Exhibition

The results are out! View the winners of the 2026 competition along with other highly commended entries below.

Visit the exhibition at DIAS HQ, 10 Burlington Road, Dublin 4 for a limited time!

Night Sky in Your Hand Winner

Ekaterina Moskovskova

As Above, So Below

Photographer:

Ekaterina Moskovskova

Title:

“As Above, So Below”

Location:

Connemara, Co. Galway

Category:

Night Sky in Your Hand

Information:

After noticing the aurora above their home the photographer immediately drove to Renvyle Beach hoping for a clear northern horizon. The mirrored silhouettes in the image echo the shape of the constellation Cassiopeia above them in the sky.

Phone: Apple iPhone 15 Pro

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Back on Earth Winner

Babu Mon Melethil Gopinathan Pillai

Celestial Coast

Photographer:

Babu Mon Melethil Gopinathan Pillai

Title:

“Celestial Coast”

Location:

Copper Coast, Co. Waterford

Category:

Back on Earth

Information:

The photographer captured the Milky Way above rare bioluminescent waves along the Copper Coast. The image reflects a fleeting harmony between the ocean and cosmos - a landscape where science, chance, and beauty align.

Camera: Sony A7R III.
Focal Length: 24mm.
F-stop: f/2.2.
ISO: 3200.
Exposure: 16 x 5 seconds.

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Out of this World Winner

John Walsh

Horsehead & Flame Nebulae

Photographer:

John Walsh

Title:

“Horsehead & Flame Nebulae”

Location:

Sallins, Co. Kildare

Category:

Out of this World

Information:

The photographer celebrated the acquisition of their new camera in Sallins by capturing the black silhouette of the Horsehead Nebula. It is a striking astronomical object set against a sea of red hydrogen alpha and surrounded by blue and yellow reflection nebulae.

Telescope: Sky-Watcher Explorer 150PDS
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC Pro
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Exposure: 11 hours 23 minutes

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Public Vote Winner

Karthik Swaminathan

12 panel mosaic moon

Photographer:

Karthik Swaminathan

Title:

“12 panel mosaic moon”

Location:

Dublin City University

Category:

Out of this World

Information:

The photographer took this image of the Moon using planetary imaging techniques at Dublin City University. The cold weather of a November night helped provide stable conditions and clearer air for a strikingly bright image of our nearest neighbour.

Telescope: Sky-Watcher GoTo 8-inch Dobsonian
Camera: ZWO ASI662MC
Mount: GoTo Tracking Mount

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Back on Earth Runner Up

Tom O'Donoghue

Copper Coast Milky Way

Photographer:

Tom O'Donoghue

Title:

“Copper Coast Milky Way”

Location:

Copper Coast, Co. Waterford

Category:

Back on Earth

Information:

The photographer was blessed with clear skies on the last night of the "Milky Way season" along the Copper Coast. The Milky Way lined up perfectly between the two prominent rocks in the image, with the foreground taken at high tide during blue hour.

Camera: Canon EOS Ra
Focal Length: 24mm
F-stop: f/2.8
ISO: 1600
Exposure: 24 minutes of 3 minute tracked sky + 30-second foreground

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Back on Earth Runner Up

Matthew Kelly

Milkyway Beach

Photographer:

Matthew Kelly

Title:

“Milkyway Beach”

Location:

Copper Coast, Co. Waterford

Category:

Back on Earth

Information:

Ballydwan Beach is a remote, horseshoe-shaped cove on Waterford's rugged Copper Coast. The photographer captured the Milky Way over calm waters on a clear spring evening.

Camera: Nikon Z6II
Focal Length: 16mm
F-stop: f/1.8
ISO: 3200
Exposure: 12 x 13 seconds

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Out of this World Runner Up

Anthony Lynch

Comet R3 Panstarrs

Photographer:

Anthony Lynch

Title:

“Comet R3 Panstarrs”

Location:

Portrane, Co. Dublin

Category:

Out of this World

Information:

The photographer only had a few days of this comet being visible in Irish night skies, some of which were cloudy! Luckily the skies parted over the cliffs at Portrane one evening and the photographer caught it on camera in the constellation of Pegasus.

Telescope: Seestar S30
Exposure: 24 minutes x 10 seconds

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Out of this World Runner Up

David Mackie

A Bubble in Outer Space

Photographer:

David Mackie

Title:

“A Bubble in Outer Space”

Location:

East Galway

Category:

Out of this World

Information:

The Bubble Nebula looks like a glowing soap bubble hanging in space: a bright, round shell of gas with a hot star sitting off-center inside it. The photographer captured this still-growing nebula over 10,000 light-years from Earth in East Galway.

Telescope: Meade LX200 8"
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MC
Exposure: 10 hours

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Joe Silke

Aurora over Dooras Inlet

Photographer:

Joe Silke

Title:

“Aurora over Dooras Inlet”

Location:

Dooras, Co Galway

Category:

Night Sky in Your Hand

Information:

The image was captured at the roadside of the inlet when the photographer suddenly spotted an intense green glow of the aurora above. The sight forced the photographer to stop in their tracks and simply react to what nature offered in that instant.

Phone: Apple iPhone 16

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Martin McCormack

Cosmic California Dreaming

Photographer:

Martin McCormack

Title:

“Cosmic California Dreaming”

Location:

Glasnevin, Dublin

Category:

Out of this World

Information:

This image taken from Glasnevin captures the essence of “California Dreaming”, where cosmic tides and ultraviolet winds sculpt an ever-changing landscape of light and dust in the California Nebula over 1,000 light-years away in the constellation of Perseus.

Telescope: Askar FRA400
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
Mount: Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro
Exposure: 27 hours 45 minutes

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Ian McMichael

Galactic boathouse

Photographer:

Ian McMichael

Title:

“Galactic boathouse”

Location:

Castle Ward, Co. Down

Category:

Back on Earth

Information:

The photographer walked past this boathouse many times before they finally decided to capture it. They waited for a spring evening when the Milky Way arched over the boathouse and were also lucky to catch a touch of the aurora at the far end of it!

Camera: Sony A7R IV
Focal Length: 20mm
F-stop: f/2
ISO: 3200 sky + 1250 foreground
Exposure: 13-second sky + 30-second foreground

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Goran Loncar

Gap of Dunloe

Photographer:

Goran Loncar

Title:

“Gap of Dunloe”

Location:

Co. Kerry

Category:

Back on Earth

Information:

The Gap of Dunloe, a glacier-carved mountain pass, was the perfect location to capture the Orion constellation above this old house. This had been in the photographer's plan for a long time and this year finally everything came together!

Camera: Canon R6 and 6D
Focal Length: 16mm
F-stop: f/4
ISO: 1200 sky + 2500 foreground
Exposure: 12 × 4-minute sky + 5-minute foreground

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Paul Fetherstonhaugh

Heart Nebula IC1805

Photographer:

Paul Fetherstonhaugh

Title:

“Heart Nebula IC1805”

Location:

Mountrath, Co. Laois

Category:

Out of this World

Information:

The Heart Nebula is a sprawling emission nebula located some 7,500 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. The photographer captured the enormous structure of glowing gas and dark dust clouds in Mountrath.

Camera: Nikon D810a
Mount: ZWO AM3
Exposure: 60 x 60 seconds

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Ekaterina Moskovskova

Home Beneath the Milky Way

Photographer:

Ekaterina Moskovskova

Title:

“Home Beneath the Milky Way”

Location:

Connemara, Co. Galway

Category:

Night Sky in Your Hand

Information:

The photographer was inspired by the efforts of the Connemara Dark Skies group to protect the natural beauty of the night. During a meteor shower they captured this example of how small choices of warm lighting and shaded windows can preserve the stars above us.

Phone: Apple iPhone 15 Pro

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Liam Reddall

Rathdrum Viaduct

Photographer:

Liam Reddall

Title:

“Rathdrum Viaduct”

Location:

Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow

Category:

Back on Earth

Information:

The photographer commemorated their recent move to Rathdrum by capturing star trails centred on Polaris above the town's Viaduct. The bridge was illuminated and a fisheye lens was utilised to convey a sense of the scale of the structure.

Camera: Nikon Z8
Focal Length: 11mm
F-stop: f/2.8
ISO: 800 sky + 3200 foreground
Exposure: 105 x 60-second sky + 10-second foreground

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Enda O'Loughlin

Reflections of the Night

Photographer:

Enda O'Loughlin

Title:

“Reflections of the Night”

Location:

Kinvara, Co. Galway

Category:

Night Sky in Your Hand

Information:

The photographer was lucky enough to find a rare evening of clear skies in the depths of the Irish winter. They captured the beautiful reds and greens of the aurora borealis over Traught Beach in Kinvara that was even visible to the naked eye that night.

Phone: Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Aoife Hester

Where the Moon Meets the Stacks

Photographer:

Aoife Hester

Title:

“Where the Moon Meets the Stacks”

Location:

Sandymount, Dublin

Category:

Night Sky in Your Hand

Information:

This image took the photographer by surprise after an unplanned stop on their journey home. Following their intuition it was perfect timing to capture the moon rising in clear skies behind the iconic Poolbeg chimney stacks in Dublin city.

Phone: Huawei P30 Pro

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image

Babu Mon Melethil Gopinathan Pillai

Whispers Over Bective

Photographer:

Babu Mon Melethil Gopinathan Pillai

Title:

“Whispers Over Bective”

Location:

Bective Abbey, Co. Meath

Category:

Back on Earth

Information:

Bective Abbey is a remarkably well-preserved Cistercian monastery dating back to the 12th century. Under a sky dusted with stars, the ruins of Abbey emerge through a veil of mist in the image, capturing the stillness of the Irish countryside.

Camera: Sony A7R III
Focal Length: 24mm
F-stop: f/2.2 sky + f/4 foreground
ISO: 400 sky + 1600 foreground
Exposure: 12 x 1-minute sky + 6 x 1-minute foreground

Share this entry:

VOTE FOR THIS ENTRY View Full Size Image