The shortlisted images of the 2021 Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards have been released by the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 marks the thirteenth year of the international astrophotography competition, which in 2021 has received over 4,500 entries from astrophotographers across 75 different countries.
See the Astronomy photographer of the Year 2020 winners .
Harmony © Stefan Liebermann (Germany) Valensole, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France, 22 June 2020. Equipment: Sony ILCE-7M3 camera, Fornax Mounts LighTrack II mount, 16 mm f/2.8 lens. Foreground: ISO 2500, 15 x 0.8-second exposures. Sky: ISO 2000, 5 x 120-second exposures The APY 13 shortlist includes a sunset on Mars captured by NASA's Curiosity Rover, a view of Comet NEOWISE - one of 2020's most memorable astronomical events - above Stonehenge, the International Space Station passing in front of the Moon, and a beautiful view of the Milky Way stretching above Dorset's Durdle Door.
The winning images of Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 will be announced on Thursday 16 September 2021 during an online award ceremony.
The images will then be featured in an exhibition alongside a selection from the shortlist at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, from Saturday 18 September.
Moonrise over Jodrell Bank © Matt Naylor (UK) Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, UK, 29 December 2020. Equipment: Canon EOS 90D camera, Canon EF 100–400 mm lens at 286 mm f/14, ISO 100, 1/15-second exposure This year's judging panel is:
Jon Culshaw: comedian and amateur astronomerSue Prichard: Senior Curator, Arts at the Royal Museums GreenwichImad Ahmed: Director of New Crescent SocietyDr Sheila Kanani: Education, Outreach and Diversity officer for the Royal Astronomical SocietyYuri Beletsky: of Las Campanas ObservatoryMelissa Brobby: journalist, science communicator and Social Media Officer for the Institute of PhysicsEmily Drabek-Maunder: astronomer and science communicator at the Royal Observatory GreenwichLászló Francsics: astrophotographer and chairman of the Hungarian Astrophotographers' AssociationAlan Sparrow: Chair of the UK Picture Editors’ Guild and Director of the UK Picture Editors’ Guild AwardsSteve Marsh: Art Editor at BBC Sky at Night Magazine
The overall winning image of APY 13 will receive £10,000. Winners of all other categories will receive £1,500, with £500 and £250 for runners-up and highly commended images, respectively.
For more information, visit the Astronomy Photographer of the Year website or follow Royal Museums Greenwich on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram using the hashtag #APY13.
You can also keep up with the winning images as they are announced on the night by following BBC Sky at Night Magazine on Twitter and Facebook .
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13: shortlisted images A Daytime Transit © Andrew McCarthy (USA) Elk Grove, California, USA, 14 October 2020Equipment: Monochrome: Celestron EdgeHD800 telescope at f/10, Hobym Traveller mount, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 1,000 x 1-millisecond exposure. Colour: Orion XT10 telescope at f/10, Hobym Traveller mount, Sony A7II camera, ISO 200, 1-millisecond exposure Aurora in Murmansk © Vitaliy Novikov (Russia) Kola Bay, Murmansk, Russia, 11 January 2020. Equipment: Nikon D850 camera, 24 mm f/5.6 lens, ISO 1000, 0.8-second exposure Bicolour Veil Nebula © Péter Feltóti (Hungary) Halásztelek, Pest County, Hungary, 28–29 June, 20 July, 13–20 August 2020. Equipment: SkyWatcher 200/800 Newton Astrograph telescope at f/4.6, Astronomik Ha and OIII filters, SkyWatcher NEQ6 Pro mount, Moravian G3-16200 Mark II camera, Ha-OIII composite, 12 hours total exposure Château de Chambord © Benjamin Barakat (UK) Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France, 24 June 2020. Equipment: Sigma Art 40 mm telescope, iOptron SkyTracker Pro mount, Canon 6D Baader modified camera. Foreground: 40 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 4 x 30-second exposures. Sky: 40 mm f/2 lens, ISO 1600, 8 x 30-second exposures Comet Neowise over Stonehenge © James Rushforth (UK) Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK, 20 July 2020. Equipment: Nikon D850 camera, 70–200 mm lens at 100 mm f/2.8, ISO 5000, 4-second exposure Dolphin Head Nebula © Yovin Yahathugoda (Sri Lanka) Telescope Live, El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 14 November 2020, 25 January and 4 February 2021. Equipment: ASA 500N telescope at f/3.8, Astrodon filters, ASA DDM85 Premium mount, FLI PL16803 camera, Ha-OIII composite, 1.5 hours total exposure Dugi Otok - Variant A © Ivan Vucetic (Croatia) Mala Rava, Rava, Croatia, 10 July 2020. Equipment: Nikon D600 camera, 20 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 1600. Foreground: 526-second exposure. Sky: 247 x 25-seconds Glory of Damavand and Milky Way © Masoud Ghadiri (Iran) Mount Damavand, Mazandaran, Iran, 29 May 2020. Equipment: Nikon D850 camera, Vixen Polarie mount, 24 mm f/4 lens, ISO 6400, 10 x 30-second exposures Iceland Vortex © Larryn Rae (New Zealand) Vik, Southern Region, Iceland, 31 January 2020. Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark 4 camera, 16 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 6400, 20 x 6-second exposures Luna Park © Ed Hurst (Australia) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 26 November 2020. Equipment: Pentax 645Z camera, 25 mm f/4 DA lens. Foreground: ISO 100, 60-second exposure at f/13. Sky: ISO 1250, 3,004 x 1.6 second exposures at f/5 Martian Sunset © John White (UK) Mars Curiosity Rover (April 15 2015), BW channels, NASA/JPL-Caltech Milky Way rising over Durdle Door © Anthony Sullivan (UK) West Lulworth, Dorset, UK, 20 May 2020. Equipment: Canon 6D camera. Foreground: 20 mm f/8 lens, ISO 100, 244-second exposure. Sky: 20 mm f/4 lens, ISO 1600, 4 x 240-second exposures NGC 2024 – Flame Nebula © Steven Mohr (Australia) St Arnaud, Victoria, Australia, November – December 2020. Equipment: Planewave CDK 12.5" telescope at f/8, Astrodon and Baader filters, AP900GTO mount, SBIG STXL-1100 AOX camera, L-RGB-Ha composite, 23 hours total exposure NGC 3981 © Bernard Miller (USA) Telescope Live, El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 24 February 2021. Equipment: ASA RC-1000AZ telescope at f/6.8, Astrodon filters, ASA Alt-Azimuth Direct Drive Mount, FLI PL16803 camera, L-RGB composite, 34 hours total exposure NGC 6188 SHOrgb by Cielaustral team © Jean-Claude Canonne, Didier Chaplain, Georges Chassaigne, Philippe Bernhard, Laurent Bourgon and Nicolas Outters (France), El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 1 May – 18 October 2020. Equipment: CDK 20" homemade telescope at f/6.8, Paramount ME2 mount, Moravian G4 16803 camera, RGB-Ha-SII-OIII composite, 253 hours total exposure NGC 6723, NGC 6726, NGC 6727 and NGC 6729 - Dark Molecular Cloud in Corona Australis © Steven Mohr (Australia), St Arnaud, Victoria, Australia, June–October 2020. Equipment: Planewave CDK 12.5" telescope at f/8, Astrodon and Baader filters, AP900GTO mount, SBIG STXL-11000 AOX camera, L-RGB-Ha composite, 82.58 hours total exposure Path of the Full Moon above the Sleeping City © Rémi Leblanc-Messager (France), Paris, Île-de-France, France, 27 February 2021. Equipment: Canon EOS 6D camera, 28 mm f/6.3 lens, ISO 200, 1,080 x 15-second exposures Pleiades Sisters © Jashanpreet Singh Dingra (India), aged 14, Patiala, Punjab, India, 11 December 2020. Equipment: Takahashi FSQ-85ED telescope at 450 mm f/5.3, Astrodon filters, Avalon M-Uno mount, QSI 660WSG-8 camera, L-RGB-Ha composite, 3 hours 3 minutes total exposure Proximity © Péter Feltóti (Hungary), Törökkoppány, Somogy County, Hungary, 13–19 October 2017, 7 November 2020, 27 December 2020, 7 and 14 January 2021. Equipment: SkyWatcher 200/800 Newton Astrograph telescope at f/4, Astronomik filters, SkyWatcher NEQ6 Pro mount, ZWO ASI183MM Pro, Moravian Instruments G3 16200 Mk II and Canon EOS 600D cameras, L-RGB-Ha composite, 14.1 hours total exposure Saturn at its Best © Damian Peach (UK), La Palma, Murcia, Spain, 27 July 2020. Equipment: ASA 500 mm Cassegrain telescope, SkyWatcher EQ-8 mount, ZWO ASI290MM camera, c.100,000 x 0.03-second exposures Star Fall © Wang Zheng (China), Minqin County, Wuwei City, China, 23 August 2020. Equipment: Canon EOS 6D Mark II camera, 14 mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 5000, 8-second exposure Star trails over the Lujiazui City Skyline © Daning Kai (China), Shanghai, East China, China, 13 October 2020. Equipment: Sony ILCE-7RM3 camera, 16 mm f/5.6 lens, ISO 100, 305 x 15-second exposures Star Watcher © Yang Sutie (China), Ranwu, Tibet, China, 22 October 2020. Equipment: Nikon Z 7II camera, 17 mm f/2.8 lens. Car lights and figure: ISO 1000, 2 x 25-second exposures. Sky and mountains: ISO 6400, 25-second exposure Sunrise of the Magic City © Jiajun Hua (China), Shanghai, China, 7 February 2021. Equipment: Sony ILCE-7RM3 camera, 403 mm f/9 lens, ISO 320, 4 x 1/320-second exposures Sunspot Looking out into Space © Siu Fone Tang (USA), Los Angeles, California, USA, 25 November 2020. Equipment: SkyWatcher Esprit 150 telescope at f/7, DayStar Quark Gemini lens, SkyWatcher EQ8Rh-Pro mount, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 2,000 x 16-millisecond exposures The Cave © Markus van Hauten (Germany), Breidamerkurjökull, Eastern Region, Iceland, 19 January 2020. Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV camera, 16 mm f/4 lens. Foreground: ISO 100, 1/-800-second exposure. Sky: ISO 800, 20-second exposure The Exceptionally Active Ion Tail of Comet 2020F8 SWAN © Gerald Rhemann (Austria), Tivoli Farm, Khomas, Namibia, 1 May 2020. Equipment: ASA Astrograph 12" telescope at f/3.6, ASA DDM 85 mount, FLI ML16200 camera, LRGB composite, 21 minutes total exposure The Eyes of Clavius © Thea Hutchinson (UK), Wimbledon, London, UK, 20 February 2021. Equipment: Celestron C11 HD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at f/10, Baader filter, Celestron CGE Pro mount, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 1,200 x 5.895-millisecond exposures The Full Moon in Moscow © Anna Kaunis (Russia), Hodynka, Moscow, Russia, 3 July 2020. Equipment: Nikon Z6 camera, 200–500mm lens at 500 mm f/22, ISO 400, 0.25-second exposure The Magnetic Field of our Active Sun © Andrew McCarthy (USA), Elk Grove, California, USA, 29 November 2020. Equipment: Coronado Solarmax III telescope at f/5, Hobym Traveller mount, ZWO ASI178MM camera, 6-millisecond exposure The Milky Way on the Ancient Village © Zhang Xiao (China), Hongcun, Anhui, China, 21 February 2021. Equipment: Canon EOS 6D Mark II camera, 35 mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 2500, 20 x 13-second exposures The Rose © Josep Drudis (USA), Mayhill, New Mexico, USA, 10–18 April, 5–31 May and 1–11 June 2020. Equipment: Planewave CDK24 telescope at f/6.5, Astrodon filters, Planewave L600 mount, FLI PL16803 camera, RGB-Ha-NII-OIII composite, 63 hours total exposure The Soul of Space (Close-up of the Soul Nebula) © Kush Chandaria (UK), aged 13, Notting Hill, London, UK, 25–27 February 2021. Equipment: Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25" telescope at f/6.3, Celestron focal reducer, Astronomik filters, SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro mount, ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, Ha-SII-OIII composite, 14.4 hours total exposure The Star Observer © Antoni Cladera Barceló (Spain), Pont den Gil, Ciutadella, Spain, 1 July 2020. Equipment: Nikon Z6 camera, 14 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 6400, 6 x 15-second exposures The Tumult of the Sun © Hassan Hatami (Iran), Solar Dynamics Observatory – Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (13 January 2015), AIA 171, 193 and 211 channels, NASA Waterfall © Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints (Israel), Near Arvidsjaur, Swedish Lapland, Sweden, 24 October 2020. Equipment: Sony A7R3 camera, Leica Summicron-M 28 mm f/2 lens. Foreground: 28 mm lens at f/5.6, ISO 1600, 3 x 151-seconds. Sky: 28 mm lens at f/2, ISO 3200, 587 x 10-second exposures 
