The prestigious Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition has herald the acquire picture of its 2020 contest . From galaxies and star - forming nebula through to planets , aurorae , and annoying satellite trails , these photos prompt us that Earth is but a particular particle in the vastness of space .
This is the 12th running of the photo contest , which is managed by Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine and Insight Investment . For this year ’s competition , judges had to pore over and shortlist 5,000 entries gathered from six continents .
French photographer Nicolas Lefaudeux ’s stunning picture of the Andromeda beetleweed ( pictured up top ) earn him the overall top prize of £ 10,000 ( $ 12,860 ) . Lefaudeux ’s opus create it appear as if the Andromeda galaxy — the closest coltsfoot to our own — is at arm ’s length , even though it ’s 2 million light - days away . The photographer created this tilt - switching effect by 3-D - printing a part that held the camera at a cardinal angle , while the blurring upshot was created by a defocusing the outer edges of the photograph .
Winning image for the Aurorae category.Image: Nicholas Roemmelt (Germany)
The Green Lady
These Northern Lights , captured in Norway by German photographer Nicholas Roemmelt , blaze away in unripened , blue , and pink , let out a hidden figure .
Tycho Crater Region with Colours
The obscure people of color of Tycho crater on the Moon are revealed in this brilliant composite photo taken by Alain Paillou . The colors of the soil , though faint to the unaided center , are produced by metal oxide plant within belittled egg of glass strewn across the lunar surface . depressed areas are fat in titanium oxide , while the red surface area are high in iron oxide .
Liquid Sunshine
This incredibly elaborated survey of the Sun ’s control surface , seen during its solar minimum , was captured by UK lensman Alexandra Hart . Each of those convection mobile phone get a line in the photo measure around 600 miles ( 1,000 km ) across .
The Prison of Technology
This prototype , beguile by Rafael Schmall , is a pure — though unfortunate — example of how satellites are increasingly making it difficult for lensman andastronomersto gaze upon an unobstructed sky . Here , the Albireo twofold whizz sit behind a set of satellite trails , which come out when take long - photo pic .
Painting the Sky
The polar night , as seen by lensman Thomas Kast in Finnish Lapland . This insubstantial skyscape reckon like something right out of a Monet painting , but the dramatic effect is grow by polar stratospheric clouds . Ironically , Kast was actually wait to photograph absolved sky at night when this incredible position suddenly appeared .
Space Between Us
Polish photographer Łukasz Sujka snapped this unco close conjunction of Jupiter and the Moon on October 31 , 2019 . Sujka say he “ wanted to show the immense emptiness and the size of space , which is why there is a lot of ‘ nothing ’ between the two major part of the paradigm , ” as he said in a press release .
Cosmic Inferno
A unique faux - colouring survey of NGC 3576 , in which the stars have been removed from this nebula by the photographer , Peter Ward . The point of this utilization was to emulate image take of the Australian wildfires in 2019 and 2020 .
The Four Planets and the Moon
Alice Fock Hang , years 11 , gain ground top prize for the Young Competition category . Her arresting picture shows the Moon , Venus , Mercury , Jupiter , Saturn , and several prominent star above the Indian Ocean , let in Alpha Centauri on far left and Antares park in front of the Milky Way coltsfoot .
Waves
A remarkable view of the California Nebula , or NGC 1499 , in which photographer Bence Toth strive to preserve the original people of colour of this star - shape region to the greatest extent possible .
NGC 3628 with 300,000 Light-Year-Long Tail
It take photographer Mark Hanson five years to grow this stunning image of galaxy NGC 3628 , with most exposures acquired in 2019 . The purpose of this mosaic image , and the primary challenge , was to show the galaxy ’s prodigious derriere , which measures 300,000 light - twelvemonth in length .
AZURE Vapor Tracers
This is n’t an foreign invasion , but it ’s not a wholly rude occurrence , either . This sight , photographed by Yang Sutie in Arctic Norway , captures the smart remainder of the Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment ( AZURE ) , in which skyrocket launch from the Andøya Space Centre dispersed flatulence tracers to dig into winds in Earth ’s upper aura .
All acquire debut will be showcased at the National Maritime Museum pop on October 23 , 2020 .
AstronomyScience
Winning image for the Our Moon category.Image: Alain Paillou (France)
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Winner of the Our Sun category.Image: Alexandra Hart (UK)
Winning image for the People and Space category.Image: Rafael Schmall (Hungary)
Winner of the Skyscapes category.Image: Thomas Kast (Germany
Winner of the Planets, Comets, and Asteroids category.Image: Łukasz Sujka (Poland)
Winner of the Stars and Nebulae category.Image: Peter Ward (Australia)
Winner of the Young Competition category.Image: Alice Fock Hang (Reunion
Winner of Best Newcomer category.Image: Bence Toth (Hungary
Runner up in the Galaxies category.Image: Mark Hanson (USA)
A Highly Commended image from the People and Space category.Image: Yang Sutie (China)
