Cosmic captures: Astronomy Photographer of the Year finalists announced

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023

The Royal Observatory Greenwich has announced finalists for its 2023 Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards. This year’s competition included over 4,000 entries from 64 countries, and the shortlist includes images that run the gamut from celestial bodies to aurorae to stars and nebulae.

Now in its 15th year, Astronomy Photographer of the Year 15’s winners will be announced on September 14. If you’re in the UK, you can see the winning images in person at the National Maritime Museum in London beginning on September 16, 2023.

We’ve selected some of our favorite finalists to share here. You can visit the Astronomy Photographer of the Year website to view the full set of shortlisted images.

Solar Flare X1 from AR2994 in ‘Motion’

Solar Flare X1 from AR2994 in ‘Motion’ © Miguel Claro

Photograph of the Sun taken from a 27-minute timelapse of a solar flare which took place on April 30, 2022.

Equipment: Taken with a Sky-Watcher Esprit ED120 telescope, Daystar Quark Chromosphere filter, Sky-Watcher EQ6 mount, Player One Apollo M-Max Solar camera, 840mm, 900 frames at 9.1 ms per frame (recorded as video at 109 FPS).

Location: Dark Sky Alqueva region, Évora district, Portugal

Celestial Equator Above First World War Trench Memorial

Celestial Equator Above First World War Trench Memorial © Louis Leroux-Gere

Star trails above the preserved World War I trenches in Canadian National Vimy Memorial Park, Northern France. Taken over five hours, the camera captured the rotation of the sky revealing the colorful stars.

Equipment: Taken with a Canon EOS 6D (Astro modified), Samyang XP 14mm F2.4 lens, 14mm F3.2, ISO 1000, 577 x 30-second exposures.

Location: Vimy, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts de France, France

Arctic Gates

Arctic Gates © Daniel Viñé Garcia

The Northern Lights over the mammoth sundial Arctic Henge, which is inspired by Norse mythology. The henge is located in Raufarhöfn, one of the northernmost towns in Iceland.

Equipment: Taken with a Sony Alpha 7R III camera; Sky: 12mm F2.8, ISO 2000, 2.5-second exposure; Foreground: f/16, ISO 400, 3 x 4-second exposures.

Location: Arctic Henge, Raufarhöfn, Iceland

NGC 1097 and Tidal Tails

NGC 1097 and Tidal Tails © Mark Hanson; Mike Selby

NGC 1097 is a barred spiral galaxy 50 million light years away. Known for its four optical jets which could be fossil star streams, trails left over from the capture and disruption of a much smaller galaxy in the large spiral’s ancient past. There are also two satellite galaxies, NGC 1097 A and B, one of which seems to be lurking in the spiral arms of NGC 1097.

Equipment: Taken with a Planewave CDK 1000 and CDK 700 telescopes, Chroma filters, FLI 16803 and QHY461 cameras, 6,000mm F6 and 4550mm F6.5, multiple 900-second Luminance exposures (12 hours total exposure), 9-hour H-alpha exposure and 5-hour RGB exposures per filter.

Location: El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Chile

Crescent Moon in a Magical Sunset

Crescent Moon in a Magical Sunset © Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau

Composite image of three exposures showing the sunset on August 1, 2022 in Rafaela, Argentina. The crescent Moon has 16 per cent of its surface illuminated and the clouds appear an intense red.

Equipment: Taken with a Canon EOS 90D camera, 600mm F6.3, ISO 800, three exposures between 1/400 and 1/100-seconds.

Location: Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina

Pandora’s Box

Pandora’s Box © Derek Horlock

The Milky Way looms behind a mural called ‘Pandora,’ by Wild Drawing (WD), a Balinese artist on the Greek island of Naxos. In Greek mythology, Pandora opened a jar – or box – releasing all the evils of humanity into the world. The wall is part of an abandoned beach hotel complex where graffiti now covers the walls.

Equipment: Taken with a Nikon Z6 II camera; Sky: 35mm F2.8, ISO 1000, 120-seconds x 6 panned images; Foreground: 24mm F6.3, ISO 1000, 60-second exposure.

Location: Alyko Beach, Naxos, Greece

Ball of Rock

Ball of Rock © Rich Addis

A composite image of the Moon 78% illuminated and an image of the full Moon. Assembling close-up shots to create a mosaic of the whole Moon is complex as the perspective changes slightly during a lunar orbit.

Equipment: Taken with a Celestron 6SE SCT telescope, Advanced GT mount, ZWO ASI120MC camera, 1500mm 6”, Gain 50, Full Moon: multiple 1-millisecond exposures; Waxing Gibbous: multiple 1.6-millisecond exposures.

Location: Wallasey, Wirral, Merseyside, UK

Jellyfish Nebula

Jellyfish Nebula © Peter Larkin

The Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443) is a supernova remnant (SNR) in the constellation Gemini. Here, the stars have been removed from the image in order to focus on the delicate nebulous structures.

Equipment: Taken with a Celestron RASA 8 telescope, Baader highspeed H-alpha, S and O filters, Celestron CGX mount, ZWO ASI2600MM-Pro camera, 400mm F2, ISO 100, multiple 60-second exposures, approx. 11 hours total exposure time.

Location: Coppet, Vaud, Switzerland

Emerald Roots

Emerald Roots © Lorenzo Ranieri Tenti

The Northern Lights above the famous Icelandic mountain, Vestrahorn. The aurora is reflected on the black sand beach and the rising moon makes the sand ripples appear golden.

Equipment: Taken with a Sony Alpha 7S camera, 14mm F2.8, ISO 6400, 25-second exposure; Foreground: 23 seconds, Aurora: 8 seconds.

Location: Vestrahorn, Stokksnes, Iceland

RCW 58: Wolf Rayet Bubble

RCW 58: Wolf Rayet Bubble © Mark Hanson; Mike Selby

RCW58 is a Wolf Rayet bubble nebula. It is formed from the ejecta of the star WR 40, which shines from the centre of the bubble.

Equipment: Taken with a PlaneWave CDK 1000 and CDK 700 telescopes, Chroma filters, FLI 16803 and QHY461 cameras, 6,000mm F6 and and 4,550mm F6.5, multiple 60-second RGB exposures, 30 minutes total exposure per channel, multiple 600-second H-alpha exposures, 19 hours 40 minutes total exposure, multiple 900-second OIII exposures, 13 hours total exposure.

C/2021 A1 (Comet Leonard) in Sky of Israel

C/2021 A1 (Leonard) in Sky of Israel © Alex Savenok

C/2021 A1 (Comet Leonard) captured over the Negev desert, Israel. The comet made its closest approach to Earth in 2021–2022 and was highly visible with a clear tail. Comet Leonard was destroyed by an orbit which took it close to the Sun.

Equipment: Taken with a Nikon Z7 II camera, 70–300mm lens, ISO 4000; Sky: 250mm F5.6, 22 x 30-second exposures (lights), 30 x darks, 50 x flats (tracked and stacked); Foreground: 240mm F5.6.

Location: Negev desert, Israel

China Space Station Transits Active Sun

China Space Station Transits Active Sun © Letian Wang

The Sun photographed showing the transit of the China Space Station (CSS). The image of the CSS was produced by selecting the nine clearest photos from captured video frames.

Equipment: Taken with a Lunt 152T telescope, Rainbow RST-135 mount, TeleVue 2X Barlow lens, ZWO ASI432MM camera, 900mm F6, 0.8-millisecond and 1.3-millisecond exposures.

Location: Beijing, China