Spectacular pictures that gained
their shooters top honors during this year's
Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.
On September. 8, the
Royal Observatory Greenwich, proclaimed winners of this 3rd annual competition that drew over seven hundred entries. Awards went to competitors from four primary categories, Deep
Space, Our Solar System, Earth and Space, and Young Astronomy Photographer of
the Year, along with three special prizes.
Overall Winner, category Our Solar System, Jupiter with Io and Ganymede, Damian Peach.
"Jupiter depicted along with two of its 64 known moons, Io and Ganymede, showing the surface of the gas giant streaked with colorful bands and dotted with huge oval storms; detail is also visible on the two moons."
Category Deep Space, Vela Supernova Remnant, Marco Lorenzi.
"The intricate structure of the aftermath of a supernova explosion — the violent death of a star many times more massive than the sun which took place over 10,000 years ago."
Category Earth and Space, Galactic Paradise, Tunç Tezel.
"The southern Milky Way viewed over the hilltops lined with palm trees just outside the village of Oneroa on the coast of Mangaia in the Cook Islands, July 11, 2010."
Category Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year, Lunar Eclipse and Occultation, Jathin Premjith.
"This summer’s lunar eclipse which took place on June 15, 2011. Here the moon is a red color because it is lit by sunlight which has been filtered through the Earth’s atmosphere."
Category People and Space, Stargazing, Jeffrey Sullivan.
"A self-portrait of the photographer silhouetted on a hilltop in the Sierra Nevada mountain range under the glittering band of the Milky Way, which contains hundreds of billions of stars in a disc-like structure."
Category Robotic Telescope, Shell Galaxies, Marco Lorenzi.
"Three distant galaxies located in the constellation of Pisces. In the upper left of this photograph, faint billowing shapes can be seen in the outer regions of an elliptical galaxy. Elliptical galaxies, which can contain up to a trillion stars, are typically smooth and shaped like a rugby ball."
Category Best Newcomer, Zodiacal Light on the Farm, Harley Grady.
"The glow of zodiacal light reaching into the sky above a barn in Comanche, Texas. Visible only in extremely dark skies, zodiacal light results from sunlight reflecting off dust particles in our solar system, capturing its faint signature is a great achievement for a novice astrophotographer. Two satellites are also visible to the left of the shot."
