Spectacular images of our sky and galaxy have been revealed following thousands of entries to the Astronomy Photography of the Year competition.
One stand out is a jet flying in front of the sun, captured by Chinese photographer Zhang Yanguang.
The picture, taken in Xiamen, south-eastern China, was highly commended in the ‘People and Space’ category of the contest.
The winners are on display at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, south-east London.
One stand out is a jet flying in front of the sun, captured by Chinese photographer Zhang Yanguang
Tom Rae, from New Zealand, won the Skyscapes category. The photograph captures the twin glacial rivers with the Milky Way core off to the left of the image, as well as the famous Southern Cross and other pointers high in the centre sky
Aurora Over Mono Lake came highl commended by Dan Zafra in Spain
Weitang Liang, Qi Yang and Chuhong Yu, from China, won the Galaxies category with this image ad are the overall winners of the entire competition
Runner-up in the People and space category by Takanobu Kurosaki in Japan, showing the northern hemisphere
Aurora runner-up Celestial Arch by Luis Vilariño in Spain
Bence Tóth, Péter Feltóti and Bertalan Kecskés, from Hungary, came highly commended in the Galaxies catgeory
This image sequence documents the eruption of a massive solar prominence, originating as a small protrusion from the sun’s surface that subsequently expanded into an enormous plasma structure in space before eventually dissipating into the void. Zhang Yanguang’s image was a runner-up in the Our Sun category
Stars and Nebulae runner-up Zixiong Jin from China. This image showcases the iconic NGC 6960, also known as the Veil Nebula
Andre Vilhena’s image, from Portugal, came highly commended in the Plants Comets and Asteroids category. This image shows Mars, when it became retrograde
Marcella Giulia Pace, from Italy, won the Our Moon category. This image captures the phenomenon of atmospheric refraction, where moonlight passes through dense layers of Earth’s atmosphere near the horizon, bending in a manner similar to light rays through a prism
