Today, we’d like to introduce you to David Joyce, a self-taught astrophotographer from Lexington, Kentucky, known as ‘AstroDavido’ on Instagram. He captures the universe from his own backyard, working under light-polluted suburban skies. Despite the conditions, he has photographed galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, and planets, some of them millions of light-years away.
Each image is created by stacking hours of exposures taken over many nights. The Andromeda Galaxy alone is 2.5 million light-years away, and its light left before humans existed. A few of David’s images took more than 50 hours of total exposure to capture.
The photographer shared with Bored Panda that what he loves most about astrophotography is that you don’t need to leave your yard to see the universe. Below, you can see some of David’s best images, which he hopes will “make you look up.”
More info: astrodavido.com | Instagram
#1 M92 – Globular Cluster In Hercules
Image source: astro_davido
#2 Caldwell 49 – The Rosette Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#3 Ctb1/Abell 85 – The Garlic Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#4 Ngc7380 – The Wizard Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#5 Sh2115 W/ Abell 71
Image source: astro_davido
#6 M31 – The Andromeda Galaxy
Image source: astro_davido
#7 The Sun In Hydrogen Alpha
Image source: astro_davido
#8 Ngc2264 – The Cone Nebula/Christmas Tree Cluster
Image source: astro_davido
#9 Ngc6960 – The Witch’s Broom Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#10 The Moon @ 67% With Regulus
Image source: astro_davido
#11 Moon – 10/12/25
Image source: astro_davido
#12 Ngc6888 – The Crescent Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#13 M8 – The Lagoon Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#14 M17 – The Swan Nebula / Omega Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#15 M104 – The Sombrero Galaxy
Image source: astro_davido
#16 M95 – Barred Spiral Galaxy In Leo
Image source: astro_davido
#17 Ngc1499 – Closeup Of The California Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#18 Sh2-170 – The Little Rosette Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#19 Saturn W/ Dione & Titan
Image source: astro_davido
#20 Sh2-54 – The Serpent Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#21 Ngc6543 – The Cat’s Eye Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#22 M101 – The Pinwheel Galaxy
Image source: astro_davido
#23 The Sun In Hydrogen Alpha
Image source: astro_davido
#24 M12 – The Gumball Globular Cluster
Image source: astro_davido
#25 M82 – The Cigar Galaxy
Image source: astro_davido
#26 Jupiter W/ Io & Europa
Image source: astro_davido
#27 M57 – The Ring Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#28 Sh2-114 – The Flying Dragon Nebula
Image source: astro_davido
#29 Jupiter W/ Io & Europa
Image source: astro_davido
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