Will Godward, Ikara's Eye (PLACES WILDERNESS 2025)

Ikara’s Eye was captured within Ikara–Flinders Ranges National Park in South Australia—“Ikara” meaning “meeting place” in the language of the Adnyamathanha people, the Traditional Custodians of this ancient landscape. This full 360-degree panorama gazes skyward from the red earth of the Australian outback, where the Milky Way forms a celestial eye looking down upon Country. Through the silhouettes of ancient cypress pines, the galactic core burns brightly at the centre of the frame, its star clouds and dark dust lanes arching across the heavens. Along the horizon, a crimson aurora mingles with faint airglow, its soft shimmer echoing the ochre tones of the land below, linking earth and sky in a moment of perfect symmetry. Created from 47 images, this immersive image reveals the complete dome of the night sky over one of Australia’s most remarkable dark-sky locations, a place where time, light, and culture converge under the watchful gaze of Ikara’s Eye.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.