Image of the Andromeda Galaxy Wins Astronomy Photography of the Year Award; Check Out Others (Photo: Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner, and Yann Sainty)
The 15th edition of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, organized by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, received over 4,000 submissions from photographers in 64 countries, leaving photography enthusiasts in awe with stunning images of the night sky.
The winners of this year’s competition highlighted the infinite wonders of the cosmos and the astonishing technological advancements that allow us to see light-years away with unprecedented detail.
The winning image, “Andromeda, Unexpected,” resulted from a collaboration between astrophotographers Marcel Drechsler from Germany, Xavier Strottner, and Yann Sainty from France.
The trio discovered a massive plasma arc near the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), leading to a transnational scientific collaboration to investigate the phenomenon further.
Below, you can find the most dazzling photos from the main categories of the competition. You can view all selected images in the online gallery of the competition.
“Andromeda, Unexpected,” winner of the Galaxies category and overall winner of the competition (Photo: Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner, and Yann Sainty/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)“The Running Chicken Nebula,” winner of the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year award (Photo: Runwei Xu and Binyu Wang/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)“Close Encounters of the Haslingden Kind,” highly commended in the People and Space category (Photo: Katie McGuinness/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)“Circle of Light,” runner-up in the Auroras category (Photo: Andreas Ettl/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)“Neighbours,” highly commended in the Galaxies category (Photo: Paul Montague/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)“Grand Cosmic Fireworks,” winner of the Celestial Landscapes category (Photo: Angel An/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)“Dark Star,” runner-up in the Our Sun category (Photo: Peter Ward/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)“Moon at Nightfall,” highly commended in the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year category (Photo: Haohan Sun/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)“Mars-Set,” winner of the Our Moon category (Photo: Ethan Chappel/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)“The Great Solar Flare,” highly commended in the Our Sun category (Photo: Mehmet Ergün/Astronomy Photographer of the Year)