Best Night Sky Photos of the Week: May 31, 2014

Photographer Captures Spectacular Milky Way Vista from the Azores (Photo)

This stunning image of the Milky Way was taken from the Azores, an area with nine volcanic islands in the Atlantic Ocean near Portugal. [See how veteran photographer Miguel Claro did it. ]

We’ve Come Tufa

Astrophotographer Shreenivasan Manievannan sent in a photo of the Milky Way and Andromeda over Mono Lake, California. Manievannan writes in an email message to Space.com: “It is a single exposure photograph of the Mono Lake south tufas [limestone columns precipitating out of the water] in the night in front of Milky Way and Andromeda in the [upper] left extreme of the photo. The tufas were light painted to be visible with the reflections seen in the shallow waters.” Image submitted May 15, 2014. [See more photos.]

Springtime Comet Wows Stargazer in Amazing Telescope View (Photo)

Amateur astronomer Adam Black captured this amazing photo of Comet C/2012 K1 PanSTARRS from Arizona's Mount Lemmon SkyCenter in May 2014. [See how he did it.]

Spin, Spin

Stars appear to trail over the Paranal Observatory in northern Chile. Astrophotographer Gianluca Lombardi combined many long-exposure images to create the photograph of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and its Auxiliary Telescopes appearing blurred as they moved to different positions. Overhead, the stars seem to arc through the sky as the Earth rotates beneath. The VLT represents the European Southern Observatory's flagship facility. [See more photos.]

Blood Moon: Lunar Eclipse Phases Over Texas Capitol Building (Photo)

This amazing composite view of the total lunar eclipse of April 15 shows the stages of the moon sight as viewed over the Capitol Building in Austin, Texas. Skywatcher Mark Ezell created this composite view. [See how he did it.]