The 100 Best Space Photos of 2016

By Hanneke Weitering
published

Veil Nebula

Ron Brecher

Astrophotographer Ron Brecher took this image of the Veil Nebula complex from Guelph, Ontario on Sep. 21. Read the full story here.

Enchanted Rock State Park Perseid

Sergio Garcia Rill

Astrophotographer Sergio Garcia Rill captured this stunning view of a Perseid meteor with the Milky Way from Enchanted Rock State Park in Texas (an International Dark-Sky Association site) on Aug. 7 ahead of the peak of 2016 Perseid meteor shower.

Perseid meteor and Milky Way with Light Spiral Painting

Jeff Berkes

Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes sent in this edited photo of a Perseid meteor dashing through the sky to the left of the Milky Way, with an added spiral light painting. The photo was taken at Lyman Run State Park in northern Pennsylvania on the evening of Aug. 6. Read the full story here.

Perseid Meteor and the Milky Way

Jeff Berkes

Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes sent in this photo of an incredibly bright and visible Milky Way galaxy behind a Perseid meteor over an observation dome at Cherry Spring State Park in northern Pennsylvania on the morning of Aug. 8. Read the full story here.

Perseid Fireball

Chris Sheridan

Astrophotographer Chris Sheridan took this image of a Perseid fireball from Kerr Lake on the North Carolina – Virginia border on Friday, Aug. 12. Read the full story here.

Dawn at La Silla Observatory

ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)

The sun rises at La Silla Observatory, on the outskirts of the Chilean Atacama Desert. Image released March 14.

International Space Station and the Milky Way

Hammad Iqbal | Hammad Iqbal Photography

Astrophotographer Hammad Iqbal took this image of a perfectly parallel pass of the ISS to the Milky Way from Doha, Qatar on May 6. Read the full story here.

Taurid Meteors from Assateague National Seashore

Jeff Berkes

Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes took this image from Assateague Island National Seashore along the eastern shores of Maryland on Nov. 5. Read the full story here.

Highland Lighthouse 360

Manish Mamtani

Astrophotographer Manish Mamtani created this unusual image of Highland Lighthouse in Cape Cod from 4 fish-eye lens images taken on March 12. Read the full story here.

Crown Aurora

Aaron D. Priest

Photographer Aaron Priest captured this stunning crown-shaped aurora borealis shining over Maine on Sept.1, 2016.

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Hanneke Weitering
Hanneke Weitering
Contributing expert

Hanneke Weitering is a multimedia journalist in the Pacific Northwest reporting on the future of aviation at FutureFlight.aero and Aviation International News and was previously the Editor for Spaceflight and Astronomy news here at Space.com. As an editor with over 10 years of experience in science journalism she has previously written for Scholastic Classroom Magazines, MedPage Today and The Joint Institute for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After studying physics at the University of Tennessee in her hometown of Knoxville, she earned her graduate degree in Science, Health and Environmental Reporting (SHERP) from New York University. Hanneke joined the Space.com team in 2016 as a staff writer and producer, covering topics including spaceflight and astronomy. She currently lives in Seattle, home of the Space Needle, with her cat and two snakes. In her spare time, Hanneke enjoys exploring the Rocky Mountains, basking in nature and looking for dark skies to gaze at the cosmos.