Here we have gathered 28 of the most interesting statistics, facts, and figures about astrophotography.
We have taken verified statistics from our own research and data, as well as from trusted third parties.
Astrophotography on the Internet
- Interest in astrophotography rose to a Google Trends average score of 46/100 for the five-year period 2018-2022, up from 33/100 over the five years of 2008-2012 (Google Trends):
- 41,600 people searched for “Astrophotography” on Google in January 2023. Ten years before, in January 2013, this figure was 31,600 (Google Trends)
- On average, 40,500 people search for the term “Astrophotography” on Google every month (Keywords Everywhere)
- New Zealand is the country with the most interest in astrophotography according to Google search data (Google Trends)
Top 20 countries with the most interest in astrophotography according to Google Trends (score out of 100)
| Position | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Zealand | 100 |
| 2 | Australia | 78 |
| 3 | Switzerland | 65 |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 62 |
| 5 | Luxembourg | 57 |
| 6 | Canada | 57 |
| 7 | St Helena | 54 |
| 8 | Cyprus | 53 |
| 9 | Austria | 50 |
| 10 | Singapore | 48 |
| 11 | United States | 47 |
| 12 | Greece | 47 |
| 13 | Ireland | 47 |
| 14 | Hong Kong | 42 |
| 15 | Portugal | 42 |
| 16 | Norway | 41 |
| 17 | Czechia | 41 |
| 18 | Spain | 41 |
| 19 | Germany | 40 |
| 20 | Slovenia | 40 |
Astrophotography on Socal Media
- 3.5 million people in the United States have an interest in astrophotography on Facebook (Facebook)
- Interest in astrophotography on YouTube has risen from an average score of 14/100 over the five years of 2008-2012, to 57/100 over the five years of 2018-2022 (YouTube Trends)
- 772,000 people follow the three most popular astrophotographers on YouTube – AstroBackyard, Nebula Photos, Rami Astro (YouTube)
- 12 million people have watched the most viewed astrophotography video on Youtube (YouTube):
- 5,021,854 images are tagged with #astrophotography on Instagram (Instagram)
- 1,547,000 people follow the five most popular astrophotographers on Instagram – Andrew McCarthy, Bray Falls, Trevor Jones, Sean Parker, Derek Culver (Instagram)
- 606,642 people have liked the most popular astrophotography image on Instagram (Instagram):
- 340,000 people follow the three most popular astrophotographers on Twitter – Andrew McCarthy, Bray Falls, and Trevor Jones (Twitter)
- 2,627,514 people are members of the astrophotography sub-Reddit (Reddit)
Astrophotography Image Statistics
- 10,163 NASA Astronomy Pictures of the Day (APOD). The website started posting daily astrophotography images on 16 June 1995 (NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day)
- 443,750 astrophotography images have been uploaded to Astrobin (Astrobin)
- 157,337 astrophotography images are available on the three biggest stock image sites (Abobe Stock, Shutterstock, iStock)
- More than 3000 images from 67 different countries were submitted to the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition in 2022 (Royal Museums Greenwich)
- 685 images were shortlisted for Astronomy Photographer of the Year over 2018 to 2022 (Skies & Scopes)
Astrophotography Equipment Statistics
- 820 companies manufacture and sell equipment for astrophotography (Astrobin)
- 3539 different telescopes have been used for astrophotography (Astrobin)
- 3206 different cameras have been used for astrophotography (Astrobin)
- 534 different telescope mounts have been used for astrophotography (Astrobin)
- 1278 different types of astrophotography accessories exist (Astrobin)
- 342 types of astrophotography software exist (Astrobin)
- 2143 different astrophotography filters exist (Astrobin)
- 6 smart telescopes for astrophotography are available in 2023. The first of these was launched only in 2019 (Skies & Scopes)
- 108 megapixels is the highest resolution smartphone camera (Skies & Scopes)
- 14 different types of telescope mount exist (Skies & Scopes)
The Growth of Astrophotography
Astrophotography is a pursuit that has grown enormously since the beginning of this century with key technological developments including:
- The emergence of affordable digital cameras in the early-2000s
- The development of improved smartphone cameras from the mid-2000s onward
- The creation of image-sharing platforms like Instagram from 2010 onwards
In the past few decades, these technological developments have taken astrophotography from very niche pursuit undertaken by a few obsessives to something that is in the hands of anyone with a modern smartphone.
The figures in this article are correct at the time of writing but will inevitably change over time!
If there are any cool facts about astrophotography please let us know in the comments below.