Best Photos from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023

Jun 27, 2023

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023

The Royal Observatory Greenwich has unveiled the shortlisted photos for its 15th annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. The beautiful images celebrate the night sky and have been captured by photographers across the globe.

This year’s competition, supported by Liberty Specialty Markets and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, received over 4,000 entries from photographers in 64 countries. While that is three fewer countries than were represented in last year’s contest, this year’s competition received significantly more photos for consideration.

The competition has nine categories: Aurorae; Galaxies; Our Moon; Our Sun; People and Space; Planets, Comets, and Asteroids; Skyscapes; Stars and Nebulae; and the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year. The Young Astronomy Photographer category is open to all photographers under 16.

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2023 — Emerald Roots © Lorenzo Ranieri Tenti | Shortlisted image in the Aurorae category.

Alongside the category winners, the Royal Observatory Greenwich also picks an overall winner, named the “Astronomy Photographer of the Year.” The overall winner will receive £10,000, while each category winner receives £1,500. The Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year also receives a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ MD telescope donated by Celestron.

Two special prizes will be awarded this year, including the Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer and the Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation. The Annie Maunder Prize will be awarded to the photographer who performs the best image processing on pre-existing open-source data.

All category and special prize winners will be revealed on September 14. The contest also names runners-up and highly commended entries for each category. All winning photos will be exhibited beginning September 16 at the National Maritime Museum in London.