The 100 Most Amazing Space Photos of 2017

Milky Way Arcs Above Death Valley

Miguel Claro

From eclipses to comets and auroras, there were plenty of amazing celestial sights for skywatchers to catch this year. Check out some of the best photos taken by Space.com readers in 2017 in this year-end gallery. HERE: The arc of the Milky Way lights up the sky over Zabriskie Point in California's Death Valley National Park in a panoramic photograph captured by veteran astrophotographer Miguel Claro.

[Read more]

Deep Blue and Bright Pink Lights

Hunter Davis

Astrophotographer Hunter Davis captured this view of the Milky Way and southern lights at the South Pole.

[Read more]

'Diamond Ring' Over Oregon

Peter S. Robbins

Photographer Peter Robbins captured this incredible view of the sun peeking out from behind the moon just as totality came to an end in Oregon on Aug. 21. Robbins photographed the eclipse from Ochoco National Forest using a Nikon D7200 camera. To capture the "diamond ring effect" with a brilliant burst of light, he set used a tiny aperture setting of f32.

[See more photos.]

Moonbow under the Aurora by Petricca

Giuseppe Petricca

A double moonbow meets the northern lights under starry skies in this photo by astrophotographer Giuseppe Petricca.

[Read more]

Geminid Meteor Over Alaska

Matt Skinner/Lights Out Photography

A gorgeous, green meteor flies toward the northern lights in this stunning image by astrophotographer Matthew Skinner. He captured the meteor over a mountain range near Palmer, Alaska just after midnight on Dec. 14, when the Geminid meteor shower was at its peak. To the left of the meteor, a lime-green aurora peeks out from the top of the mountain range. [The 2017 Geminid Meteor Shower: Amazing Photos by Stargazers]

Starry Sky over Denmark

Ruslan Merzlyakov | RMS Photography

A shimmering sky of stars dances above skywatcher Ruslan Merzlyakov in this stunning image taken on Jan. 20, 2017 in Stenbjerg, Denmark.

[Read more]

Comet 41P & NGC 3198

Chris Schur/www.schursastrophotography.com

Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacombini-Kresák zooms past the barred spiral galaxy NGC 3198 in this photo taken by astrophotographer Chris Schur on March 14. At the time, the glowing, green comet was about 16 million miles (25 million kilometers) from Earth. This "April Fool's Day Comet" will make its closest approach on April 1, passing within 13.7 million miles (22 million km) of the Earth. NGC 3198, also known as Herschel 146, may appear close by, but it lies 47 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.

[Read more]

Venus Lights Up the Night Sky Over Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland

Miguel Claro

The bright planet Venus reflects off the ocean surface and illuminates the evening sky at the Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland in this photo by Miguel Claro.

[Read more]

Iridium Flare Over Maine

Charles Cormier Photography

Astrophotographer Charles Cormier unexpectedly captured this Iridium flare in the night sky over Limerick, Maine. These short bursts of light happen when sunlight reflects from Iridium communications satellites that orbit the Earth.

[See more photos.]

Northern Lights from Denmark

Ruslan Merzlyakov | RMS Photography

Astrophotographer Ruslan Merzlyakov took this image over Feggesund, Mors island, Denmark on April 22.

[Read more]

Reflection of the Milky Way

Chirag Upreti

Stars of the Milky Way reflect off of California's Lake Sabrina in this image by astrophotographer Chirag Upreti. To the left, a meteor streaks over a snow-capped mountain peak of the Eastern Sierra.

[See more photos.]

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

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.