Photography

Outta this world: Winners of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023

View 20 Images
Aurorae, Runner-Up. "Circle of Light"
Andreas Ettl
Aurorae, Runner-Up. "Circle of Light"
Andreas Ettl
Overall Winner & Galaxies, Winner. "Andromeda, Unexpected"
Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner & Yann Sainty
Galaxies, Runner-Up. "The Eyes Galaxies"
Weitang Liang
Young, Winner. "The Running Chicken Nebula"
Runwei Xu & Binyu Wang
Our Sun, Winner. "A Sun Question"
Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau
People & Space, Highly Commended. "Close Encounters of the Haslingden Kind"
Katie McGuinness
Skyscapes, Winner. "Grand Cosmic Fireworks"
Angel An
Stars & Nebulae, Winner. "New Class of Galactic Nebulae Around the Star YY Hya"
Marcel Drechsler
Young, Highly Commended. "Lunar Occultation of Mars"
Joshua Harwood-White
Young, Highly Commended. "Roses Blooming in the Dark: NGC 2337"
Yanhao Mo
People & Space, Winner. "Zeila"
Vikas Chander
Planets, Comets & Asteroids, Runner-Up. "Jupiter Close to Opposition"
Marco Lorenzi
Skyscapes, Runner-Up. "Celestial Equator Above First World War Trench Memorial"
Louis Leroux-Gere
Stars & Nebulae, Highly Commended. "The Dark Wolf - Fenrir"
James Baguley
People & Space, Runner-Up. "A Visit to Tycho"
Andrew McCarthy
Young, Highly Commended. "Moon at Nightfall"
Haohan Sun
Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation. "Black Echo"
John White
The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer. "Sh2-132: Blinded by the Light"
Aaron Wilhelm
Our Sun, Runner-Up. "Dark Star"
Peter Ward
Galaxies, Highly Commended. "Neighbours"
Paul Montague
View gallery - 20 images

The winners of the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023 have been announced, giving us all a glimpse into the stunning natural beauty of space and making some important astronomical discoveries in the process.

This year marked the competition’s 15th year, attracting more than 4,000 entries from 64 countries. From glittering stars and shimmering galaxies to fiery suns and silver moons, the competition attracted some impressive imagery in categories that included Galaxies, Aurorae, Our Moon, Our Sun, People and Space, Planets, Comets and Asteroids, Skyscapes, and Stars and Nebulae. Prizes were also given for Image Innovation and to the Best Newcomer, as well as to young photographers.

“This was my first year as a judge for Astronomy Photographer of the Year,” said Katherine Gazzard, Curator of Art at Royal Museums Greenwich. “As a newcomer to the competition, the technical sophistication of the entries blew me away. So many beautiful images made the shortlist, and the winning images are absolutely stunning. It has made me look at the night sky in a new light.”

Overall Winner & Galaxies, Winner. "Andromeda, Unexpected"
Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner & Yann Sainty

A team of amateur astronomers led by Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty took out the competition’s top prize, being named the Overall Winner. Their image captured a huge blue plasma arc alongside the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest spiral galaxy to our Milky Way, which scientists are now investigating. The surprising discovery is what led to the piece being titled Andromeda, Unexpected.

Young, Winner. "The Running Chicken Nebula"
Runwei Xu & Binyu Wang

Winning the Young Photographer of the Year award were two 14-year-olds, Runwei Xu and Binyu Wang, who collaborated to produce the striking and colorful The Running Chicken Nebula.

Our Sun, Winner. "A Sun Question"
Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau

Other standouts include an image by Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau, in which plasma arcs in the Sun’s atmosphere appear to want to know the answer to something. The photo, A Sun Question, is a mosaic of two panels and won the Our Sun category.

People & Space, Highly Commended. "Close Encounters of the Haslingden Kind"
Katie McGuinness

Likewise, the Highly Commended image in the People and Space category, which took inspiration from the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Over an hour, Katie McGuinness took more than 150 shots of the ‘Halo’ sculpture in Haslingden, UK, and combined them to show the apparent rotation of stars around Polaris, a star in the constellation of Ursa Minor that’s commonly referred to as the North Star.

Skyscapes, Winner. "Grand Cosmic Fireworks"
Angel An

It’s understandable why the judges chose Angel An’s Grand Cosmic Fireworks as the Winner of the Skyscapes category. An captured the tendrils of an extremely rare phenomenon called red sprites, large-scale electrical discharges that occur in the mesosphere, far higher up than regular lightning. The beautiful color gradient is made more impressive by the delicate structure of the plasma visible in the image.

Stars & Nebulae, Winner. "New Class of Galactic Nebulae Around the Star YY Hya"
Marcel Drechsler

Marcel Drechsler and Xavier Strottner, two of the three astronomers who took out the Overall prize, also won in the Stars and Nebulae category and added another discovery to the winning images. On old images of sky surveys, the pair discovered a previously unknown galactic nebula containing a pair of stars surrounded by a common envelope.

The high caliber of this year’s entrants made picking the winners tough for the judges.

“Once again, entrants to the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition have conspired to make things difficult for the judges, with a flood of high-quality images covering an amazing range of targets,” said Ed Bloomer, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. “The highlight of this year is perhaps a number of genuine discoveries being imaged, but we’ve had wonderful efforts in every category, and I’m particularly pleased to see the continued strength of our young entrants and those eligible for The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer. It has led to some intense debate amongst the judges as we try to choose the very best of the best, but we don’t mind!”

The Overall Winner will receive £10,000 (US$12,400). Winners in all other categories, including the winner of the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year, will receive £1,500 (US$1,860). There are also prizes for runners-up (£500/US$620) and highly commended (£250/US$310) entries. The special prize winners will receive £750 (US$930).

Source: Royal Museums Greenwich

View gallery - 20 images
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
0 comments
There are no comments. Be the first!