Will Gater

@willgater.bsky.social

514 Followers 254 Following

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

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 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.
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
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 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
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.
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 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.
A photograph of trees silhouetted by a diffuse curtain of green and red aurora.
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 photo of the back of a DSLR preview screen showing vibrant patches of green and red Aurora over a silhouetted landscape.
A photo of the back of a DSLR screen showing the northern lights over a silhouetted horizon.
A photo of the back of a DSLR preview screen showing a photo of Aurora and clouds
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
A photo of the rear screen of a DSLR showing a noctilucent cloud display over a silhouetted countryside landscape.
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
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.
Banner for a UK Space Agency Space Communicators Networking Breakfast and Workshop with Agency logo and astronomical image and stylised network of blue lines. Subtitle reads: UK Space Conference, 16th July 2025, Manchester Central.
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 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
Pink, purple and green auroral rays dancing over a silhouetted hilly horizon.
An animation of pink, red, purple and green auroral rays dancing in a starry sky over a silhouetted hilly horizon. Clouds are drifting across the top of the frame.
A photograph of the Northern Lights over a silhouetted, hilly, horizon. Rays of pink and purple light rise vertically into a starry sky from a diffuse green glow on the horizon. Grey clouds cross the frame and in places appear silhouetted by the aurora.
A photo of a camera screen showing pink and green aurora above a silhouetted horizon.
A photo of a DSLR preview screen showing an image of an auroral display against a starry sky with clouds.
A photo of a person standing next to a replica of the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover
A time series of photographs showing the disc of the Moon passing in front of the stars of the Pleiades cluster
A phone picture of the back of a DSLR display screen showing a photo of the crescent Moon with Earthshine and the stars of the Pleiades cluster.
A photo of a thin crescent Moon with numerous craters and mountains visible. Four large craters sit prominently near the centre of the crescent with their rims illuminated by the rising sun.
A panoramic photo showing a thin crescent Moon setting in deep twilight over a silhouetted hill side. The lunar night side is visible lit by Earthshine.
A smartphone camera photo showing the solar disc appearing as a red crescent shape against a black background. Small prominences appear in the image as flame-like raised protrusions from the limb of the Sun.
A photo of the partially eclipsed Moon. The Moon’s disc sits on the centre right of the image with a diffuse black/grey shadow covering the left side.
A photo of someone speaking to an audience in a theatre auditorium
Photo of the bright disc of the Moon shining against a background of numerous stars. The thin crescent is greatly overexposed but the night side shows surface detail including the darker seas and bright craters.
A photo of a silhouetted hillside and rocky outcrop below an evening twilight sky gradient fading from oranges and reds to various shades of pastel blues. Numerous faint stars pepper the background sky. A very bright point of light (Venus) sits at the top right of frame and just above the silhouetted tor is Mercury, appearing as a smaller fleck of light.
A video from the ISS showing the aurora dancing below from orbit. Green curtains of light ebb and flow as the ISS passes overhead with sheets and rays moving and shimmering as the horizon brightens. Courtesy Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center.
A four pane montage of images relating to practical astronomy. Top left are two silhouetted figures standing against the twilight sky. At top right is an image of the Milky Way stretching over a silhouetted tree line. In the bottom left is an image of a pair of binoculars resting on an opened star atlas. And in the bottom right is an illustration of a ‘star hop’ across the winter night sky.
A photograph of the Moon and Venus over a silhouetted hillside with a canopy of stars in the twilight sky above. In the foreground the hills under Haytor Rocks can be seen gently lit by the light of the Moon. Bright Venus appears as a brilliant point of light near the centre of the frame. The background is a starry deep-twilight sky. The Zodiacal Light appears as a diffuse triangular ‘wedge’ of light stretching up from the horizon diagonally from bottom right to the top left of the frame.
A CGI illustration of an asteroid (bottom right of frame) passing close to the Earth (at top left of frame). The background shows star fields and the path of the Milky Way.
A photograph showing the constellation Orion rising over a snow covered moorland landscape. In the lower left corner of the frame the light of Sirius is reflecting in the gently flowing waters of a a small stream. In the foreground drifts of snow sparkle in the light of the Moon.
A photograph of two bright points of light (Venus the brightest, appearing as a white spot half way up the frame) in a blue, starry moonlit sky. Below is a snowy landscape of snow-covered gorse which is sparkling in the moonlight.
A photograph of a silhouetted tree canopy stretching across and filling the whole frame with thousands of stars seen through the gaps beyond. The Pleiades star cluster sits in the bottom left of the frame, peeking through a gap in the tree branches.
A photograph showing the constellation Draco over a silhouetted hillside. Faint lines have been added in software to pick out the constellation shape made by the brighter stars.
The winter constellations of Canis Major, Orion, Taurus and Auriga appear through the silhouetted canopy of a Dartmoor woodland. Thousands of points of light appear through the bare branches and boughs and the brighter stars show their clear colour differences from blues and whites to yellows and oranges.
A photo of a person carrying out a mini comet making demo in a conference room. Dry ice is interacting with water in a bowl on a table causing mist to spill out over and onto the surface.
Venus appearing as a brilliant point of light in the top left of frame against a twilight sky full of sunset colours. The bottom of the frame contains starkly silhouetted bare trees on a hillside.