Winning photos for the Astronomy Photographer of the Year are revealed
Winners of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition were recently announced, featuring mesmerizing images of galaxies and our solar system. Over 4,000 entries from 64 countries were submitted, competing in 10 categories. The top prize went to 'Andromeda, Unexpected,' capturing a massive plasma arc near the Andromeda Galaxy, our closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way.
The overall winner and winner in the Galaxies category is 'Andromeda, Unexpected' by Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner, and Yann Sainty. This remarkable image features a previously unseen plasma arc, emitting blue light, next to the Andromeda Galaxy, sparking international scientific investigation.
The Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year winners are Runwei Xu and Binyu Wang for their image 'The Running Chicken Nebula.' This nebula, known as IC2944, is situated in the Centaurus constellation, 6,000 light years from Earth, and it showcases the star cluster Collinder 249 within the nebula's luminous gas.
The winner in the Sun category is Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau for the image titled 'A Sun Question.' This photograph features the Sun with a prominent filament shaped like a question mark. These solar filaments are formed by magnetic fields in the Sun's atmosphere.
The Skyscapes category winner is 'Grand Cosmic Fireworks' by Angel An. This captivating image captures the rare atmospheric luminescence phenomenon known as sprites, which resemble fireworks. The photograph was taken from the highest ridge of the Himalaya mountains.
The Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation was awarded to 'Black Echo' by John White. This innovative image takes audio source material from NASA's Chandra Sonification Project to visually capture the sound of the black hole at the center of the Perseus Galaxy. White used a unique technique involving a petri dish filled with water and played the audio through a speaker to create intriguing patterns in the liquid, which were captured with a macro lens and halo light in a dark room.
In the Sun category, the runner-up is 'Dark Star' by Peter Ward. This image portrays the Sun turned 'inside-out,' with the photographer using an inversion technique onto polar coordinates to emphasize the smaller prominences at the Sun's edge.
The highly commended entry is 'Moon at Nightfall' by Haohan Sun. This photograph captures the moonrise over the Xinghai Bay Bridge in Dalian, China. It highlights how atmospheric extinction affects the Moon's hue and brightness when it is low on the horizon, with the Moon appearing brighter and less red as it rises higher in the sky.
The moon runner-up is 'Sundown on the Terminator' by Tom Williams. This photograph captures the Plato Crater, an almost perfectly circular crater measuring 109 km in diameter, during a local lunar sunset in the last quarter. This phase allows approximately half of the Moon's face to be visible from Earth.
The highly commended entry titled 'The Dark Wolf – Fenrir' by James Baguley showcases a dark, thick molecular cloud in the shape of a wolf, known as the Wolf Nebula or Fenrir Nebula. Baguley chose a starless image to emphasize the beautiful red background, which is a dense backdrop of hydrogen gas.
The Moon winner, titled 'Mars-Set' by Ethan Chappel, captures an occultation of Mars that occurred on December 8, 2022. During the occultation, the Moon passes in front of the planet Mars, allowing the astrophotographer to capture both objects together.
This highly commended deep-space photograph showcases galaxies NGC 5078 and IC879 on the left, and NGC 5101 on the right. The detailed image provides a clear view of the hazy dust within these galaxies.
The winner in the Aurorae category is "Brushstroke" by Monika Deviat. This abstract photograph captures the aurora in the shape of a brushstroke, and notably, the photographer chose to capture the aurora in isolation.
The winner in the Stars and Nebulae category is "New Class of Galactic Nebulae Around the Star YY Hya" by Marcel Drechsler. This photograph captures a previously unknown galactic nebula, with a pair of stars at its center surrounded by a common envelope. The extensive exposure time and effort resulted in a detailed image of this stellar remnant, which the team has named "the heart of the Hydra."
The winner in the People and Space category is "Zeila" by Vikas Chander. This photograph captures the stranded ship Zeila on Namibia's treacherous Skeleton Coast. The image showcases the delicate colors of different star types in the night sky.
The winner in the Planets, Comets, and Asteroids category is "Suspended in a Sunbeam" by Tom Williams. This unique photograph provides a view of Venus using infrared or ultraviolet false color, revealing intricate details within the planet's upper atmosphere beyond the visible spectrum.
The highly commended entry is titled "Last Full Moon of the Year Featuring a Colourful Corona During a Close Encounter with Mars" by Miguel Claro. This photograph captures the last Full Moon of 2022 surrounded by clouds and features a colorful lunar corona caused by the diffraction of moonlight through water droplets in the Earth's atmosphere. To the right of the Moon, Mars is visible as a small orange dot.
The Best Newcomer award goes to "Sh2-132: Blinded by the Light" by Aaron Wilhelm. This photograph captures the Sh2-132 complex located near the border of the Cepheus and Lacerta constellations. It showcases multiple deep sky structures and involved 70 hours of data collection. The interplay of various gases in the image reveals different details each time you view it. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12521749/Stunning-winning-photos-Royal-Observatory-Greenwichs-Astronomy-Photographer-Year-revealed-question-mark-sun-running-chicken-nebula.html?ito=msngallery
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