
The Royal Observatory’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024—arguably the biggest prize for astrophotographers—has published 31 images shortlisted for the award.
The competition, run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London, and sponsored by Liberty Specialty Markets in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, is in its sixteenth year.
This year, a stunning 3,500 entries were submitted from amateur and professional photographers in 58 countries worldwide.
Shortlisted images include supernova remnants, the aurora borealis in the shape of a dragon and our Milky Way galaxy over the Isaac Newton Telescope, Spain. Another photo shows the Milky Way behind the spectacle of December’s spectacular Geminid meteor shower.
Judged by experts from the worlds of art and astronomy, the winners of the competition’s nine categories, two special prizes and the overall winner will be announced on Thursday, September 12. The winning images will be displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum from Saturday, September 14. The overall winner will receive $12,600.
Here are all the shortlisted images across all categories:
Astronomy Photographer of the Year: overall winner
Skyscapes
Landscape and cityscape images of twilight and the night sky featuring the Milky Way, star trails, meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, constellation rises, halos and noctilucent clouds alongside elements of earthly scenery.
“Earth and Milky Way Galaxy Show”—Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture is the collective name for the … [+]
Yoshiki Abe
“Ancestral Rocks”—This image shows the Milky Way and the Roques de García, a group of rock … [+]
Andrea Curzi
“A Cosmic Firework: the Geminid Meteor Shower”—This photograph of the Geminid meteor shower was … [+]
Jakob Sahner
“Serpentine”—This image was taken at Snettisham Beach, famous for its vast tidal mudflats that … [+]
Paul Haworth
“Auroral Touch: the Milky Way’s Close Encounter”—This image was taken in Castle Hill, New Zealand, … [+]
Chester Hall-Fernandez
Aurorae
Photographs featuring auroral activity (these two images are in addition to main image, above).
“A Night with the Valkyries”—A view of the Eystrahorn Mountain on the night of a KP7 storm (a strong … [+]
Jose Miguel Picon Chimelis
“The Fire-Spitting Dragon”—The photographer was able to capture the aurora in motion when it turned … [+]
Moritz Telser
People and Space
Photographs of the night sky, including people or a human-interest element.
“Cosmos in Reflection”—The 100-megawatt molten salt tower photovoltaic power station pictured here … [+]
Jianfeng Dai
“Run to Carina”—This photograph captures a sculpture in north-west Namibia. Made of stone, this is … [+]
Vikas Chander
“Observations at Night”—This image captures the Isaac Newton Telescope at the edge of the telescope … [+]
Jakob Sahner
“Abandoned House”—This image shows an abandoned house in the middle of the Namib Desert with the … [+]
Stefan Liebermann
Our Sun
Solar images, including transits and solar eclipses.
“Solar Pulsation”—This image captures a sunspot erupting at the edge of the Sun where material is … [+]
Wenlian Li
“A Whale Sailing the Sun”—This image shows the details of the Sun’s surface. The photographer views … [+]
Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau
“The Palette of the Himalayas”—During the Spring Festival, the Sun and altostratus clouds acted … [+]
Geshuang Chen
“Total Solar Eclipse”—Gwenaël Blanck travelled to Australia in April 2023 to see the 62-second long … [+]
Gwenaël Blanck
Our Moon
Lunar images, including occultation of planets and lunar eclipses and transits.
“Hunter’s Moon and the ISS”—This image captures the International Space Station (ISS) in transit … [+]
Tom Glenn
“The International Space Station Daytime Moon Transit”—This image shows the International Space … [+]
Kelvin Hennessy
Planets, Comets and Asteroids
Everything else in our Solar System, including planets and their satellites, comets, asteroids and other forms of zodiacal debris.
“The Dance of Jupiter’s Moons”—This image shows the planet Jupiter surrounded by its moons Io and … [+]
Marco Lorenzi
“M100 (The Blowdryer Galaxy) and Ceres”—In this image the photographer was able to capture a dwarf … [+]
Damon Mitchell Scotting
“Saturn with Six Moons”—Saturn’s decreasing ring tilt means the moon Titan is closer to Saturn from … [+]
Andy Casely
Stars and Nebulae
Deep-space objects within the Milky Way galaxy, including stars, star clusters, supernova remnants, nebulae and other galactic phenomena.
“The Scream of a Dying Star”—The Cygnus supernova afterglow is a popular object with … [+]
Yann Sainty
“Misty Mountains”—This image is a close look at IC 5070, the Pelican Nebula. The fine dust and gas … [+]
Bence Tóth
“GUM 12: the Gum Nebula (Vela Supernova Remnant)”—This is a small portion of the Vela supernova, … [+]
Charles Pevsner
Galaxies
Deep-space objects beyond the Milky Way galaxy, including galaxies, galaxy clusters and stellar associations.
“The Galaxy Devourer”— CG4 (Cometary Globule 4) is a complex of nebulosity and dust with a very … [+]
ShaRa
“A Milky Way Mimic”—NGC 6744 is thought to resemble our own Milky Way as it would be seen from 30 … [+]
Kevin Morefield
“The Inner Dust Lanes of M104 (The Sombrero Galaxy)”—The intense brightness of M104’s core often … [+]
Kevin Morefield
Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year
Pictures taken by budding astronomers under 16.
The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer
Photos taken by people who have taken up the hobby in the last year and have not entered an image into the competition before. The judges will give special consideration to those using simple and inexpensive start-out kits.
“The Blue Details of M45: The Pleiades”—For improved light and atmospheric condition Sándor took … [+]
Sándor Biliczki
“M81, a Grand Design Spiral Galaxy”—M81, also known as Bode’s Galaxy, is about 11.75 million light … [+]
Holden Aimar
The Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation
For images the entrants process using pre-existing open-source data.
The winning images will be displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum alongside exceptional shortlisted images.
“Martian Dementors”—This image is taken from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) missions. By … [+]
Leonardo Di Maggio
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