To photograph the Milky Way properly, it's not enough to arrive at a beautiful location with a good camera. You need to know where to go, when to head out, how to choose the right angle, and above all, be ready to wait patiently for the moment when the sky, the light, and the stars come together to create unforgettable images. The 15 photos in the article below were selected from the 2026 Milky Way Photographer of the Year competition, and they showcase the impressive results of precise work, creativity, and a lot of love for the night sky. The photographers behind these images traveled to deserts, mountain peaks, isolated beaches, and remote sites where light pollution is almost nonexistent, to give us a glimpse of a sight you simply can't see from home. Each photo captures a meeting between an earthly landscape and the vast galaxy above it, and the result is a stunning collection that reminds us the night sky is still full of beauty, for those who know where and how to look for it...
#1 "My Perfect Night" - Photo by Daniel Viñé Garcia, Location: Catamarca, Argentina
#2 "Geminid Symphony over La Palma's Sky Guardian" - Photo by Uroš Fink, Location: Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma
#3 "Aoraki / Mount Cook" - Photo by Owain Scullion, Location: Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand
#4 "The Milky Way in Sodium" - Photo by Julien Looten, Location: The Very Large Telescope, Paranal, Chile
#5 "Night at the Remarkables" - Photo by Tom Rae, Location: The Remarkables Range, Queenstown, New Zealand
#6 "Lost in the Ripples of Space and Time" - Photo by Leonel Padrón, Location: Nambung National Park, Western Australia
#7 "Perseid Meteors over Durdle Door" - Photo by Josh Dury, Location: Jurassic Coast, Dorset, England
#8 "Divinity" - Photo by Kavan Chay, Location: West Coast, New Zealand
#9 "The Milky Way over the Tatra Mountains" - Photo by ลukasz Remkowicz, Location: Jurgów, Poland
#10 "Salto del Agrio" - Photo by Alejandra Heis, Location: Salto del Agrio, Argentina
#11 "Valley of the Moon, the Triassic Universe of Ischigualasto" - Photo by Gonzalo Javier Santile, Location: Valley of the Moon, Argentina
#12 "Galaxy Panorama over the Caldera" - Photo by Max Terwindt, Location: La Palma, Canary Islands
#13 "Garden of Stars" - Photo by Luca Fornaciari, Location: The Apennine Mountains, Bologna, Italy
#14 "Standing on the Shoulders of Giants" - Photo by Nacho Peláez, Location: La Giganta, Mexico
#15 "The Milky Way over Syme Hut and Mount Taranaki" - Photo by Brendan Larsen, Location: Mount Taranaki, New Zealand
