Astronomy Photographer of the Year winners announced
Hungarian photographer László Francsics has been named the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year award.
Taken in Budapest, Hungary, the image titled ‘Into the Shadow’ shows the composition of the 35 phases of the total lunar eclipse that occurred on January 21, 2019.
According to the Royal Observatory, it "captivated and astounded" the judges, securing the £10,000 top prize for Mr Francsics.
Mr Francsics' image also won the 'Moon' category, and will be part of an exhibition of the other winning photographs opening at the National Maritime Museum on September 13, 2019.
Here are the winners of the other categories:
Winner of Young Astronomy Photographer of The Year:Stellar Flower - Davy van der Hoeven
Aged just 11 years old, Davy van der Hoeven decided to capture a deep sky image, so he started researching online for nebulae and came across the magnificent Rosette Nebula.
With the help of his father, he built the equipment and together, over three nights in November, they captured images images of the Rosette Nebula using different filters.
He then practised processing images on one of his father’s older photographs and then processed the raw data of this image by himself.
Winner of Aurorae:The Watcher - Nicolai Brügger
German photographer Nicolai Brügger hiked in the snow to the top of the mountain Offersøykammen in Norway, to witness and capture the breathtaking giant aurora over the Lofoten Islands.
He waited many hours and after midnight the bright Northern Lights finally appeared. The photographer shot this as a panorama to showcase the arched aurora over the mountains.
Winner of Galaxies:Shells of Elliptical Galaxy NGC 3923 in Hydra - Rolf Wahl Olsen
Taken in New Zealand by the Danish photographer, this is a deep image of the peculiar, elliptical galaxy NGC3923.
The galaxy features myriad concentric shells as a result of past mergers with other nearby galaxies.
Scattered throughout the field of view, far in the distant background, are numerous other galaxies, many of which lie several billion light years away.
Winner of Our Sun:A Little Fireworks - Alan Friedman
US photographer Alan Friedman took a close-up of the solar limb with what looks like fireworks in the solar minimum period of the Sun’s cycle.
A group of prominences are silhouetted against the background of space.
Winner of People and Space:Ben, Floyd and the Core - Ben Bush
The image depicts UK photographer Ben Bush and his dog, Floyd at Hadrian's Wall, surrounded by Mars, Saturn and the galactic core of the Milky Way galaxy
Tthe photographer often tries and fails to capture his dogs at night, but with this shot the shutter speed was reduced to 10 seconds to allow to keep Floyd still.
To counter this, the ISO was increased and the Mr Bush whispered ‘don't move, don't move, don't move’ to Floyd for the whole 10 seconds.
Winner of Planets, Comets and Asteroids:Death of Opportunity - Andy Casely
This is a sequence of images of Mars in 2018, that follows the progress of the great global dust storm, which proved to be detrimental for the Opportunity Mars rover, which exceeded its planned lifespan by 14 years.
Winner of Skyscapes:Across the Sky of History - Wang Zheng
This mystical image of withered poplar trees was taken in the Mongolian region of Ejina, in the historical Kingdom of Xi Xia.
The poplars’ resistance to erosion has led to an extraordinary formation of a desolate landscape and as a meteor falls, their shapes look like ancient creatures on an uninhabited desert.
Winner of Stars and Nebulae:Statue of Liberty Nebula - Ignacio Diaz Bobillo
These are two nebula complexes, far apart from one another.
The one on the right, NGC 3576, is closer to Earth, and its shape provides the title of this image.
Both are active stellar nurseries, lit and shaped by the radiation from energetic youngstars, showcasing a spectacular array of structures and colours.
(Joint) Winners of the Sir Patrick Moore Prize For Best Newcomer:The Jewels of Orion - Ross Clark
This strip of the Orion constellation includes some of the best targets in the Northern Hemisphere.
According to UK photographer Ross Clark, the image shows what can be done with a pretty average DSLR camera and a lens and is hopefully an inspiration to those who have some photography kit already and want to get started.
Sky and Ground, Stars and Sand - Shuchang Dong
The Moon was shining bright over the sand dunes in north-central China, when Chinese photographer Shuchang Dong decided to capture this image with a friend.
After enjoying a sunset and the rise of the Moon, they began to take photos of the magnificent starry sky.
Winner of Robotic Scope:Infrared Saturn - László Francsics
With this image, László Francsics decided to take on the challenge of revealing the very near infrared colours of Saturn, using the combination of the red and other two infrared planetary filters.