Astronomy Photographer of the Year: Collection 11

By Royal Observatory Greenwich and Collins Astronomy

A stunning ebook with clear navigation for admirers of astrophotography.

This ebook has been built to W3C accessibility guidelines and will work with text to speech. The layout has been redesigned with clear navigation links to each of the competition entries within the Maps section. It is compatible with all ereading apps and devices.

From the number one Astronomy publisher, this ebook showcases the most spectacular space photography, taken from locations across the globe. Marvel at the wonders of the universe captured by the most talented astrophotographers.

Be captivated by 140 winning and shortlisted images from the 2022 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, hosted by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. These awe-inspiring images are submitted in several categories: Skyscapes, Our Sun, Galaxies, Our Moon, Aurorae, Planets, Comets and Asteroids, People and Space, Stars and Nebulae. Plus Best Newcomer, Image Innovation and Young Competitor categories. Each image is accompanied by caption, photographer, location and technical details. There is also a location map showing the origin of all images and a visual appendix of all images.

The judges are from an expert panel of distinguished astronomy experts.

The Exhibition
The National Maritime Museum hosts an exhibition of the winners of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, showcasing these incredible images of the sky.
www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Dec 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9780008553388

Royal Observatory Greenwich

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian of the World, making it the official starting point for each new day and year. It is also home to London's only planetarium, the Harrison timekeepers and the UK's largest refracting telescope. It runs the annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPETITION

This year, the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, supported by Liberty Speciality Markets, attracted an astonishing 3,204 submissions to its 11 categories from 649 entrants internationally. The competition continues to set the standard for astrophotography and showcases the breadth and variety of environments on our planet and beyond.

As with previous years, there are eight subject categories featuring an extraordinary range of celestial, meteorological and atmospheric phenomena. From each category, a winner, a runner-up and a highly commended image are selected by the judges.

There is also a young astronomy photography competition for entrants under the age of 16. The range of accomplished submissions to this year’s Young Competition reflects the ever-growing interest in astrophotography and its increasing accessibility.

Finally, two special prizes are awarded. The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer, open to those with less than two years’ experience of astronomy photography, continues to recognize fledgling astrophotographers. Now in its third year, the Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation challenges entrants to edit open source data to innovate and inspire us with new and unique views of the worlds around us. The prize is named after Annie Maunder, an astronomer who worked at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich at the turn of the twentieth century. She was one of the world’s first astrophotographers and, like many women in her day, had to overcome incredible adversity to pursue her astronomy work.

The 138 images in this book, comprising the competition shortlist and including all category winners, are an exemplary collection. As ever, the judging process was both challenging and enjoyable, and brought together a diverse range of perspectives to debate the merits of each photograph. The final selection is remarkable in the variety of its subjects and for the calibre of the submissions. This book is a breathtaking journey through the sights of our Universe and beyond. It is hoped by everyone involved with the competition that you are inspired to join Royal Museums Greenwich in celebrating the wonders of space and the Universe again next year.

FEELING INSPIRED?

You do not need to have years of experience or expensive equipment to take a brilliant astrophotograph, so why not have a go and enter your images into the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition? There are great prizes to be won and you could see your photo on display at Royal Museums Greenwich. Visit us online for more information about the competition and accompanying exhibition at www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto.

COMPETITION CATEGORIES

SKYSCAPES

Landscape and cityscape images of twilight and the night sky featuring the Milky Way, star trails, meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, constellations, halos and noctilucent clouds alongside elements of Earthly scenery.

OUR SUN

Solar images, including solar eclipses and transits.

GALAXIES

Deep space objects beyond the Milky Way, including galaxies and galaxy clusters.

OUR MOON

Lunar images, including lunar eclipses and occultations of planets.

AURORAE

Photographs featuring auroral activity.

PLANETS, COMETS AND ASTEROIDS

Everything else in our solar system, including planets and their satellites, comets, asteroids and other forms of zodiacal debris.

PEOPLE AND SPACE

Photographs of the night sky, including people or a human-interest element.

STARS AND NEBULAE

Deep space objects within the Milky Way galaxy, including stars, star clusters, supernova remnants, nebulae and other galactic phenomena.

YOUNG COMPETITION

The Young Competition is for entrants under the age of 16 and entries can depict any astronomical subject.

SPECIAL PRIZES

SIR PATRICK MOORE PRIZE FOR BEST NEWCOMER

For newcomers who have only been practising astronomy photography since January 2021 and who have not entered the competition before.

THE ANNIE MAUNDER PRIZE FOR IMAGE INNOVATION

Images of any astronomical subject processed using pre-existing publicly accessible data.

JUDGES

Imad Ahmed is the Director of the New Crescent Society, an organization which celebrates Islam’s rich heritage in the field of astronomy. He also co-delivers the Astronomy and Islam programme at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. Imad’s passion lies in exploring the relationship between culture and astronomy, and how civilizations have always found myth and meaning in the cosmos.

Yuri Beletsky is a professional astronomer and an award-winning nightscape photographer based in Chile. He conducts scientific research and deals with modern astronomical instrumentation at one of the largest optical telescopes located in the Atacama Desert. His images are known worldwide and have been featured in various books, magazines, popular websites and on TV. When not at the observatory you can find him travelling around the world and sharing his passion for astrophotography through lectures, private lessons and workshops.

Ed Bloomer is Public Astronomy manager at Royal Museums Greenwich. He is an astronomer and science communicator who completed his PhD at the University of Glasgow’s Institute for Gravitational Research.

Melissa Brobby is a journalist, science communicator and Social Media Officer for the Institute of Physics. Melissa’s love for astronomy and physics led to her passion to promote these subjects to a wider audience through social media, creating science education videos for families.

László Francsics is an architect, astrophotographer and the Chairman of the Hungarian Astrophotographers’ Association. He works in Budapest and has recently written his doctoral thesis on the relationship between humanity and the cosmos. He was the overall winner of the 2019 Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

Sheila Kanani is a planetary physicist, science presenter, secondary school physics teacher, space comedian and published author, with a background in astrophysics and astronomy research from UK universities. She regularly acts as a science ambassador by visiting schools and speaking at events. Sheila is currently the Education, Outreach and Diversity Officer for the Royal Astronomical Society.

Hannah Lyons is Assistant Curator of Art at Royal Museums Greenwich, with responsibility for the contemporary art and Born-Digital art collections. Her PhD, undertaken in collaboration with the Victoria & Albert Museum, focused on professional women printmakers in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century England. She previously worked at the V&A, Tate and the University of Oxford.

Steve Marsh is the Art Editor for BBC Sky at Night Magazine. He has worked as a professional graphic designer and picture researcher for 20 years and is an avid amateur astrophotographer in his spare time.

Alan Sparrow is Chair of the UK Picture Editors’ Guild and Director of the UK Picture Editors’ Guild Awards, the most prestigious awards for press photographers in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Alan’s passion for photography led to him setting up a website, Fleet Street’s Finest, to promote and sell photojournalism to the public as fine art. Alan was Executive Picture Editor at Metro newspaper for 16 years and prior to that worked for The Guardian from 1979 to 1995.

AUTHORS

Background text for shortlisted entries was created by the following members of staff at Royal Museums Greenwich:

Sponsor: Liberty Speciality Markets logo.

In this publication and the exhibition it accompanies, you will see awe-inspiring images that showcase the incredible skills of the astrophotographers who entered the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The cosmos reveals its secrets a little piece at a time and some of these intriguing moments have been captured on camera by talented individuals from all over the world.

Now more than ever, it’s important for us to think more broadly to address the challenges the world is facing, be those natural or human-made. The images assembled here may prompt you to wonder about the world beyond our stratosphere. The spectacular displays created by our Universe and captured on camera will certainly spark curiosity and debate.

Liberty Specialty Markets provides insurance for fine art collections and exhibitions. Our programmes support artists at all stages of their careers, from encouraging creativity in schools, to championing professional artists.

We are passionate about bringing important exhibitions to the public and proud to continue our 20-year partnership with Royal Museums Greenwich.

Liberty Specialty Markets, a trading name of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Group.

Media Partner: BBC Sky at Night Magazine logo.

BBC Sky at Night Magazine is the UK’s best-selling monthly guide to stargazing and astronomy, for those who want to discover more about the wonders of the Universe from the world’s leading astronomers and writers. Complementing The Sky at Night on BBC TV and available in both print and digital formats, the magazine features comment and analysis from its presenters Chris Lintott and Pete Lawrence, as well as world-leading scientists covering the latest discoveries in space science, the best things to see in the night sky, plus the latest equipment reviews and expert astrophotography guides.

BBC Sky at Night Magazine is published by Our Media Ltd under licence from BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Visit www.skyatnightmagazine.com for subscription details, stargazing guides, telescope reviews, podcasts, video guides and more.

IMAGE LOCATIONS

Map showing the origin of shortlisted images in the 2022 competition.

Number on map relates to page number.

World map showing the location of all the shortlisted images

North America

Map of North America

In print page number order: