101 Best Night Sky Photos of 2014 by Stargazers

Sunspots, Real and Fake

Michael Sanders

This amazing photo of an airplane passing in front of the sun while a giant sunspot crosses the star's face was captured by photographer Michael Sanders in Bangkok, Thailand. It was featured on Space.com on Dec. 1, 2014. Read the full story behind the photo here.

Amazing Andromeda

Miguel Claro/www.miguelclaro.com

Astrophotgrapher Miguel Clara turned his sights on the Andromeda Galaxy on July 27, 2014 to capture this view from Monsaraz in the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve located near Alentejo, Portugal. See how Claro made the photo without a telescope here.

Mars and Nebulas

Derek Demeter/Seminole State College

Amateur astronomer Derek Demeter captured this stunning view of Mars (red orb at center) below two pink nebulas as seen from the Stardust Ranch in Okeechobee, Florida. See how Demeter made the images in this full story.

Serene Big Dipper

John Ashley

The northern lights and stars of the Big Dipper glow over Glacier National Park in Montana as a meteor streaks overheard in this amazing view from photographer John Ashley on Oct. 20, 2014. Read how Ashley made the image here.

Windmill

Sean Parker | www.sean-parker.com

This photo, featured on Space.com on Jan. 6, 2014, offers a panoramic view of the Milky Way as seen over a windmill by amateur astronomy Sean Parker in Paulden, Arizona. Jupiter, the bright star Sirius and Orion constellation are also visible. See how Parker created this stunning photo here.

Fireflies and Stars

Matt Pollock

Dancing fireflies light up the night as they flitter under a star-filled sky in this long-exposure view from photographer Matt pollock of Brunswick, New York. The photo, featured on May 19, 2014, was actually captured in 2013. See how Pollock captured the image here.

Rare Venus Daytime Crescent

Chris Shur www.schursastrophotography.com

This rare view of a crescent Venus in the daytime sky was captured on Jan. 18 by astrophotographer Chris Shur of Payson, Arizona. You can also see how he saw Mercury by reading our full story here.

Monster Sunspot

Giuseppe Petricca

Giuseppe Petricca of Sulmona, Italy captured this stunning view of the a monster sunspot on the sun on Jan. 7, 2014, when the sunspot was spouting off intense solar flares - the first big sun storms of the year. Read the full story behind this photo here.

Pac-man (Nebula) Fever

Steve Coates | www.CoatesAstrophotography.com

Wokka wokka wokka: The insatiable Pac-man Nebula appears to chomping through space in this image captured by amateur astronomer and photographer Steve Coates of Ocala, Florida on Jan. 20, 2014. Read the full story behind this photo here.

Meteor Rain

Manish Mamtani

The stunning Geminid meteor shower did not disappoint for observer Manish Mamtani, who captured many meteors in this composite view taken on Dec. 13 and 14, 2014. Mamtani captured the Geminids as they streaked over the Frosty Drew Observatory in Charlestown, Rhode Island. See more amazing 2014 Geminid meteor photos in our full gallery.

More reading:

This Month's Night Sky
Space.com's Skywatching Tips
Night Sky Photos: Pictures of Stars and Planets

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Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.