12 dazzling images from the 2025 Capture the Dark photography contest
“Wow. Just Wow.” This is how the astronaut Nichole “steam” Ayers described a sprite which she witnessed the international space station. The mysterious atmospheric phenomena occur above intense thunderstorms and last only milliseconds, therefore capturing it with a camera requires immense competence (and a little luck).
Photographer JJ Rao has managed to document vibrating red sprites over Derby, Australia. The superb image of Rao (view below) won the honors of first place in the photography competition Capture the Capture the Dark 2025. “Well … It happened,” wrote Rao on Instagram of his image. “I have read and heard of the Red Sprites for a few years now and I could have sweared that I had seen a couple, but it was nothing compared to this monster captured last night, which was visible very naked and very red.”
First place | Capture darkness
“Rare red sprites dancing on the tidal apartments of Australia-Western. A large sprite like this exists for 10 milliseconds, up to 40x faster than a flashing.
Credit: JJ Rao / Capture the Dark 2025 JJ Rao
More than 2,220 images of photographers in 22 countries participated in the edition of this year of the first night photography competition by Darksky International. The honors were given in 11 categories. The judgment committee included accomplished astrophotographers who selected the winners according to the composition, technical skills and membership of the Darksky principles for responsible astrophotography.
First place | Young astrophotographers
“In May, I visited Jizerka, which is located in a dark Bortle 4 area (and sometimes even reaching Bortle 3). This valley turns completely after sunset. Some scattered huts, ephemeral fog and an animated but peaceful atmosphere under the stars made this night unforgettable.”
Credit: Oldřich Špůrek / Capture the Dark 2025
Darksky International hopes that the competition can help to raise awareness of the worrying problems triggered by light pollution. “Light pollution continues to grow at an alarming rate – in addition to 10% per year worldwide – arousing critical wildlife ecosystems, threatening community well -being and decreases our vision of stars,” said society in a press release.
To see the full list of winners, visit Darksky International.
Second place | Visit the price of Tucson’s location
Credit: Kevin O’Donnell / Capture the Dark 2025
First place | Friendly lighting and design of the dark sky
“Paris is known as” City of Lights “, but after midnight, many emblematic monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and Sacred Coe are deactivated to save energy and reduce light pollution. I took advantage of the darker and less polluted sky to capture the Pleiades above the city, from a beautiful point of view in the Sèvres, just 8 km from the Tower Eiffel. ”
Credit: Gwenael Blanck / Capture the Dark 2025
First place | International places of the dark sky
“The Starlight Highway panel is certainly one of the cooler panels to find on the road, and there is a good reason for this, as you can see! The panel marks the entrance to the International Sky Aoraki Mackenzie reserve – one of the most important black sky reserves on earth.”
Credit: Tom Rae / Capture the Dark 2025
Third place | International places of the dark sky
Credit: Lucy Yunxi / Capture the Dark 2025
First place | Visit the price of the location of Utah
“Chasing Comet C / 2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-Atlas) with these two is one of my favorite memories of 2024. Although it makes photography delicate, I like to share moments under the stars with my children. They patiently waited for me to watch this comet for three consecutive nights for images. ”
Credit: Carly Stocks / Capture the Dark 2025 Carly stocks
Second place | People’s choice price
Credit: Rodrigo Guerra / Capture the Dark 2025
Second place | Observations of the deep sky
Credit: Rod Prazeres / Capture the Dark 2025
Second place | Visit the price of the location of Utah
Credit: Michelle Bragg / Capture the Dark 2025
Second place | Mobile night photograph
Credit: Jilanfeng DAI / Capture the Dark 2025
Second place | Night creatures
Credit: Will Hudson / Capture the Dark 2025
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