Watch this video of some of our editors’ picks for the best deep-sky photos of June 2025, and then see more below!
Stunning deep-sky photos from our community
The EarthSky community has many talented astrophotographers who capture stunning images of the deep sky. We gathered some of our favorite deep-sky photos we received in June 2025 for you to enjoy. Do you have some of your own images to share? You can submit them to us here. We love to see them!
Deep-sky photos of diffuse nebulae
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Alessandro Casprini in Lasco di Picio, Monte Romano, Italy, captured the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex on June 21, 2025. Alessandro wrote: “This surreal shape emerges from the Rho Ophiuchi complex, nestled between the constellations Scorpius and Ophiuchus. From my observing location, it rises barely 18 to 22 degrees above the horizon.” Thank you, Alessandro!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | EarthSky’s own Marcy Curran outside Cheyenne, Wyoming, captured NGC 7023, the Iris Nebula, on June 1, 2025. Marcy wrote: “The Iris Nebula, also known as Caldwell 4, is a bright reflection nebula located in the constellation Cepheus. It’s about 1,300 light-years away. It shines at an apparent magnitude of 6.8. The Iris Nebula glows with a distinctive blue color, caused by starlight from the central star (HD 200775) reflecting off dust particles in the nebula.” Thank you, Marcy!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Tom Cofer in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, captured Messier 16, the Eagle Nebula in the constellation Serpens, on June 9, 2025. Tom wrote: “Jumping back into a nebula, finally. Eagle Nebula here. Trying out a bit of a different approach in processing.” Thank you, Tom!
More photos of diffuse nebulae
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jelieta Walinski at Desert Bloom Observatory in St. David, Arizona, captured NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula, on June 21, 2025. Jelieta wrote: “I captured the ethereal beauty of NGC 7635, a stunning emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. From the vantage point of Desert Bloom Observatory, I spent 5 hours gazing at this celestial wonder, gathering 20 exposures of 900 seconds each. NGC 7635 is a testament to the dynamic interplay between stars and their surroundings. This image is a tribute to the beauty and complexity of the universe, inviting viewers to ponder the mysteries of the cosmos.” Thank you, Jelieta!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Derrick Parsons Sr. in Chillicothe, Ohio, captured the Lagoon and Trifid nebulae on June 20, 2025. Derrick wrote: “M8 the Lagoon Nebula is at the bottom of the image, and M20 the Trifid Nebula is at the top of the image. Captured using the mosaic framing mode within the Seestar S50.” Thank you, Derrick!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | George Tzellos in Mount Parnonas, Greece, captured the Dark Shark Nebula on June 20, 2025. George wrote: “The Dark Shark lives at a distance of 650 light-years away, in the constellation Cepheus. It is made of interstellar dust and gas. And it’s one of the most difficult targets to image, mainly because it is extremely faint. I had the chance to photograph it 3 years ago but wasn’t very happy with the results. So I decided to travel again to a dark-sky location and give it a try. This is my best image so far.” Thank you, George!
Nebulae in the constellation Cygnus the Swan
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Timothy Milligan in Sarasota, Florida, captured the eastern part of the Veil Nebula in Cygnus on June 24, 2025. Timothy wrote: “This Seestar S50 Smart Scope can be as simple as point and shoot. Or you can do the full blown post processing, which I will do later with this picture. This was taken in mosaic mode to fully fit in the Eastern Veil Nebula.” Thank you, Timothy!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Robert R. Gaudet in Pennfield, New Brunswick, Canada, captured the North America Nebula on June 26, 2025. Robert wrote: “Just a beautiful night that I couldn’t pass up imaging the Cygnus Wall portion of NGC 7000 or the North America Nebula.” Thank you, Robert!
Planetary nebulae
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Steven Bellavia in Smithfield, Virginia, and Southold, New York, captured the Ring Nebula, in the constellation Lyra, on June 23, 2025. Steven’s imaging revealed: “… the outer layers of a popular favorite, the Ring Nebula, M57.” Thank you, Steven!
Deep-sky photos of exploding stars
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Stephen James O’Meara in Maun, Botswana, captured Nova Velorum 2025 (V572 Velorum) on June 26, 2025. Stephen wrote: “Another nova [visible to the unaided eye] has appeared in the southern skies in the constellation Vela, just northwest of the magnificent Eta Carinae nebula. I estimated its magnitude at 5.1. On the same night, the nova in Lupus was visible to the unaided eye at magnitude 5.7. Two 5th-magnitude novae appearing and being visible on the same night is exceptionally rare and may not have happened in recorded history.” Thank you, Stephen!
Star clusters
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Gwen Forrester in DeKalb County, Tennessee, captured the globular cluster Messier 4 with the star Antares on June 23, 2025. Gwen wrote: “Antares, the heart of the Scorpion, with globular cluster Messier 4, upper right, and the distant NGC 6144, upper middle.” Thank you, Gwen!
External galaxies
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | EarthSky’s own Marcy Curran outside Cheyenne, Wyoming, captured Messier 51, the Whirlpool galaxy, on June 20, 2025. Marcy wrote: “We finally had a clear night last night. Here’s the Whirlpool galaxy (aka M51). It’s a grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici and was the first galaxy classified as a spiral. It’s 31 million light-years away and famous for its well-defined spiral arms and its interaction with a smaller companion galaxy, NGC 5195. You can see these 2 galaxies with binoculars.” Thank you, Marcy!
Bottom line: Enjoy this gallery of deep-sky photos for June 2025 from our EarthSky community. If you have a great photo to share, send it in, too. We love to see them!
Share your recent Earth or sky photo at EarthSky Community Photos.
Armando Caussade
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About the Author:
Armando is known primarily as an astronomy educator, after 30+ years of extensive public outreach and 10 years teaching in colleges. As one of only a handful of science communicators in Puerto Rico during Comet Halley’s last visit, he assumed a pioneering role starting in 1985 when science was just beginning to enter the collective mindset. Over the years, his work as a teacher, speaker and writer, inspired people to pursue interests in science and brought enduring change to Puerto Rican culture. After being accepted into the 2014–2015 Antarctic season of PolarTREC, Armando was assigned to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, where in 2015 he successfully conducted 10 days of work at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. His affiliations include Ana G. Méndez University, Cupey campus (2014 to 2021), the University of Puerto Rico, Aguadilla campus (2015 to 2017), NASA JPL’s Solar System Ambassadors (2004 to 2006), and NASA Space Grant (2017 to 2019) where he served as an affiliate representative.
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