Will Gater

@willgater

Astronomer, author, astrophotographer. Former science journalist now working in the UK space sector to promote research, exploration & innovation. willgater.com

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Will Gater@willgater· 11d

The progression of yesterday’s partial solar eclipse from Dartmoor, Devon. Captured with a small refractor telescope & DSLR combo equipped with a certified solar filter. All frames manually aligned, composited and colourised in Photoshop. #astrophotography

A montage of 21 images of the yellowy orange solar disc aligned in 3 rows of 7 showing the Moon gradually obscuring more of the disc and then slipping away. Maximum eclipse, with a very thin crescent sun, sits at the centre of the grid.

Will Gater@willgater· 12d

Amazing views of the solar eclipse this evening under near pristine skies over Dartmoor. With 95% of Sun obscured we noticed a real temp drop & the classic, eerie, dimmed light ordinarily seen just before totality. V cool to see this effect thanks to the deep nature of the partial eclipse in Devon.

A photograph taken through a specially filtered hydrogen-alpha telescope showing a thin, red, glowing crescent sun against a black backdrop.

Hundreds of crescent suns appear projected onto a piece of paper underneath a gorse bush on Dartmoor, which itself appears in shadow form in the photo.

A picture of a Dartmoor landscape with an eerie, not-quite-twilight, light associated with the 95% partially eclipse sun. Gorse bushes stretch off into the middle distance and above a pastel gradient sky changes from yellowish at the horizon to light blue above.

Will Gater@willgater· Jul 21

A busy start to day two of #FIA2026. Join the @ukspaceagency.bsky.social on our stand in the Space Zone throughout the week to find out about our programmes, missions & funding opportunities and meet teams from across government working on space.

A photo of the U.K. Space Agency stand at the Farnborough International Airshow. Crowds are gathered in front of large format images of space objects on tall back illuminated walls.

A photograph of a model of the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover on display on the U.K. Space Agency stand at FIA2026

A photograph of a 3D printed lunar descent engine on display in a Perspex cabinet. A large grey engine bell sits below a complex network of other pieces. In the background is a backlit image of the Pillars of Creation taken by the JWST.

Will Gater@willgater· Jun 26

My best shot (plus cropped version) from the overnight thunderstorms in South Devon. This storm was far away over the South Hams at the time, so this was taken with a 135mm lens. #lightning #SouthDevon

A photograph of a lightning bolt on the right hand side of the frame reaching from a cloud base (lit up by the lightning) down to a silhouette horizon with trees. Many smaller bolts can be seen branching away from the cloud deck around the main one.

A cropped photograph showing more detail in a lightning bolt and smaller surrounding lightning bolts branching out from a cloud deck illuminated by the glow of the lightning.

Will Gater@willgater· Jun 10

Heads-up Mars researchers! The @ukspaceagency.bsky.social is looking to support postdoctoral research on critical science & tech preparation for the three UK instrument contributions (Enfys, PanCam and RLS) on the Rosalind Franklin rover mission. Find out more at: www.gov.uk/government/p...

An artist’s CGI impression of the Rosalind Franklin rover exploring a Martian landscape with hills and rock outcrops in the background. Credit: ESA/Mlabspace

Will Gater@willgater· Apr 6

Loving seeing the Artemis II lunar far side photos – and Mare Orientale def the star of the show. For comparison to the crew’s ‘bird’s eye’ view, here’s a pastel sketch I did at the eyepiece in 2022 showing how tricky it is to see the Orientale basin on the limb from 🌍 (with good libration!).

A photo of a sketchbook page with a pastel pencil sketch of the edge of the Mare Orientale basin on the lunar limb. Pastel pencils appear on the image.

A scanned pastel pencil sketch of the edge of the Mare Orientale basin made at a telescope eyepiece from Earth.

Will Gater@willgater· Apr 2

Huge congrats to NASA on the launch of Artemis II. 🚀🌔 Great to see the UK playing its part too, with Goonhilly providing tracking support from the Lizard, the Airbus teams in Stevenage who developed parts of the ESM and Slough-based John Crane providing specialized components for the prop systems.👏

A photograph of the Space Launch System rocket launching against a sea and sky backdrop rising on a cloud of steam and smoke. Two large lightning towers appear in the foreground. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Will Gater@willgater· Mar 20

Orion, Sirius and the faint band of the winter Milky Way over Bonehill Rocks, Dartmoor last night.

A picture of a granular starry sky over a large outcrop of granite rock. Large boulders of weather-worn granite appear as dim silhouettes in the bottom left corner of the frame while the constellation of Orion sits above the horizon on the right. Travelling diagonally across the centre of the frame, from bottom left to top right, is the faint band of diffuse light from the winter Milky Way.

Will Gater@willgater· Mar 5

Ready for day two of Space-Comm Expo Europe! Come and visit the @ukspaceagency.bsky.social stand to speak to our programme teams and see our lightboxes highlighting some of the great space missions that the UK is at the heart of.

A photo of a 3m high light box at a conference showing a JWST NIRCam/MIRI image of the Pillars of Creation with pink, brown and white masses of swirling nebulosity against an orange and purple starry backdrop.

A photo of the U.K. Space Agency stand at Space-Comm Expo Europe showing crowds on the stand and a 3m high light box featuring a high-res Solar Orbiter image of the Sun.

A photo of a light box showing a Euclid mission image of a star forming region. Blue white, brown and yellow tendrils of gas swirl across a starry black background peppered by numerous distant galaxies.

Will Gater@willgater· Jan 22

Here’s a time series of the evolution of what I suspect are proton aurora at the edge of Monday night’s display. These were incredibly dynamic features and you can kind of see how blurred they are in these 10s exposures.

A montage of 6 photos showing bright green patches of aurora appearing and changing close to a bright band of red and green auroral curtain which occupies most of the bottom right of the frame.

Will Gater@willgater· Jan 21

Still working my way through the processing of Monday night’s aurora photos. The three wide shots were all taken with a 14mm lens on a full frame DSLR showing just how extensive the display was. #NorthernLights

A photograph of trees silhouetted by a diffuse curtain of green and red aurora.

A wide angle image of auroral curtains and ribbons appearing as red and green swathes of rippling light across a starry sky.

A wide angle view of a red and green auroral display showing rippling red and green curtains and bright red rays over a silhouetted hillside.

A wide angle view of a red and green auroral display over a silhouetted hillside. Clouds backlit by auroral light are creeping into the right hand side of the frame.

Will Gater@willgater· Jan 19

Lots of shots to go through from tonight’s incredible auroral show over Dartmoor. Here are four of my favourites so far. While the camera does see far more than the naked eye, the colours in tonight’s display were the best I’ve seen in 30 years of mid-latitude aurora watching. #NorthernLights #Devon

A photograph of rippling auroral curtains in hues of red, green and white over a silhouetted horizon which occupies a small portion of the lower frame.

A photograph of a bright and vibrant auroral curtain with red rays seen behind a scattering of backlit clouds. Silhouetted moorland hills sit at the bottom of the frame.

A photograph of a diffuse red and green auroral curtain with subtle ray structure over a misty moorland valley.

A photograph of a vibrant swathe of green and red aurora over a silhouetted moorland hillside. Clouds drifting across the middle of the frame appear silhouetted against the auroral light.

Will Gater@willgater· Jan 19

This was from a few moments ago. Over an hour now of constant naked-eye aurora and two really nice substorms which exploded across the sky. #NorthernLights #Devon

A photo of the back of a DSLR preview screen showing vibrant patches of green and red Aurora over a silhouetted landscape.

Will Gater@willgater· Jan 19

Absolutely extraordinary substorm just now with the whole northern horizon rippling with huge green ribbons and angry crimson-red rays. If you have clear skies anywhere in the UK/Europe tonight look north for further auroral substorms. #NorthernLights

A photo of the back of a DSLR screen showing the northern lights over a silhouetted horizon.

Will Gater@willgater· Jan 19

MAJOR naked-eye aurora visible through cloud gaps from Dartmoor in Devon right now. Vibrant red and green colours easily visible to the eye with direct vision. Here’s back of DSLR view from a few moments ago.

A photo of the back of a DSLR preview screen showing a photo of Aurora and clouds

Will Gater@willgater· Oct 29

So long Comet Lemmon! Here’s a moonlit shot taken from Dartmoor tonight with the tail pointing straight up from the western horizon. Blustery up on the moor, so this is just a 5 second single exposure at high ISO, hence the noise.

A photograph of a comet over a rocky tor outcrop and moorland landscape lit by moonlight. The comet appears as a fuzzy spot of light two thirds of the way up the frame with a diffuse tail extending above it into a starry moonlit sky.

Will Gater@willgater· Oct 21

Here’s a wider shot, taken with a 50mm lens, showing Comet Lemmon (along with numerous bright satellite trails) over Dartmoor tonight. #astrophotography

A photograph of a hillside in darkness with clouds billowing on the horizon and up to the centre of the frame. Above is a blueish twilight starry sky with a comet above centre. Numerous satellite trails appear as lines at various angles across the frame.

Will Gater@willgater· Oct 21

Comet C/2025 A6 glowing through thin cloud tonight over Dartmoor National Park, Devon. Single 8s exposure at ISO2500. #CometLemmon

A photo of a comet against a starry twilight background that is speckled with innumerable stars. The comet appears as a bright swathe of light in the centre of frame and is composed of a bright turquoise green-white head and two tails - one whitish and curving slightly, the other pointing straight away from the comet’s coma. A handful of brighter stars in Bootes are visible near the comet.

Will Gater@willgater· Oct 16

Lucky to get some brief glimpses of Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) from Dartmoor this evening around the end of astronomical twilight. This is a single 13s shot taken with a tracking mount at 135mm focal length. Looked great in binoculars too with a grey-green coma and short section of the tail visible.

A long exposure photograph of a starry twilight sky with the blurred silhouettes of a treeline forming the foreground along the bottom of the frame. Above on the left hand side are the bright star Cor Caroli (shining through thin cloud giving it a misty appearance) and just above it Comet Lemmon. The comet has a bright greenish coma at its head and there is a faint, white, misty tail extending far across the frame up and to the right.

Will Gater@willgater· Oct 3

Summer skies giving way to autumn as the the Great Cygnus Rift and the Milky Way dip toward the western horizon. Taken a few nights ago from Dartmoor National Park in Devon. #astrophotography

A photograph of a star filled sky over a silhouetted treeline. The trees fill the bottom third of the frame while above them the diffuse band on the Milky Way meanders through the star flecked background. A dark weaving band appears within the Milky Way - these are the dust clouds of the Great Cygnus Rift.

Will Gater@willgater· Sep 29

☀️🛰️ Last week the NASA IMAP mission launched to study the heliosphere & make crucial space weather measurements. But did you know one of the key science instruments on board was developed & built in the UK with @ukspaceagency.bsky.social funding? Find out more at: www.gov.uk/government/n...

An artist’s impression of the IMAP mission against a stylised backdrop depicting the heliosphere as a bubble on a starry purple background with the orbits of the planets at centre. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Princeton University/Steve Gribben.

A photograph of the IMAP spacecraft and the MAG magnetometer in the clean room. The spacecraft is wrapped in various insulating/protective fabrics on the left of frame in a brightly lit, white-walled space. The MAG instrument extends from the side of the spacecraft across much of the centre and left hand side of the frame. An engineer sits working in a protective white suit at the bottom of the frame. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins/Princeton/Ed Whitman

Will Gater@willgater· Sep 7

The umbral shadow slipping away as the Moon rises during tonight’s lunar eclipse. Photographed from Teignmouth, Devon. #lunareclipse

A photograph of the Moon rising over a seascape. A wave-filled horizon and a golden glitter path from the overexposed Moon fills the bottom two thirds of the frame. Above sits the Moon’s disc, itself above thin wisps of colourful clouds scattering its light. The coppery-red colour of the Earth’s umbral shadow appears on the right of the Moon’s disc while the overexposed portion of the disc on the left appears as a thick, glowing crescent.

Will Gater@willgater· Jul 10

#NoctilucentClouds last night as seen from South Devon. Haytor on Dartmoor is visible silhouetted on the horizon.

A photo of noctilucent clouds over a silhouetted landscape. The background sky has a strong twilight gradient from yellow-orange near the horizon to pastel blue at the top. The noctilucent clouds stand out as bright white-blue tendrils.

Will Gater@willgater· Jul 9

A photo of the rear screen of a DSLR showing a noctilucent cloud display over a silhouetted countryside landscape.

Will Gater@willgater· Jul 5

☄️ Analysis by UK Meteor Network experts suggests a bright fireball meteor dropped meteorites over the Scottish Highlands on Thursday night [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq8ze2vnz38o.amp]. Here’s the UK Fireball Alliance guidance on what to do if you think you’ve found a meteorite:

An infographic titled ‘What to do if you think you’ve found a meteorite’. The text reads:

First check to see if the object has a dark outer crust. If it does, it may be a meteorite. Please do not touch it with your bare hands as this may contaminate the sample. Do not touch the object with a magnet.
Next, document the location of the object. You can use Google Maps on your phone to get your longitude & latitude. Record as many decimal places as you can.
Make notes about each piece you find. Please take pictures of both the object and the area around it (ideally with a ruler in the image).
Place the object into a clean, dry sandwich bag or clean aluminium foil, ideally using clean tongs. Close & seal the bag with sellotape. Then place this bag inside another sandwich bag. Keep the sample dry.
Report the sample to the UK Fireball Alliance via www.ukfall.org.uk

Will Gater@willgater· Jun 30

Last night we had a phenomenal display of noctilucent clouds over the UK with really striking structure & masses of embedded gravity waves. Grabbed these shots from a bedroom window with a DSLR & fast 135mm lens, which has ‘frozen’ a lot of the fine, filamentary, detail in the dynamic shapes/waves.

A photo of a noctilucent cloud display over silhouetted trees and rooftops. The NLCs appear as softly glowing blueish-white waves, filaments and bands filling the whole of the sky above the foreground. The embedded gravity waves have a delicate rippling appearance and cover much of the frame.

Will Gater@willgater· Jun 10

🪐🌍🛰️🗣️ Heads-up space communicators! The UK Space Agency External Affairs team are running another of our Space Communicators Networking Breakfasts at the UK Space Conference in Manchester. 📝 If you're interested in joining, you can sign up via the form here: forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Will Gater@willgater· May 15

Great to see the new @nhm-london.bsky.social space exhibition last night. A superb exploration of the question “could life exist beyond Earth?” that takes you from our cosmic beginnings to asteroids, Mars & the icy moons via a driveway in Gloucestershire.

A photo of the Natural History Museum in London with large decorative models of planets on a stand as a crowd below watch a speech.

A model of the ESA JUICE spacecraft suspended from a ceiling with blue lights illuminating the background. The spacecraft has a box like main structure with two plus-sign shaped solar panels attached either side. A communications dish and antennas/booms are visible sticking out from the main structure of the spacecraft.

A photograph of a tiny black grain from the asteroid Bennu encased in a circular metal and glass case secured with numerous screws.

A spherical projection of various microorganisms on a ball-shaped surface suspended above the museum exhibition space.

Will Gater@willgater· Apr 23

🌔 Last month, Firefly landed their Blue Ghost mission on the plains of Mare Crisium. But did you know that tech from a UK company was central to getting the lander safely to the lunar surface? For the full story see this new @ukspaceagency.bsky.social blogpost: space.blog.gov.uk/2025/04/22/h...

A photograph taken by a lunar lander showing the lander’s own shadow on the undulating, cratered, surface of the moon. Half the frame is totally black and hanging in the sky above the horizon is the bright blue disc of the Earth. Credit: Firefly Aerospace

Will Gater@willgater· Apr 16

Not sure why that GIF isn’t animating here, so here it is in video form.