited in the individual image captions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DarkSky International announced the winners of its fifth annual Capture the Dark photography contest. Winners across eight main…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,59514,64,63,59515,22279,5428,59516,460,134,36750,59517,59518,285,13093,1974],"class_list":{"0":"post-77753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-astro","12":"tag-au","13":"tag-australia","14":"tag-capturethedark","15":"tag-competition","16":"tag-contest","17":"tag-darkskyinternational","18":"tag-design","19":"tag-entertainment","20":"tag-galaxies","21":"tag-nightsky","22":"tag-photocontest","23":"tag-space","24":"tag-spotlight","25":"tag-stars"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}