Caption: Third place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Wide star fields. This rich panoramic image shows a range of constellations, deep sky objects and planets. The brightest point of light with a pale reddish hue (left of center) is the planet Mars. In the bottom far left of the image, located just above the sloped roof of the building are two points of light appearing very close to each other, these are the planets Jupiter (brighter) and Saturn. To the far right of the image the two fuzzy cloud-like objects are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. These are satellite dwarf galaxies of the Milky Way located at a distance of approximately 160,000 and 200,000 light years, respectively. The Andromeda Galaxy, which is located at an approximate distance of 2.5 million light years, appears in this image as a small, angled smudge between Mars and the brightest glow on the horizon (closer to the horizon). The bright glow is not from the Sun or the Moon, but the city lights of San Pedro de Atacama. Prominent constellations include: Orion – identified by the three stars forming Orion’s Belt; Taurus – a small triangle shaped collection of stars to the left of Orion and identified by the pale orange star (Aldebaran) at the vertex of the triangle; Canis Major – to the bottom right of Orion, identified by the bright star Sirius (the brightest star in the night sky) and three stars in the shape of a triangle just above the observatory dome in the foreground; Pegasus – identified by the trapezium shape diagonally below Mars. Other constellations include Andromeda, Perseus and Aries. Diverse cultures around the world have their own names and rich stories associated with these constellations and many others. To the top right of Orion’s Belt is an angled line of stars (Orion’s Sword) within which is a pinkish smudge (looks like a fuzzy star when observed with the unaided eye) that is the Orion Nebula – a stellar nursery located 1500 light years from Earth – where stars are formed. To the left of Taurus is a compact fuzzy smudge, and that is the Pleiades star cluster. The variation in the colour of stars is the result of temperature of the stars, for example, the red orange star to the bottom left of Orion’s Belt is the red giant star Betelgeuse. Cooler stars appear redder, compared to the higher temperature white and bluish stars. The colours in the image are enhanced because of the higher sensitivity of the digital camera compared to the human eye.
Credit: Robert Barsa/IAU OAE

Caption: 位於智利帕瑞納山的甚大望遠鏡由四臺反射望遠鏡組成，每臺望遠鏡的主鏡直徑為8.2米。在這張照片中圖中，其中一個穹頂打開著，並向天空發射激光束。這些激光在天空中創造出“人造星”，用於調整望遠鏡的光學系統，從而消除地球大氣層引起的模糊效應，這一過程被稱為自適應光學。 在天空中，月亮被明亮的光暈圍繞。該現象是由月光在地球大氣中的冰晶內反射而形成的。
Credit: 胡安-卡洛斯-穆尼奧斯-馬特奧斯/歐空局 credit link

Caption: 夏威夷島莫納克亞山上的兩臺凱克望遠鏡。這兩臺望遠鏡是反射望遠鏡，主鏡直徑為 10 米。
Credit: 美國宇航局/JPL credit link

Caption: 環繞地球運行的 NASA/ESA 哈勃太空望遠鏡。這張照片是哥倫比亞號航天飛機上的宇航員在對太空望遠鏡本身執行完 3B 號維修任務後拍攝的。望遠鏡有一個開口，允許光線進入（在望遠鏡的左側）。光線穿過望遠鏡的光學系統，到達位於望遠鏡另一端凸起處的照相機和攝譜儀（右側）。這些儀器的數據隨後通過天線傳回地球。望遠鏡兩側的黑色矩形是為天文臺供電的太陽能電池板。
Credit: 美國宇航局/歐空局 credit link

Caption: 位於澳大利亞新南威爾士的帕克斯天文臺的64米射電望遠鏡自1963年起全面投入使用，並持續進行升級。該望遠鏡也被稱為“大碟”，由聯邦科學與工業研究組織進行管理。望遠鏡可以對準天空中的特定區域，來自該區域的射電電磁波會被巨大碟形天線反射並聚焦到焦點處的接收器上。隨後，天文學家可以對接收器收集的數據進行分析。
Credit: 戴維·麥克萊納根/聯邦科學與工業研究組織 credit link