Yearly, the “Astronomy Photographer of the 12 months” competitors gives unimaginable pictures of our night time sky — whether or not they’re beautiful views of distant galaxies or dramatic pictures of aurorae or different views from our residence planet. This yr isn’t any completely different, and the awards have been simply introduced at a particular presentation on the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (ROG), England for the unimaginable 16th yr of the competitors. The occasion is sponsored by the ROG, supported by Liberty Specialty Markets and in affiliation with BBC Sky at Night time Journal. For the 2024 competitors there have been over 3,500 entries from 58 nations.
Above is the general winner, Ryan Imperio from the USA for his {photograph}, Distorted Shadows of the Moon’s Floor Created by an Annular Eclipse. This uncommon and beautiful picture captures the development of Baily’s beads through the 2023 annular eclipse.
“That is a powerful dissection of the fleeting few seconds through the visibility of the Baily’s beads,” stated one of many judges for the competitors, meteorologist Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn. “This picture left me captivated and amazed. It’s distinctive work deserving of excessive recognition.”
Baily’s beads are an impact that happens when gaps within the Moon’s rugged terrain permits daylight to move via in some locations simply earlier than the whole section of the eclipse begins and likewise simply because the eclipse is ending. These could be difficult to seize due to how briefly they’re seen.
The profitable photographer, in a press release about the competition, Ryan Imperio stated, “The photographs chosen every year are completely astonishing and I’m each thrilled and honoured to have my picture amongst them. I had hoped my picture can be shared indirectly however by no means anticipated to be chosen as a winner, not to mention Total Winner!”
Listed below are the winners in every class:
Aurorae
This beautiful picture was captured by Larryn Rae in New Zealand, with this view of the Aurora Australis seen above the mountains in Queenstown. It’s a 19-image panorama displaying a compilation of all of the fast-moving beams that lit up the sky in February 2023. The photographer used an astro-modified digicam to seize all of the pink hues of the aurora which makes for an extremely dynamic closing picture.
Our Moon
| This image of the Moon reveals Sinus Iridum, also referred to as the ‘Bay of Rainbows,’ a 260-kilometer diameter bay bordered by a number of smaller craters. Gábor Balázs from Hungary used a monochrome digicam with a filter to seize the world. The crater seen within the higher proper nook, Pythagoras. |
Galaxies
Bence Tóth and Péter Feltóti from Hungary mixed forces for this picture, displaying the galaxy NGC 5128 and its surrounding tidal wave system and highly effective jets of radiation and particles, which journey near the velocity of sunshine. This galaxy can solely be seen from the southern hemisphere, so the photographers traveled to Namibia to seize the picture.
Individuals and Area
I by no means tire of seeing pictures of the Worldwide Area Station (ISS) transiting one other photo voltaic system physique. Right here, Tom Williams from the UK, captured the ISS crossing the field-of-view in simply 0.2 seconds! The Solar was lively and a prominence proper subsequent to the station’s transit location could be seen.
Planets, Comets and Asteroids
Right here’s one other winner by Tom Williams within the UK! This false-color composite reveals the phases of Venus on method to inferior conjunction, which is when Venus and the Earth seem shut on the identical aspect of the Solar. Tom used ultra-violet and infrared filters, enabling view of the intricate cloud construction inside Venus’ higher environment to be revealed. Williams defined that regardless of Venus’s rotation interval being many months lengthy, the environment is much from stationary, circling the planet in round 4 days. This makes UV imaging of Venus notably fascinating because the planet is far more dynamic than it in any other case can be if considered within the seen spectrum.
Skyscapes
One other stunner from the darkish skies of New Zealand! Tom Rae shot this {photograph} of the rugged peaks of the Tasman Valley, showcasing the unimaginable options of the southern hemisphere summer time night time sky. It contains the hydrogen clouds of the Gum Nebula (central crimson area) and varied different areas of lively star formation stretched all through the fainter arms of the Milky Method. This a part of the night time sky that tends to be much less photographed, as a result of faintness of the Milky Method band.
Stars and Nebulae
This unimaginable picture got here as the results of a gaggle effort of a number of beginner astronomers all over the world, who collected 3,559 frames, from 260 hours of publicity time with telescopes on three continents. The group labored to discover and {photograph} a beforehand unknown gigantic supernova remnant (SNR) within the middle of the well-known constellation Cassiopeia. The group was led by Professor Robert Fesen from the USA. The truth that amateurs have made such a discovery is a testomony to how essential their position has turn out to be in at this time’s astronomy.
Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Finest Newcomer
Two new photographers from China teamed as much as seize SH2-308 (the Dolphin Head Nebula). This goal poses a problem as a result of is at a low angle within the sky and might solely be shot for 5 hours a day. This picture took ten days of taking pictures and post-processing with PixInsight
Younger Astrophotographer
I really like this class yearly and have by no means didn’t be impressed with the up-and-coming beginner astrophographers! 14-year-old Daniele Borsari from Italy captured picture of California Nebula, NGC 1499, an emission nebula within the constellation of Perseus. It’s positioned at a distance of about 1,000 mild years from Earth and it’s seen because of the ionization of gases by the blue big star ??Persei (Menkib).
Annie Maunder Prize for Picture Innovation
Alien world? Nope, that is planet Earth, as you’ve by no means seen it. This extremely artistic picture was made by mixing the 16 bands monitored by the GOES-18 climate satellite tv for pc to encode land plenty, oceans and atmospheric options as completely different colours.
Nancy’s Private Favourite
This picture is my very own private favourite of this yr’s competitors. Matt Jackson from Montana within the USA arrange a timelapse for only one hour, and you’ll see the paths of all of the satellites that flew over the sphere of view in that brief time. The photographer stated he selected this subject material to focus on his issues associated to privateness and the ability that comes from controlling expertise — to not point out the ‘air pollution’ of the night time sky with the rising prevalence of Earth-orbiting satellites.
See all of the winners, runners-up and extremely counseled pictures on the ROG website.
When you occur to be within the UK, there will likely be an exhibition of all the photographs opening on the National Maritime Museum on Friday September 13, 2024.
In case you are impressed — or impressed — by these pictures, contemplate becoming a member of subsequent yr’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition!
