AN amateur astronomer captured these spectacular images of the night sky, one featuring a crescent moon lit by 'earthshine' with both Mars and Venus visible in the same breathtaking shot.

Craig Mathias took these dramatic and beautiful photographs from his home in Kempsey, one showing the dark side of the moon partially lit with ‘earthshine’.

This dull glow is caused by the sun’s light being reflected off the earth at the moon, picking out its darker part. The brighter crescent is caused by light coming directly from the sun.

The 31-year-old who runs Kempsey-based mobile hairdressers ‘Trendz’ said astronomy had been a hobby since he had first learned about Halley’s Comet at the age of seven which he said 'blew my mind'.

This sparked a lifelong interest in the solar system, the galaxy and the universe.

He said: “I’m out when there is a meteor storm – every planetary event I have been out with my camera or my telescope and have taught myself how to take pictures of them.”

Mr Mathias said none of his friends shared his interest but that he hoped to carry on his stargazing, especially when he was no longer able to take part in his other hobby – motocross.

He said of the photographs: “I took them last night (January 2) and they are the best photographs I have ever taken. You can see the dark part of the moon. The light from the crescent is from the sun and the other side is earthshine, the sun’s light bouncing of the earth and back onto the moon.”

The photographs were captured using a Nikon D3300 DSLR and Mr Mathias said he enjoyed the challenge of taking photographs using the camera rather than a telescope.

He added: “There are no street lights (in the part of Kempsey where he lives) so there is no little light pollution in and this is why the photographs are so good.

"Other people interested in astronomy have been asking me how I managed to get such a good shot. It's really clear."