PetaPixel - The Winners of the Royal Observatory’s Best Astronomy Photos of 2021

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LINK - The Winners of the Royal Observatory’s Best Astronomy Photos of 2021

JARON SCHNEIDER

The Royal Observatory Greenwich has announced the winners of its 13th annual astronomy photographer of the year competition, with the ￡10,000 (about $13,793) top prize awarded for a beautiful photo of a solar eclipse titled “The Golden Ring.”

Astronomy Photographer of the Year is run by Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. Now in its thirteenth year, the competition organizers say that it received over 4,500 entries from 75 countries. The best of these exceptional photographs – winners, runners-up, highly commended and shortlisted – are showcased in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, opening to the public from starting on September 18.

The competition shared some of its top picks earlier this summer when it published its shortlist of images from the year’s submissions.

The competition features 11 total categories: Aurorae, Galaxies, Our Moon, Our Sun, People and Space, Planets, Comets and Asteroids, Skyscapes, Stars and Nebulae, Best Newcomer, and Young. “The Golden Ring” was captured by Shuchang Dong and was selected as both the winner of the “Our Sun” category as well as selected as the overall winning image. The photograph depicts the annular solar eclipse that occurred on June 21, 2020 in a powerful and atmospheric composition.

On 21 June 2020 there was an annular solar eclipse and the photographer made sure not to miss it. He decided to go to Ali in Tibet to shoot it because it has year-round sunny weather. However, during the annular eclipse, there were dark clouds all over the sky. The anticipation was high but within a minute of the annular eclipse, the sunshine pierced through the clouds and the photographer was lucky to capture that moment. Afterwards the Sun disappeared again.

Below are the winning images from the other categories accompanied by a description of the images provided by the Royal Observatory.

All the winners, runners-up, and shortlisted entries can be viewed on the Royal Observatory’s website. This year’s winners, shortlisted entries, and a selection of previous winners will be published by Collins in the competition’s official book, available for pre-order from the Royal Museums Greenwich shops and online starting on September 30 for ￡25 (about $35).

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Aurorae

Polar Lights Dance © Dmitrii Rybalka


Galaxies

The Milky Ring © Zhong Wu


Our Moon

Beyond the Limb © Nicolas Lefaudeux


People and Space

Lockdown © Deepal Ratnayaka


Planets Comets and Asteroids

A Colourful Quadrantid Meteor © Frank Kuszaj


Skyscapes

Luna Dunes © Jeffrey Lovelace


Stars and Nebulae

California Dreamin’ NGC 1499 © Terry Hancock


Best Newcomer

Falcon 9 Soars Past the Moon © Paul Eckhardt


Young

Family Photo of the Solar System © 至璞 王





Image credits: Header image by Shuchang Dong, all other images individually credited and provided courtesy of the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photography of the Year 13 (2021).


PetaPixel - The Winners of the Royal Observatory’s Best Astronomy Photos of 2021