Gallery: Stunning Sun shot headlines Astrophotography Prize winners

October 05, 2024

Astro Landscape Runner-Up: Troy Casswell – "Bald Rock Panorama." Casswell's innovative use of UV light brought out the rock formations and Milky Way in an impressive blend of technique and creativity

Troy Casswell

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Overall & Solar System category Winner: Phil Hart – "Sunflower in the Exmouth Sky." Hart’s detailed image of the solar eclipse over Exmouth earned first place in this category, showcasing his mastery in capturing the solar corona

Phil Hart

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Solar System Runner-Up: Gerald Rhemann – "Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard." Rhemann’s shot from Namibia highlighted the dynamic beauty of the comet’s tail as it journeyed through space

Gerald Rhemann

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Solar System Second Runner-Up: Phil Hart – "2023 Solar Eclipse." Hart's close-up of the eclipse over Exmouth was created using multiple telescopes, video frames, and RAW exposures, demonstrating his dedication to capturing the event in incredible detail

Phil Hart

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Deep Space Winner: Yann Sainty – "Supernova Remnant G119.5+10.2 (CTA 1)." Sainty's striking image of this rarely photographed supernova remnant, with its dense Hα and OIII filaments and dust clouds, won him first place in the Deep Space category

Yann Sainty

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Deep Space Runner-Up: Yann Sainty – "Monoceros Horn Widefield." Sainty's second recognized image, a wide-field mosaic capturing emission, reflection, and dark nebulae, impressed the judges with its contrast of cosmic structures

Yann Sainty

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Deep Space Second Runner-Up: Kevin Morefield – "NGC 3981: A Beautifully Disturbed Spiral Galaxy." Morefield's image of NGC 3981 reveals a galaxy seemingly unraveling, with its spiral arms trailing behind as its structure dissipates.

Kevin Morefield

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Astro Landscape Winner: Kavan Chay – "Egmont National Park, New Zealand." Chay's magical shot of the Milky Way over a volcanic snowfield won for its perfect harmony between earth and sky

Kavan Chay

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Troy Casswell

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Astro Landscape Second Runner-Up: Will Hudson – "Aurora Over the Grampians." Hudson’s panoramic composition captured the beauty of an aurora triggered by a solar flare, merging landscape and night sky into a stunning image

Will Hudson

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Remote Imaging Winner: Julian Shapiro – "Two Oxygen Rings of Cygnus." At just 16 years old, Shapiro’s remote imaging uncovered a newly discovered cosmic feature, showcasing emissions from the Wolf-Rayet star WR134 in breathtaking detail

Julian Shapiro

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Remote Imaging Runner-Up: Logan Carpenter – "Cocoon Nebula." Carpenter’s precise image of the Cocoon Nebula’s comet-like tail, set against a backdrop of hydrogen alpha, secured him second place in this category

Logan Carpenter

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Remote Imaging Second Runner-Up: Herbert Walter – "The Bubble Galaxy." Walter's image of NGC 3521, a flocculent spiral galaxy, impressed the judges with its soft, woolly appearance

Herbert Walter

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Earth can only hold so many photography subjects – but the universe is basically infinite, and so is its beauty. The Astrophotography Prize is a relatively new international competition that celebrates this art, and this year’s winners have been unveiled.

Now in its second year, the AstroPrize attracted hundreds of entries from all over the world. Submissions are made into four main categories: Deep Space, Solar System, Astro Landscape and Remote Imaging, with an overall winner for Astrophotographer of the Year also awarded.

This year that honor went to Australian photographer Phil Hart, for his stunning image of the Sun’s corona during a solar eclipse over Exmouth, Western Australia, last year. The shot captures the streams of charged particles radiating off the Sun, which aren’t normally visible because the brightness of the Sun itself washes them out. Only during an eclipse do they become briefly visible.

“This looks to me like a sunflower in the Exmouth sky,” Hart said in a statement. “Delicate streamers of the solar corona loop over the top of the swirling prominences.”

Entrants are judged in a unique way. First, three specialist astrophotographers give each image a score out of 100. Then, the top 25 images from each category go to a special second round, where five astrophotographers award points in a YouTube livestream, for transparency. From this, a winner and two runners up are awarded in each category, as well as an overall winner.

“This year’s competition featured some of the most impressive astrophotography we’ve ever seen,” said Dr. Tanya Hill, one of the judges. “Phil Hart’s image was a masterclass in technique, creativity, and dedication, showcasing faint lunar details alongside the petal-like streams of the solar corona.”

Among the other highlights is a dramatic shot of Comet C/2021A1 Leonard. Snapped from Namibia by Gerald Rhemann, this image captures one of the most impressive comets in recent years, just a few months before it disintegrated.

Check out the rest of the winners and runners up in our gallery, and to browse the full list of honorary mentions, check out the competition’s website.

Source: Astrophotography Prize

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