The shortlisted images of the 2026 ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition have been announced by the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year is the biggest astrophotography competition in the world, welcoming thousands of entries every year from photographers across the globe.
This year, the competition had nearly 4,000 entries from amateur and professional astro-imagers alike, submitted from 66 different countries.
More from ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year
The Andromeda Core © Weitang Liang, Qi Yang, Chuhong Yu (China)
The shortlisted images for 2026 include the partial solar eclipse of 29 March 2025 , a full Moon over the Paris skyline, eagle-shaped aurora and vivid views of planets, galaxies and distant cosmic clouds.
The winners of the 2026 ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition are set to be announced on Thursday 17 September 2026.
Then the winners and a selection of shortlisted images will be displayed in a public exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in London, UK from 18 September.
Keep up to date with the competition by following Royal Museums Greenwich on social media or via the hashtag #APY18.
In the meantime, here are this year's shortlisted images in their respective categories.
Aurorae An Auroral Deluge © Julien Cadena (France), Aurorae category. Taken with a Sony Alpha 7 IV camera, 14 mm f/2.8, ISO 3200, 1-second exposure. Location: Lyngen, Troms, Norway, 20 January 2026 Aurora Over Causey Reservoir © Samuel Morse (USA), Aurorae category.Taken with a Sony ILCE-7M4 camera, tripod, Laowa AF 10 mm f/2.8 Zero-D lens, 10 mm f/2.8, ISO 1600, 30-second exposure. Location: Weber County, Utah, USA, 11 November 2025 Eagle Aurora © Jennifer Rogers (UK), Aurorae category. Taken with an astro-modified Canon EOS R6 Mk II camera, 15 mm f/2.8, Foreground: ISO 3200, 2 x 8-second exposures; Sky: ISO 6400, 2-second exposure. Location: Flakstad, Lofoten, Norway, 19 February 2026 Galaxies Cosmic Neighbours: Beauty and the Beast © Yijing Zhu and Xinghan Yang (Both China), Galaxies category. Taken with a Sky Rover 155 APO Pro telescope, iOptron CEM70 mount, QHYCCD QHY600M camera, 992 mm f/6.4, 600 seconds per frame, 49 hours total integration. Location: Ürümqi, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, 17, 20, 28, 30 November and 25 December 2025 The Crimson Vortex and Sapphire Blossoms of Andromeda © Chuhong Yu and Zuoming Wang (Both China), Galaxies category. Taken with a Sky Rover 130 mm APO Pro telescope, ScorpioAstro 50-mm LRGB and 7-nm H-alpha and OIII filters, Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 PRO mount, QHYCCD QHY600PH-M SBFL (short back focal length) camera, 910 mm f/7, 111 hours and 25 minutes total exposure. Location: Zhuanghe City, Liaoning Province, China, 26–27, 29–31 August, 1–2, 13–24, 26–29 September and 16–21 October 2025 Our Moon Shadow Moon © Richard Addis (UK), Our Moon category. Taken with a Celestron NexStar 6SE telescope, Celestron Advanced GT mount, ZWO ASI120MC camera, 1,500 mm f/10, approximately 7,000 x 1–6-millisecond exposures. Location: Wallasey, Merseyside, England, 31 March–14 April 2025 Supermoon Path Over Paris at Sunset © Martin Giraud (France), Our Moon category. Taken with a Canon EOS 6D camera, Sigma 150-600 mm lens, 500 mm f/8, ISO 100, 1/60-second exposure. Location: Meudon, Île-de-France, France, 3 January 2026 Watched by the Moon © Jean-François Gely (France), Our Moon category. Taken with a Sky-Watcher 80ED telescope, Sony ILCE-7S camera, 600 mm f/7.5, ISO 400, 1/500-second exposure. Location: Arvieux, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, France, 5 November 2025 Our Sun Moody Partial Solar Eclipse © James McBeath (UK), Our Sun category. Taken with a Sony ILCE-7 camera, Canon EF 300 mm USM lens with 2x teleconverter, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini mount, Pig Iron 720-nm R-72 Infrared filter, 600 mm f/18, ISO 100, 1/3,200-second exposure. Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, 29 March 2025 Suspended Plasma © Mario Cogo (Italy), Our Sun category. Taken with a home-built refractor, iStar Optical H-alpha 150 mm f/10 lens, Solar Spectrum 0.5A° H-alpha filter, Lunt 40 and Baader TZ-4 telecentric system, Astro-Physics 1200GTO mount, Player One Astronomy Apollo M-Max camera, 6,000 mm f/40, 33 x 10.6-millisecond exposures. Location: Monticello Conte Otto, Vicenza, Italy, 15 May 2025 The Savannah Tree © Rafael Schmall (Hungary), Our Sun category. Taken with a Lunt LS100 telescope, Lunt B1800 filter, Fornax 150 mount, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 700 mm f/7, Gain 180, 6-second exposure. Location: Somogy County, Southern Transdanubia, Hungary, 18 February 2026 People & Space Fairyland © Uroš Fink (Slovenia), People and Space category. Taken with an astro-modified Nikon Z 6II camera, Move Shoot Move Nomad star tracker, 20 mm, Foreground: f/2.0, ISO 1600, 8 x 60-second focus-stacked exposures; Sky: f/2.0, ISO 800, 5 x 60-second exposures. Location: Velika Planina, Kamnik-Savinja Alps, Slovenia, 28 April 2025 Fifteen Minutes of Moonset and Sunrise Over the Golden Gate © Fredric Walder (USA), People and Space category. Taken with a Nikon Z 8 camera, 150 to 380 mm, f/9, ISO 1000, multiple 1.25- to 2.5-millisecond exposures. Location: San Francisco, California, USA, 2 February 2026 Golden Moonrise Over Seattle © AJ Smadi (USA), People and Space category. Taken with a Canon EOS 6D camera, 600 mm f/7.1, ISO 800, 1/125-second exposure. Location: Seattle, Washington, USA, 11 July 2025 People & Space Vortex © Jennifer Rogers (UK), People and Space category. Taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV camera, 14 mm f/2.8, ISO 1600, Foreground: 1 x 60-second exposure; Star trail: 72 x 60-second exposures. Location: West Wheal Owles, Cornwall, England, 22 February 2025 Planets, Comets & Asteroids Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) Over the Swiss Alps © Jakob Sahner (Germany), Planets, Comets and Asteroids category. Taken with a Nikon Z 7 camera, Move Shoot Move Nomad star tracker, TTArtisans AF 85 mm f/1.8 lens, 85 mm f/2.2, ISO 800, Foreground: 120-second exposure; Sky: 38 x 30-second exposures. Location: Tujetsch, Graubünden, Switzerland, 18 October 2025 Mars in 2025 © Tom Williams (UK), Planets, Comets and Asteroids category. Taken with a custom 600 mm (24″) Dobsonian reflector, UV/IR cut filter, Player-One Astronomy Uranus-C camera, 10,500 mm f/17.5, multiple 10-millisecond exposures. Location: Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, 3 January, 16, 25 February, 15, 22 March, 13 and 27 April 2025 Skyscapes I Hear the Stars © João Yordanov Serralheiro (Portugal), Skyscapes category. Taken with a Sony Alpha 7 III camera, 35 mm f/2.8, ISO 400, 120 x 30-second exposures. Location: Aldeburgh Beach, Suffolk, England, 30 November 2025 Meteor Shower Over the Big Dipper © ZhiPu Wang (China), Skyscapes category. Taken with a Nikon Z f camera, Viltrox 16 mm lens, 16 mm f/2, ISO 8000, 4-second exposure. Location: Sanming, Fujian Province, China, 15 December 2025 Path Towards the Stars © Matteo Strassera (Italy), Skyscapes category. Taken with a Canon EOS R5 camera, Benro Polaris tripod head, Foreground: 14 mm f/4, ISO 4320, 8 x 121-second exposures; Sky: 35 mm f/1.6, ISO 400, 32 x 60-second exposures. Location: Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, 25 June 2025 Setsu-getsu-ka © Takanobu Kurosaki (Japan), Skyscapes category. Taken with a Sony ILCE-7RM5 camera, Sony FE 24–105 mm f/4 G OSS lens, 29 mm f/4, ISO 800, 6-second exposure. Location: Asahi, Toyama Prefecture, Japan, 9 April 2025 Te Hoho Rock Moonrise © Evan McKay (Aotearoa/New Zealand), Skyscapes category. Taken with a Nikon Z 6a camera, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro mount, Move Shoot Move Nomad star tracker, Sigma 40 mm Art lens, Optolong L-Para filter, 40 mm, Foreground: f/2.8, ISO 800, 30-second exposure; Sky: f/2, ISO 1600, multiple 15-second RGB exposures, multiple 2-minute exposures with filter. Location: Cathedral Cove, Waikato, North Island, Aotearoa New Zealand, 8 January 2026 The Celestial Gate © Yoshiki Abe (Japan), Skyscapes category. Taken with a Sony ILCE-7RM5 camera, 200 mm, Foreground: f/5.6, ISO 320, 240-second exposure; Sky: f/4.0, ISO 3200, 34 x 60-second exposures; H-alpha: f/2.8, ISO 6400, 28 x 120-second exposures. Location: Kitsuki, Ōita Prefecture, Japan, 22 February 2026 Stars & Nebulae A Deep Look Into the Milky Way's Core © Jakob Sahner (Germany), Stars and Nebulae category. Taken with a Sony Alpha 7 III and Nikon Z 6 cameras, Samyang 135 mm f/2 lens, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi mount, 135 mm f/2, ISO 1600, 1,950 x 90-second H-alpha exposures, 2,182 x 90-second RGB exposures. Location: Koireb, Windhoek Rural, Namibia, 19 May–1 June 2025 Gum 37: The Southern Tadpoles (or 'Teapot Nebula') © Ani Shastry (USA), Stars and Nebulae category. Taken with a PlaneWave Instruments CDK20 telescope, PlaneWave Instruments CDK500 mount, Moravian Instruments C3-61000 Pro camera, 3,454 mm f/6.8, 20 x 1,200-second H-alpha exposures, 20 x 1,200-second OIII exposures, 20 x 1,200-second SII exposures, 30 x 120-second R, G and B exposures, 23 hours total exposure. Location: El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Chile, 10 February 2026 NGC 7293: The Helix Nebula © Humbert Cédric (France), Stars and Nebulae category. Taken with a TS-Optics 14″ ONTC f/5 telescope, 50-nm H-alpha and OIII filters, Optolong L-Pro 2″ and L-Ultimate 2″ filters, Sky-Watcher EQ8 mount, Player One Astronomy Poseidon-MM camera, 1,800 mm f/5, 180 x 300-second H-alpha exposures (15 hours), 120 x 300-second OIII exposures (10 hours), 60 x 300-second Optolong L-Pro 2″ exposures (5 hours), 130 x 300-second Optolong L-Ultimate 2″ exposures (10 hours 50 minutes), 43 hours total exposure. Location: Elqui Province, Coquimbo, Chile, 14 September 2025 Best newcomer Colourful Aurora and Waterfall © Yifan Cao (China), Best Newcomer. Taken with a Nikon Z 6III camera, 16 mm f/2.2, ISO 4000, 6-second exposure. Location: Goðafoss Waterfall, Þingeyjarsveit, Iceland, 27 February 2025 ZWO Young Astronomer Dancing Flames © 与晨 林, aged 14 (China), ZWO Young Astronomer. Taken with an Acuter Elite Phoenix 40 H-Alpha solar telescope, ZWO AM5 mount, ToupTek G3M678M camera, 400 mm f/10, 1,000 x 10-millisecond exposures. Location: Xiamen, Fujian Province, China, 11 February 2026 Annie Maunder Open Category Solargraph 182 Days © Ksawery Wrobel (USA), Annie Maunder Open Category. Taken with a homemade pinhole camera, Kodak Kodabrome II RC paper, 23.5 mm f/130, 182 days total exposure from 17 July 2022–15 January 2023 Are you an astrophotographer? Share your best images with us by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
