Out of this world! Stunning astronomy images that will take you to infinity and beyond
Mesmerising images of the Milky Way rising, galaxies colliding and the Northern Lights dancing have been selected for this year’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Here are some of our favourites
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The Crescent Nebula: A deep view of the Crescent Nebula in Cygnus, the result of shockwaves originating from the Wolf–Rayet star WR 134. Image Courtesy: Bray Falls/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Equinox Moon and Glastonbury Tor: A single exposure captures people enjoying the full Harvest Moon rising behind Glastonbury Tor in the United Kingdom in September 2021. Image Courtesy: Hannah Rochford/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Spectrum: The Northern Lights over the famous Icelandic mountain, Vestrahorn. Image Courtesy: Stefan Liebermann/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Busy Star: This image depicts the busy surface and coronal activity of the Sun at 22:08 Universal Time on 15 February 2022. Image Courtesy: Sergio Díaz Ruiz/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Circles and Curves: Viewed from under a quadruple arch, the stars circle around Polaris, in this stack of 33 four-minute exposures. California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range fills the horizon and Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the continental US, is on the far left. Image Courtesy: Sean Goebel/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Electric Wizardry: The Northern Lights are reflected in the still waters of a lake in Alberta, Canada. Image Courtesy: Shane Turgeon/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Crossing the Madison: The Milky Way arcs over Three Dollar Bridge in Montana in April 2021. The photographer drove 100 miles to watch the core of the Milky Way rise above the horizon a couple of hours before daylight. Image Courtesy: Jake Mosher/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Moonrise Over Los Angeles: An alignment of the Moon, mountain and iconic skyline of Los Angeles following a winter storm on 18 December 2021. Image Courtesy: Sean Goebel/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Solar Inferno: The Sun looks different every time astrophotographers capture an image as new sunspots form, grow and eventually fade away. The photographer selectively filtered out all wavelengths of light except a narrow red band (known as the H-alphaline) to reveal an active region of change of the Sun. Image Courtesy: Stuart Green/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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The Starry Sky Over the World’s Highest National Highway: The illuminated National Highway 219, the highest national highway in the world, snakes through the foreground, almost mirroring the majestic image of the Milky Way above. The two are separated by Kula Kangri, a mountain located in Shannan Prefecture, Tibet. Image Courtesy: Yang Sutie/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Cosmic Collision: NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are two spiral galaxies of similar size engaged in a major interaction. Known collectively as Arp 27, the interaction is expected to continue for tens of millions of years. Image Courtesy: Mark Hanson, Mike Selby/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Riverside of Funakawa in Spring: When the Funakawa River was renovated in 1957, approximately 280 Yoshino cherry trees were planted on both banks of the embankment. They draw the eyeline towards the distant horizon, into an inky blue sky with only the hazy moonlight breaking through the darkness. Image Courtesy: Takanobu Kurosaki/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Ladder to the Stars: A stacked shot with 15 single exposures, taken in May 2021 at Shiroka Polyana Dam, one of the darkest spots in Bulgaria. Image Courtesy: Mihail Minkov/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Oregon Coast: The Milky Way above the southern Oregon coast, USA. This location is notoriously foggy during the summer, which makes it challenging to shoot the Milky Way here. Image Courtesy: Marcin Zajac/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard): Comet Leonard was discovered by G.J. Leonard on 3 January 2021 and made its closest pass to Earth on 12 December 2021. The photographer secured some time with the robotic telescope at the Skygems Remote Observatories in Namibia on 27 December to capture this rare glimpse of a comet that will leave the Solar System and not be seen again. Image Courtesy: Lionel Majzik/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
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