The winners of the 2019 Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year have been announced, and this genuinely mind-expanding assortment of images affirm the contest as the world’s top astrophotography competition. From novel explorations of our Moon to incredible perspectives on distant galaxies, this year’s winners offer a fantastically diverse selection of photographs.
From a record number of 4,600 entries, this year’s overall prize went to Hungarian photographer László Francsics for his creatively compelling depiction of a total lunar eclipse. Winning £10,000 (US$12,450), the photograph entitled Into The Shadow stacked 35 separate photos together to chronicle the various phases of a lunar eclipse in one continuous image.
![Into the Shadow, Overall Winner and Winner in the Our Moon category. This image showcases the 35 phases of the total lunar eclipse on 21 January in one photograph. The phases were so close together that they blended perfectly in a continuous image that captured the shadow of the Earth. Budapest, Hungary](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/d7a218b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3376x2146+0+0/resize/1440x915!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F76%2F31%2Febadaca649c38a458bf12f412d37%2Finto-the-shadow-laszlo-francsics.jpg)
“For a single multiple-exposure image to capture this event with such positional precision, creative innovation and beauty is nothing short of masterful,” says Ed Robinson, one of this year’s competition judges. “The colors of our atmosphere projected onto the Moon’s disc during the eclipse are not only artistically pleasing but also offer an understanding of such events that can reveal aspects of our own, thin, yet essential part of our atmosphere.”
The competition spans eight major categories, covering topics such as Galaxies, the Moon and the Sun. Extra awards are offered to young photographers and the best newcomer.
![A Little Fireworks, Winner in the Our Sun category. A close-up of the solar limb with what looks like fireworks in the solar minimum period of the Sun’s cycle. A group of prominences are silhouetted against the background of space. Buffalo, New York](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/3784e95/2147483647/strip/true/crop/821x1152+0+0/resize/684x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F68%2F8b%2Fe4eb0620451b91aedbaad788e70f%2Fa-little-fireworks-alan-friedman.jpg)
Other extraordinary winners in this year’s competition include a fascinating sequence of images depicting a global dust storm across Mars, several surreal perspectives on the Sun, and a one-of-a-kind shot capturing the flower-shaped exhaust plume of the Falcon 9 rocket during a launch late in 2018.
![Flower Power, Highly Commended in the Skyscapes category. The exhaust plume from the Falcon 9 rocket launch took on the shape of a flower during this stage of the launch. This photograph was taken with a 50 mm lens which provided a much closer and detailed view. This shot consists of two exposures blended; one for the foreground and one for the sky, with no movement of the camera in between exposures. Aspendell, California](https://assets.newatlas.com/dims4/default/8472b88/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4016x6016+0+0/resize/641x960!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnewatlas-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fcf%2Fdd%2F11a8e9ba436e81e6e06c6741f847%2Fflower-power-brandon-yoshizawa.jpg)
“This year’s selection contains so many unique approaches to astrophotography – real love letters to the art form, which stay with you long after you’ve seen them,” says Tom Kerss, another judge in this year’s competition, and an astronomer at the UK’s Royal Observatory. “I’m looking forward to the discussions these images will inspire about our shared sky, and the ever-expanding field of capturing and interpreting it. With such a beautiful collection to talk about, the competition really has become astrophotography’s ‘World Cup’.”
Take a look through our spectacular gallery featuring all this year’s winning photographs.
Source: Royal Museums Greenwich