Last Updated on 09/17/2024 by Nilofer Khan
Astrophotography is one of the most exciting and challenging genres of photography. It requires immense patience and accurate timing to capture the celestial bodies performing a rhythmic dance. Perhaps that’s why witnessing photographs of such wonders, which go beyond human imagination, moves us deeply. And for a split second, astrophotography opens a portal between the known and the unexplored, making us embrace our humanity in all its imperfections and glory. When you look at the enchanting photographs from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 16 competition organized by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, you can’t help but be amazed at the diversity of human creativity. Below, you will find how the photographers captured these award-winning images.
The lead image is by Tom Williams and is courtesy of the Royal Observatory Greenwich. All images are used with permission.
Table of Contents
The Astronomy Photographer of the Year Goes To…
This year’s award went to Ryan Imperio for his image titled Distorted Shadows of the Moon’s Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse. The photograph showcased Bailey’s beads, a phenomenon that occurs during the solar eclipse. At this time, the moon’s terrain creates bright dots that resemble beads as the sunlight streams through lunar valleys and craters.
What makes the image so exceptional is that this occurrence takes place for mere seconds when the moon moves between the eclipse. Thus, Imperio portrays not just the beauty of the celestial bodies but also his mastery of the camera.
According to the photograph’s caption, it is “a sequence of continuously captured images,” which was shot with a Nikon D810 camera, an iOptron SkyGuider Pro mount, and a Sigma 150-600mm f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens. His image was also the winner of the Our Sun category.
Imperio revealed he was “both thrilled and honored” to have his photograph as the winner among other “astonishing images.” He added, “I had hoped my image would be shared in some way but never expected to be selected as the overall winner!”
While praising Imperio’s image, Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn, a judge and meteorologist, states: “This image left me captivated and amazed. It’s exceptional work deserving of high recognition.”
Daniel Borsari was recognized as the Young Photographer of the Year. The 14-year-old captured an image titled NGC 1499, A Dusty California, which Neal White, judge and artist, states is the future of astronomy photography. The picture was captured with a ZWO ASI533MC Pro camera, a Samyang 135 mm f2.0 lens, and a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount. The winning photographs of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards are being displayed at the National Maritime Museum.
Dr. Ed Bloomer, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, also urged readers to visit the exhibition to see the spellbinding images, especially those in the Aurorae category. For more information on Astronomy Photographer of the Year, visit the Royal Observatory’s website.
A Look At Other Winners
Our Sun Category
Peter Ward (Australia) | Runner-Up
This image shows the solar corona at solar maximum and solar minimum. The lower half of the picture was taken in 2017 at close to the solar minimum, and the upper half was taken six years later, approaching the solar maximum. Trying to convey the contrasting aspects of the solar corona over the intervening period was a challenge. The photographer tried different colors and combinations before wrapping the normally circular coronal images into a rectangular format to simply visualize the changes over time within a single image.
Taken with an Astro-Physics AP155 telescope, Astro-Physics Mach2 mount, Canon EOSR5 and 5DmkII cameras, 1,085 mm f7.0, ISO 100, multiple 0.25 to 1/4,000-second exposures.
Andras Papp (Hungary) | Highly Commended
This image shows the movements of the solar surface. The photographer used a 3D-printed slit spectrograph unit connected directly to his telescope, supported with a modern image-processer. This setup can show whether the mass of the solar surface is about to eject toward us (blue-shifted) or falling back (red-shifted). It is also possible to observe the rotation of the Sun itself. Tiny disorientations were mapped during processing and shown in bluish and reddish color tones in the picture.
Taken with a Triplet APO refractor telescope, Baader H-alpha filter and 3D-printed slit spectroscope, Direct Drive Mount, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 1,200 mm f9.45, Gain 0, 96 scans x 10-second video, 1.3-millisecond exposure.
Galaxies
Bence Tóth and Péter Feltóti (Hungary) | Winner
This picture shows the galaxy NGC 5128 and its surrounding tidal wave system, as well as a visualization of the relativistic jet, powerful jets of radiation, and particles traveling close to the speed of light. This interesting target can only be shot from the southern hemisphere, so the photographers traveled to Namibia to capture the image.
Taken with a Custom-built 200/800 Newton astrograph telescope, Astronomik Deep-Sky LRGB filters, Antlia V-Pro LRGB filters and Antlia 3 nm H-alpha bandpass filter, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro and Sky-Watcher EQ6 mounts, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, 800 mm f4, 16.2-hour L, 5.3-hour R, G and B, and 5.6-hour H-alpha exposures.
Jakob Sahner (Germany) | Runner-Up
The Markarian’s Chain is a distinctive alignment of galaxies located in the constellation Virgo. It is actually a part of the larger Virgo Cluster, which is one of the nearest galaxy clusters to the Milky Way. The galaxies in the chain interact through tidal forces, causing some of them to display distorted shapes, long tidal tails, or appear as peculiar irregular structures.
Taken with a Sky-Watcher Esprit 100 telescope + 0.75x reducer, Astronomik L-2 Luminance UV/IR Block 2″, Astronomik Deep-Sky Red 2″, Astronomik Deep-Sky Green 2″, Astronomik Deep-Sky Blue 2″ and Baader H-alpha 7nm 2″ filters, iOptron CEM70 mount, QHY 268m camera, 412 mm f/4.1, 162 x 300-second L exposures (13 hours 30 minutes total), 152 x 300-second R exposures (12 hours 40 minutes total), 84 x 300-second G exposures (7 hours total), 127 x 300-second B exposures (10 hours 35 minutes total), 198 x 600-second H-alpha exposures (33 hours total).
Sophie Paulin, Jens Unger, Jakob Sahner (Germany) | Highly Commended
M63 is a beautiful spiral galaxy surrounded by faint tidal streams reaching 180,000 light years from its core. It is likely that these streams were caused by the disruption of M63’s satellite galaxies and can only be revealed by telescopes under very dark skies.
Taken with a TS-Optics Photoline 140 mm telescope, iOptron CEM70 mount, ZWO ASI2600MM camera, 680 mm f4.8, 629 x 180-second exposures.
Aurorae
Larryn Rae (New Zealand) | Winner
The Aurora Australis captured above the mountains in Queenstown. It is a 19-image panorama capturing all the fast-moving beams that lit up the sky in February 2023. The photographer used an astro-modified camera to capture all the aurora’s pink hues, making for an incredibly dynamic final image.
Taken with a Canon EOS R5 H-alpha modified camera, 35 mm panorama 2.8, ISO 3,200, Sky: 8 second-exposure, Foreground: 30-second exposure.
Filip Hrebenda (Slovakia) | Runner-Up
The photographer spent a few days waiting for the Aurora Borealis in the interior of Iceland (the Highlands). The green landscape inspired the title.
Taken with a Sony Alpha 7RV camera, 20 mm f2.8 (with focus stacking), ISO 3,200, multiple 4-5-second exposures.
Michael Steven Harris (UK) | Highly Commended
High auroral activity provided the opportunity to try and capture the Aurora Borealis from Brighton seafront by drone. Despite significant light pollution and the drone’s tiny sensor, the photographer captured the pink hues across the night sky. This image comprises several drone photos taken from the same vicinity during a single period of auroral activity. Two photos were needed for the foreground to manage the full dynamic range of the scene.
This Astronomy Photographer of the Year image was taken with a DJI Mini 3 Pro built-in camera, 6.7 mm f1.7, Sky: ISO 6,400 2-second exposure, Foreground: ISO 200, 0.5 and multiple 1-second exposures.
Our Moon
Gábor Balázs (Hungary) | Winner
This photograph shows Sinus Iridum, also known as the ‘Bay of Rainbows,’ a 260-kilometer diameter bay bordered by several smaller craters. The photographer used a monochrome camera with a filter to capture the area. The crater visible in the upper right corner, Pythagoras, is particularly noteworthy and almost visible from the side due to the libration and wavering of the Moon as viewed from Earth.
Taken with a Heyde-Zeiss refractor telescope, ZWO green filter, ZWO ASI178MM-pro camera, 4,500 mm f15.
Lóránd Fényes (Hungary) | Runner-Up
This image shows the year’s only planetary occultation of Venus and the Moon. The photographer worked with his friend, who detected the occultation on his telescope. The image is in mono, infrared range, inspired by a NASA photo of Saturn in mono.
Taken with a 160/1308 GPU APO triplet telescope, Astronomik ProPlanet IR Pro 742 filter, iOptron iEQ45-modified mount, ZWO ASI533MM Pro camera, 1,308 mm f8.1, 100-second exposure.
Jinyuan Chen (China) | Highly Commended
The photographer had not planned to capture the Moon, but when he saw its setting, he was struck by its sheer beauty. Due to the surrounding clouds, the crescent looked as if it was the result of a solar eclipse.
This Astronomy Photographer of the Year photograph was shot with a Sky-Watcher 200 telescope, Antlia G filter, ZWO AM5 Mount, ZWO ASI2600MM Cool camera, 800.
People and Space
Tom Williams (UK) | Winner
This H-alpha image of the Sun features the silhouette of the International Space Station (ISS) transiting the eastern solar limb. Crossing the field of view in just 0.2 seconds, ISS transits of the Sun are particularly rare for any one location on Earth. The Sun was active, and a prominence right next to the station’s transit location can be seen.
Taken with a Sky-Watcher Evostar 120 telescope, Daystar Quark Chromosphere filter, Sky-Watcher EQ3 Pro mount, Player One Apollo-M Max (IMX432) camera, 4,300 mm f35, ISS: 19 x 0.70-millisecond exposures; Sun: 7,500 x 12-millisecond exposures.
Ran Shen (China) | Runner-Up
Venus and Jupiter’s trajectories are like two parallel lines. On this day, Venus and Jupiter were particularly close to Earth. Using Planit for pre-planning and stacking, the photographer framed their paths with skyscrapers in Lujiazui, Shanghai.
Taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV camera, 70 mm f8, ISO 800, 1.6-second exposure.
Matt Jackson (USA) | Highly Commended
This image includes all the satellites captured during one hour of a time-lapse series. The photographer chose this subject matter to highlight his concerns about privacy and the power of controlling technology.
This Astronomy Photographer of the Year image was captured with a Nikon D750 camera, 35 mm f1.4, ISO 5,000, 6-second exposure.
Planets, Comets and Asteroids
Planets, Comets and Asteroids
Tom Williams (UK) | Winner
This false-color composite shows the phases of Venus on approach to inferior conjunction, which is when Venus and the Earth appear close on the same side of the Sun. Ultraviolet and infrared filters reveal the intricate cloud structure within the planet’s upper atmosphere. Despite Venus’s rotation period being many months long, the atmosphere is far from stationary, circling the planet in around four days. This makes UV imaging of Venus particularly interesting as the planet is much more dynamic than it otherwise would be if viewed in the visible spectrum.
Taken with a Sky-Watcher 400P (16″) GoTo Dobsonian Reflector telescope, Baader Bessel (U)BVRI and RG610 filters, ZWO ASI462MM camera, 5,000 mm f12.3, multiple 15-millisecond exposures.
Sophie Paulin and Tom Williams (Germany and UK) | Runner-Up
This image shows a unique false-color view of Jupiter in the CH4 methane band, with the Great Red Spot setting on the western limb. The intricate upper cloud formations and storms are revealed through visible and methane band filters. As most of Jupiter’s atmosphere absorbs light at 889 nanometres, only the bright polar hoods [cap-like features encircling the polar regions] and storm cells remain in the methane channel, resulting in this striking view of the planet.
This Astronomy Photographer of the Year image was shot with a Spacewalk Telescopes Horizon 20″ Dobsonian telescope, Spacewalk Telescopes EQ-Platform ‘Trackie’ mount, Player One Uranus-C camera, 5,500 mm f10.9, multiple 12- and 26-millisecond exposures.
Damon Mitchell Scotting (UK) | Highly Commended
In this image, the photographer captured a dwarf planet, Ceres, more than a billion times smaller than its galactic counterpart, transiting beyond the galaxy’s spiral arms. Ceres shines brighter than the galaxy and moves quickly across the night sky. Multiple long exposures were captured over an eight-hour period to showcase the beauty of the Blowdryer Galaxy and the relatively quick speed of the dwarf planet Ceres.
Taken with a PlaneWave CDK24 telescope, Mathis Instruments MI-1000/1250 mount, QHY600M camera, 72 x 5-minute and 120 x 3-minute luminance, 22 x 5-minute red, 20 x 5-minute green and 32 x 5-minute blue exposures, 18 hours 10 minutes total exposure.
Skyscapes
Tom Rae (New Zealand) | Winner
This photograph shows the rugged peaks of the Tasman Valley reaching up to the impressive features of the southern hemisphere summer night sky. It includes the hydrogen clouds of the Gum Nebula (central red region) and various other regions of active star formation stretched throughout the fainter arms of the Milky Way. Due to the faintness of the Milky Way band, this part of the night sky tends to be less photographed.
Taken with a Nikon Z 6 astro-modified and Nikon Z7 cameras, iOptron SkyGuider Pro mount, Sigma 40 mm f1.4 Art and Sigma 28 mm f1.4 Art lens, Sky: ISO 1,600, 40 mm f1.8, 31 x 30-second exposures; Foreground: ISO 100, 28 mm f10-14, 9 x 4-second exposures.
Fei Xue (China) | Runner-Up
During a two-hour photography session, the photographer captured the trails of stars moving across the night sky as the Earth rotated. The shards in the image are metal columns on the ground. The interesting composition was achieved by placing the camera on the ground and shooting from a low angle.
This Astronomy Photographer of the Year photograph was documented with a Sony ILCE-7RM4 camera, 15 mm f1.4, ISO 3,200, 20-second exposure.
Petr Horalek (Czechia) | Highly Commended
This photograph was taken on the northern beach of the small island of Medhufaru. Plankton bioluminescence peaks in early January, but the activity was prolonged this year by a month. The whole beach shines with turquoise light while the gems of the Southern Cross constellation—such as the Gum Nebula or Carina Nebula—appear in the sky. This photograph is a single shot, processed for curves, white balance, and selective colors for H-alpha enhancement and denoising.
Taken with a Canon EOS Ra camera, 14 mm f2.8, ISO 6,400, 30-second exposure.
Stars and Nebulae
Marcel Drechsler, Bray Falls, Yann Sainty, Nicolas Martino, Richard Galli (Germany, USA, France) | Winner
This impressive photograph results from 3,559 frames, 260 hours of exposure time, and telescopes on three continents. The team worked to explore and photograph a previously unknown gigantic supernova remnant (SNR) in the center of the famous constellation Cassiopeia. The international team of amateur astronomers is under the scientific leadership of Professor Robert Fesen (USA). The fact that amateurs have made such a discovery is a testament to how important their role has become in today’s astronomy.
Taken with a Takahashi FSQ-106EDX4 telescope, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro and Paramount MyT GEM mounts, QHYCCD QHY600PH-M, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro and ZWO ASI6200MM Pro cameras, 530 mm and 382 mm f3.6 and f5, 258 hours 32 minutes total exposure with 60-second, 180-second, 300-second and 600-second subframes.
Mukund Raguram (USA) | Runner-Up
This is an ambitious three-panel mosaic of the constellation Serpens. Although it receives less attention than many other, more popular summer constellations, its unique assortment of dark, reflection, and planetary nebulae and emission objects atop a gorgeous background of golden stars has made Serpens the photographer’s favorite constellation in the night sky.
Taken with a Stellarvue SVX152T telescope, Paramount MyT mount, QHY600M camera, 864 mm f5.6, multiple 180-second LRGB exposures, 74.5 hours total exposure.
Bence Tóth (Hungary) | Highly Commended
This image shows the dust and gas formations around the star Antares. As this part of the sky is barely visible from Hungary, the photographer traveled to Namibia as part of an astrophotography expedition to capture this image. A telephoto lens was used to achieve the huge field of view, but the photographer still needed to create a five-panel mosaic (three panels RGB and two panels H-alpha) to show this huge region in one picture.
Taken with a Samyang 135mm f2 ED UMC, Astronomik Deep-Sky RGB and 6nm H-alpha bandpass filters, Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 GT mount, 135 mm f2, 3 x 300-second R exposures, 3 x 300-second G exposures, 20 x 300-second B exposures, 2 panels of 60 x 300-second H-alpha exposures.
The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer
Xin Feng and Miao Gong (China) | Winner
SH2-308 (the Dolphin Head Nebula) is at a low angle and can only be shot for five hours daily. This image comprises a total of ten days of shooting and post-processing with PixInsight. The main body of the nebula and the background stellar wind are both prominent.
This Astronomy Photographer of the Year image was shot with a Takahashi TOA-130NS telescope, Sky-Watcher EQ8 mount, ZWO ASI6200MM-Cool camera, 1,000 mm f7.7, Gain 100, 144 x 600-second H-alpha exposures, 140 x 600-second OIII exposures.
Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year
Sonny Chart (UK), aged 15 | Runner-Up
This image was the photographer’s first mosaic, using around five hours of total integration time. The Flaming Star Nebula, to the left, is an emissive source that reflects light from dust lanes surrounding the star AE Aurigae. The Tadpole Nebula, on the right, has more very dark dust structures.
The photograph was stacked in DeepSkyStacker and processed in PixInsight with BlurXTerminator and NoiseXterminator.
Taken with a Sky-Watcher Quattro 150p telescope, Optolong L-eNhance tri-band filter, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount, Nikon D3500 camera, 518 mm f3.45, ISO 1,600, multiple 240-second exposures, 4 hours 28 minutes total exposure.
ZiYang Chang (China), aged 14 | Highly Commended
The Whirlpool Galaxy, located in the constellation Canes Venatici, interacts and collides with its neighboring galaxy, NGC 5195, resulting in its peculiar shape today. Due to its small area in the sky and its high degree of brightness, it achieves an excellent signal-to-noise ratio when using a 150 mm aperture telescope. After an extremely long exposure, the white cloud bands surrounding M51 are also displayed.
This Astronomy Photographer of the Year image was shot with a Sky-Watcher 150/750 telescope, UMi 17 Lite mount, ZWO ASI294MC Pro camera, 750 mm f5, Gain 120, 590 x 180-second exposures.
Runwei Xu (China), aged 15 | Highly Commended
When filming the Nishimura Comet, the photographer accidentally captured another comet, later identified as Comet 29P. The Nishimura Comet has an orbital period of 437 years, which is the only chance to see it.
Taken with a Takahashi TOA-130NS telescope, Optolong LRGB 2-inch filters, Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 mount, ZWO ASI2600MM-Cool camera, 1,000 mm f7.7, ISO 100, 60-second exposure.
Benjamin Lawler, aged 8, and Joshua Lawler, aged 10 (UK) | Highly Commended
This photo shows several galaxies, including M106. The photographer struggled to find a clear night that was not too late or on a school night. This picture was taken a day before the deadline on a very clear but cold night. It’s over 300 images stacked together.
This Astronomy Photographer of the Year picture was captured with a Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED telescope, light pollution filter, Sky-Watcher AZ-GTi mount, ZWO ASI294MC camera, 420 mm f5.8, ISO 120, 30-second exposure.
The Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation
Sergio Díaz Ruiz (Spain) | Winner
This seemingly alien world is actually our endangered planet, Earth, as a distant civilization might study it. This image was created by mixing the 16 bands monitored by the GOES-18 weather satellite to encode land masses, oceans, and atmospheric features as different colors.
Original data from GOES-18 ABI (Bands 1 to 16 (0.47 to 13.3 microns)) from 18 February 2024 and Suomi-NPP VIIRS (0.5 to 0.9 microns) from 2012–2020.
We do hope the Astronomy Photographer of the Year coverage has been enlightening for you, as it was for us while collating the information.