The Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is the biggest astrophotography contest in the world, welcoming images of the space captured by astrophotographers from around the globe.
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Galaxies, nebulae, aurorae, nightscapes, stars, moons and planets; virtually every celestial phenomenon is included in the entry categories for this annual competition, organised by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in partnership with BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
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Judges for the 2017 competition included Rebecca Roth of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, along with photographer Ed Robinson, ESO’s Oana Sandu, The Sky at Night’s Pete Lawrence and Chris Lintott, comedian Jon Culshaw and BBC Sky at Night Magazine editor Chris Bramley.
The Rho Ophiuchi Clouds, by Artem Mironov (Russia) Hakos Farm, Windhoek, Namibia, 6 August 2016. Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR camera, Sky-Watcher 200P reflector, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro SynScan mount.Category: Stars & nebulae (overall winner).
Ghost World, by Mikkel Beiter (Denmark), Stokksnes, Iceland, 5 October 2016. Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark III DLSR camera, 24mm lens.Category: Aurorae.
M63: Star Streams and the Sunflower Galaxy, by Oleg Bryzgalov (Ukraine) Rozhen Observatory, Smolyan Province, Bulgaria, 6 April 2016 Equipment: QSI 583wsg CCD camera, 10-inch homemade reflector, White Swan 180 mount.Category: Galaxies.
Blue Tycho, by László Francsics (Hungary) Budapest, Hungary, 12 December 2016 Equipment: ZWO ASI290MM camera, Sony Alpha SLT-A99 DSLR camera,10-inch reflector, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Go-To mount.Category: Our Moon.
Mercury Rising, by Alexandra Hart (UK) Preston, Lancashire, UK, 9 May 2016 Equipment: Point Grey Grasshopper3 CCD camera, TEC 140 refractor, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Go-To mount.Category: Our Sun.
Wanderer in Patagonia, by Yuri Zvezdny (Russia) El Chaltén, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, 27 September 2016 Equipment: Sony A7S camera, iOptron Sky-Tracker mount, 18mm lens.Category: People & Space.
Venus Phase Evolution, by Roger Hutchinson (UK) London, UK, 25 March 2017 Equipment: ZWO ASI174MM camera, Celestron C11 EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain, Celestron CGE Pro mount.Category: Planets, Comets & Asteroids.
Passage to the Milky Way, Haitong Yu (China) Xinglong, Hebei Province, China, 9 April 2016. Equipment: Sony a7s ILCE-7s camera, 85mm lens.Category: Skyscapes.
Saturn, Olivia Williamson (UK – aged 13) Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 27 May 2016 Equipment: ZWO ASI224MC CMOS camera, Celestron C11 EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain, Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 Go-To mount.Category: Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year.
The Cone Nebula (NGC 2264), Jason Green (Gibraltar) Frenegal de la Sierra, Badajoz, Spain, 10 January 2017 Equipment: QSI 660wsg-8 mono CCD camera, William Optics FLT 132 triplet apo refractor, Celestron CGE Pro mount.Category: Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer.
Encounter of Comet and Planetary Nebula, Gerald Rhemann (Austria) Tivoli Farm, Khomas, Namibia, 5 June 2016. Equipment: FLI Microline ML 16200 CCD camera, ASA 12-inch Astrograph Newtonian reflector.Category: Robotic Scope.