Astronomy: Photographer of the Year shortlist revealed
- Published
The Royal Observatory Greenwich's 13th Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition has announced its shortlist of jaw-dropping images of the skies. This image is called Iceland Vortex by Larryn Rae showing Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights in Iceland. This is a panorama made up of 20 images.
The Northern Lights are a popular image for photographers to try to capture - as they seem to combine Earth and space in an imaginative way. Here they are again in Murmansk, Russia, in a photo taken by Vitaliy Novikov.
However, many of the photos take a peak much deeper into space looking at our Solar System, galaxy and the wider universe. This pic is called Bicolour Veil Nebula, and shows a remnant of a giant supernova explosion. It was taken by Peter Feltoti from Hungary.
Er is this a view from another planet? No it's Earth but it's a composite photo made up of images of the Sun rising over Shanghai, China. The picture was taken at a distance of 16km by photographer Jiajun Hua.
As the photographer Yang Sutie was driving on the mountain road late at night and turned the corner, he saw a mound on the right side of the road. He stopped and climbed up the side of the road, set the camera to shoot automatically, and then drove back and forth in this curve. The amazing result is called Star Watcher.
In this image by Damien Peach, Saturn displays a wealth of details across the globe and ring system. Saturn's rings are made of of countless small particles, made almost entirely of water ice, with a trace component of rocky material.
In 2021 the competition received more than 4,500 entries from 75 countries. This image shows NGC 2024 - Flame Nebula by Steven Mohr.
Dolphin Head Nebula by Yovin Yahathugoda shows how interstellar winds and forces have created this cosmic bubble in outer space.
Path of the Full Moon above the Sleeping City, by Remi Leblanc-Messager shows the Moon passing over the skyline of Paris, France. At the centre of the photograph you can see one single human watching from a rooftop.
Some photographers even captured whole galaxies, like this one showing NGC 3981 galaxy taken by Bernard Miller.