With the successful completion of NASA’s Artemis II mission this month, a remarkable visual record of the journey was beamed back to Earth.
As with Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope, images of the cosmos have a rare power: they can move us, inspire awe, and expand our imagination. And while science is often framed as the domain of logic, for many scientists and researchers it is also about emotion.
Physicist and science communicator Professor Brian Cox often returns to awe as a central force in scientific discovery. As he puts it:
“Follow the light and we can journey from the confines of our planet to other worlds that orbit the Sun without ever dreaming of spacecraft. To look up is to look back in time, because the because the ancient beams of light are messengers from the Universe's distant past.”
Awe isn’t simply a fleeting feeling it is a spark that keeps researchers asking better questions. It’s also an emotion with effects that reach beyond the laboratory. Research published by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley highlights how experiences of awe can be linked with improved well-being, a sense of expanded time, and more pro-social behaviour.
And perhaps that is why astro photography matter so much. It changes our perspective.
It is in that same spirit of inviting people to pause, look up, and encounter the extraordinary that the Reach for the Stars Astrophotography Competition now marks its sixth anniversary.
Organised this year by the School of Cosmic Physics at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) and sponsored by MKC Communications, The Irish Times and The Astronomical Observatories of Ireland, Reach for the Stars aims to find the best astro photographs taken in Ireland between June 2025 and May 2026. Shortlisted entrants will be announced in late June, and the public will be invited to vote for their favourite to win the People’s Choice category.
Whether you are a seasoned astrophotographer or capturing the sky for the first time with your smartphone, the invitation is simple: step outside, look up, and share the moments that remind us how awe inspiring our night sky truly is.
Competition guidelines and the entry form are available at: www.reachforthestars.ie
