The Royal Observatory Greenwich has revealed the finalists for the 2023 Astronomical Photographer of the Year competition. This annual competition for professional and amateur photographers has attracted over 4,000 entries from 64 countries around the world. Who will win the prestigious award this year?
The Royal Observatory in Greenwich announced the shortlisted images for its 2023 Astronomy Photographer Contest. The astrophotography competition, now in its 15th edition, is the largest in the world and this year included more than 4,000 entries from 64 countries.
The competition includes nine main categories for different astronomy topics: people and space, skyscapes, auroras, our Sun, Moon, solar system objects, stars and nebulae, galaxies, and a price for people aged 16 and under.
Images from this year include star trails over preserved World War I trenches in France, solar flares, an aurora borealis above the giant Arctic Henge sundial and a 50 million star barred spiral galaxy. light years.
The winning images of the competition will be announced on September 14, 2023, with an exhibition featuring winning, shortlisted and highly commended entries that will open at the National Maritime Museum in London on September 16.
To give you an overview of the photos in the short list, which includes images ranging from celestial bodies to auroras, stars and nebulae, we have selected a few photos. You can visit the website Astronomy Photographer of the Year Award to view the full registry of shortlisted images.
Solar Flare X1 by AR2994 in ‘Motion’ by Miguel Claro
Dark sky Alqueva region, Évora district, Portugal
Photographer Miguel Claro told the Royal Observatory in Greenwich: “(…) I pointed the telescope as quickly as possible towards the limb where the eruption started from sunspot AR2994, already hidden behind the edge of the Sun. According to SpaceWeatherLive, “The explosion produced enough radiation for a strong shortwave radio blackout over the mid-Atlantic Ocean and Europe.” The conditions were choppy, but I managed to do a short time of around 27 minutes.
Celestial Equator above the First World War Memorial Trench by Louis Leroux-Gere
Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, France
Photographer Louis Leroux-Gere told the Royal Observatory in Greenwich: “This is my first star trail taken during a five hour exposure. This photograph was taken at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in northern France, the memorial site of all Canadians who served in the First World War.”
Jellyfish Nebula by Peter Larkin
Coppet, Vaud, Switzerland
Photographer Larkin told the Royal Observatory, Greenwich: “I recently switched from OSC (one-shot-color) to mono, and I was very excited, having seen many impressive SHO images. The Nebula of the jellyfish I photographed was only my second attempt in mono I had a stretch of clear sky and started with H-alpha, then OIII and finally SII from my garden near Geneva, in Swiss.”
Derek Horlock’s Pandora’s Box
Alyko Beach, Naxos, Greece
Photographer Derek explains to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich: “The image of Pandora on the wall in this photograph is by ‘Wild Drawing’, also known as ‘WD’, a Balinese artist from the Greek island of Naxos. It’s in a long-abandoned sketchy beach resort. Walking among the ruins is dangerous: avoid deep holes in the collapsed concrete floors.
Green Snakes by Filip Hrebenda
Vikten Beach, Lofoten Islands, Norway
Photographer Filip told the Royal Greenwich Observatory: “This photo was taken at Vikten, one of the lesser known beaches in the area. For this scene, the trick was to find a position where the reflection of the mountain, including its peak, was visible in the water. When the tide is low on Vikten Beach, many small pools will appear in the rocky paths carved out by the ocean. That night, the reflection was beautifully complemented by the aurora.
RCW58: Wolf Rayet Bubble by Mark Hanson and Mike Selby
El Sauce Observatory, Hurtado River, Chile
Hanson and Selby explain to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich: “These three-dimensional bubbles appear as a two-dimensional ring, as seen in this image, and represent stellar ejecta contained within a wind-blown bubble.”
According to astronomers, “Looks like you can hear it sizzle!”
Rich Addis Rock Ball
Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside, UK
The photographer explains: “This 78% Moon is mixed with a previous Full Moon to create a composite that gives the effect of a 3D sphere,” explains Rich.
“This is only possible thanks to the extremely favorable libration between the two images. Libration is the tilt of the Moon that varies more than you might think and it is very difficult to find two images that line up correctly. There are many images similar to this one, but on closer inspection they often have duplicate features and don’t match as well. The image is a mosaic of 22 panels. Each panel features 400 stacked and hand-sewn frames.
Source: Latercera
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
