Meet the 30 Finalists of Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Jul 08, 2025

Matt Growcoot

A composite image showing a bright comet in a starry sky, a large red moon rising behind city skyscrapers, and vivid green and purple auroras above snowy mountains. — Left to right: Michael Jäger, Tianyao Yang, and Vincent Beudez

Awe-inspiring scenes of the Milky Way, dancing aurorae, and serene galaxies all feature on the shortlist for this year’s ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year.

The competition is run by Royal Observatory Greenwich, supported by ZWO and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. In 2025, the competition received over 5,500 entries from passionate amateur and dedicated professional photographers, submitted from 69 countries across the globe. Shortlisted images include a moonrise over the Dolomites, red-hued Northern Lights at Mono Lake, California and Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS).

The overall winner will take home £10,000 ($13,555). There are also prizes for runners-up £500 ($676) and highly commended £250 ($338) entries. The special prize winners will receive £750 ($1,016). All the winning entrants will receive a one-year subscription to BBC Sky at Night Magazine.

One of this year’s astronomical highlights was the solar eclipse visible from North America. Included in the ZWO Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year category is a 22-megapixel panorama capturing the event. Total Solar Eclipse by Louis Egan shows the different stages of the solar eclipse, photographed from Canada. Further highlights include peaks in solar activity. PengFei Chou’s photograph 500,000 kilometer (311,000 miles) Solar Prominence Eruption shows a massive solar outburst that lasted approximately an hour.

A close-up image of the Sun shows a glowing orange sphere with visible dark spots, swirling textures, and bright, fiery prominences extending from its surface against a dark background. — 500,000-km Solar Prominence Eruption © PengFei Chou. On 7 November 2024, the Sun experienced a massive solar prominence eruption, with a length exceeding 500,000 km (311,000 miles). The eruption lasted approximately one hour from its initial outburst to its conclusion. The eruption phase of the prominence is composed of more than 20 stacked data sets highlighting the entire process of this spectacular event. Taken with a Lunt LS60T telescope, Lunt B1200 filter, Proxisky UMI17R mount, ToupTek ATR428M camera, 500 mm f/7, ISO 100, 5-millisecond exposure.

A vibrant image of a colorful nebula in space, featuring swirling clouds of orange, blue, purple, and red gas, with scattered bright stars against a dark background. — A Rainbow Mosaic of the Rosette and the Christmas Tree Nebulae © Shaoyu Zhang. This work consists of two mosaics, each panel exposed for 75 hours, capturing numerous popular targets. It highlights the Rosette Nebula and Christmas Tree Nebula, both symbols of beauty. The image supports multiple viewing angles, offering fresh experiences with clockwise, anticlockwise and vertical flips. Taken with a Takahashi FSQ-106EDXIII telescope, Astrodon LRGBHSO filters, 10Micron GM 2000 HPS mount, Moravian Instruments G4-16803 camera, 382 mm f/3.6,150 hours total exposure.

A vibrant nebula in space, featuring a blue, bubble-like structure surrounded by swirling red gas clouds and scattered stars on a dark background. — Abell 85: Pomegranate in the Universe © Deqian Li. Abell 85 is a supernova remnant situated in the Milky Way galaxy that appears to some to be shaped like a pomegranate. This target is faint. The OIII signal in particular is exceedingly weak. To fully capture the signal, Deqian Li spent six days camping in Hongyuan County. Taken with a Takahashi Epsilon-160ED telescope, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, 530 mm f/3.3, ISO 100, 23.4 hours total exposure.

Tall, jagged tufa rock formations rise from the calm waters of Mono Lake at night, illuminated by vibrant red and pink aurora lights in the sky, with stars visible above. — Aurora Over Mono Lake: A Rare Dance of Light © Daniel Zafra. This photograph captures the rare occurrence of Northern Lights in California. Vibrant ribbons of magenta and green light up the sky, reflecting in the still waters among the rock formations. Taken with a Sony ILCE-7III camera, 14 mm f/1.8, ISO 8,000, 5-second exposure

A large, red full moon appears to rise directly behind modern skyscrapers in a city skyline at night, including the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Oriental Pearl Tower, creating a dramatic and vivid urban scene. — Blood Moon Rising Behind the City Skyscrapers © Tianyao Yang. This photograph captures a red Full Moon rising beside Shanghai’s tallest skyscrapers in Lujiazui. Taken from a distance of 26.5 km (16.5 miles) from the skyscrapers in a single exposure, this image’s alignment took five years of planning. The Full Moon appears perfectly positioned next to the illuminated skyline, creating a striking contrast. Taken with a Sony ILCE-7RM4 camera, 600 mm f/4, ISO 250, 1/10-second exposure.

View from inside a dark rocky cave looking out to a calm sea under a dramatic night sky, featuring a vivid, colorful galaxy and stars illuminating the scene beyond the cave entrance. — Cave of Stars © Yoshiki Abe. Realising that it was possible to photograph the Milky Way from this remote cave, Yoshiki Abe waited for the perfect conditions to take the image. This is a composite photograph. Both parts were taken on the same night and at the same location, but the foreground was shot during the blue hour then the tripod was shifted to capture the Milky Way. Taken with a Sony ILCE-7RM5 camera, 20 mm. Foreground: f/16, ISO 200, 30-second exposure, 3-frame panorama; Sky: f/1.4, ISO 800, 60-second exposure (stack of 51 frames); H-alpha: ISO 3,200, 90-second exposure (stack of 64 frames).

A vibrant Milky Way galaxy stretches across a starry night sky above pine-covered hills and a valley, with dry bushes and trees in the foreground under a fading sunset. — Celestial Symphony © Andreas Karaolis. A panorama of the Cygnus region of the Milky Way from Gerakies, Cyprus. The foreground was captured during blue hour to achieve more detail on the distant mountains and trees directly in front of the camera. Taken with a Sony ILCE7M4 camera, Move Shoot Move Nomad, 35 mm f/2, ISO 400, multiple 30– and 120-second exposures.

A bright comet streaks through space, displaying a wide white dust tail and a narrow blue ion tail against a dark, star-filled background. — Close-up of a Comet © Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jäger. The photographers travelled to Namibia to view Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) in the southern hemisphere. Due to the angle of the observation, the dust and ion tails seem to have overlapped, but the impact of solar winds on the day caused noticeable kinks in the ion tail. Taken with a ASA 12-inch Astrograph, ASA DDM85 mount, ZWO ASI6200MM Pro camera, 1,097 mm f/3.6,L 200-second exposure, R 100-second exposure, G 100-second exposure, B 100-second exposure.

A bright comet with a long glowing tail streaks across the night sky above a city skyline with illuminated high-rise buildings. Thin clouds hover above the horizon, and stars are visible in the sky. — Comet Over Waikiki © Ran Shen. Taken on the evening of 12 October 2024 at Pu’u O Kaimukī Park, Ran Shen joined many residents and astrophotographers in Honolulu, Hawaii, to witness the passage of Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), one of the most anticipated astronomical events of the year. Taken with a Nikon Z8 camera, 110 mm f/4.5, ISO 2,500, 2.5-second exposure.

A dragon blood tree stands alone under a night sky filled with colorful, circular star trails, creating a surreal, hypnotic effect above a rocky landscape. — Dragon Tree Trails © Benjamin Barakat. A solitary dragon tree stands tall in the heart of Socotra’s Dragon Blood Tree forest – an otherworldly landscape unlike anywhere else on Earth. The final image is composed of 300 individual exposures. Taken with a Sony Alpha 7 IV camera, 24 mm f/2.8, ISO 400, 30-second exposure.

A detailed image of the Andromeda Galaxy, showing a bright central core, spiral arms with pinkish nebulae, and countless surrounding stars set against the dark backdrop of space. — Eight-Panel Mosaic of M31 [Andromeda]: Stars, Nebulae and Central Bulge © Chuhong Yu, Jingyao Hong, Xi Zhu, Yaguang Wan. This image shows countless resolved stars, emission nebula and a mysterious central bulge. The photo is incredibly detailed, the mist surrounding the galaxy is actually tens of thousands of yellowish tiny stars. PixInsight and AstroPixelProcessor were used for pre-processing and the mosaic. Defects were corrected using a technique called Multi-Scale Gradient Removal, using wide-field data. During the process, BlurXTerminator, StarXTerminator and NoiseXTerminator were used and the final adjustment was done in Photoshop. Taken with a William Optics 12″ f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Truss Tube, GSO 14″ f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Truss Tube and Takahashi Epsilon 160 telescopes, iOptron CEM120EC and Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro mounts, ZWO ASI6200MM Pro camera, 2,272 mm f/6.4, Gain 100, 216 hours total exposure time.

A vibrant nebula in space with wispy, glowing red and blue filaments forming a cloud-like structure against a background of stars and faint objects. — Electric Threads of the Lightning Spaghetti Nebula © Shaoyu Zhang. This full-spectrum image of the Spaghetti Nebula unveils the faint and elusive nature of this supernova remnant (SNR), hidden behind a vast cloud of dust that obstructs its emission light. To enhance its visual appeal, Shaoyu Zhang dedicated considerable time to capturing OIII data, intensifying the blue and green hues, while allowing SII and H-alpha to support high dynamic range stretching for added depth. Taken with a Takahashi FSQ-106EDXIII telescope, Astrodon LRGBHSO filters and Chroma LRGBHSO filters, 10Micron GM 2000 HPS and Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 mounts, Canon EF 400 mm f/2.8 II IS USM lens, Moravian Instruments G4-16803 and ZWO ASI6200 cameras, 382 mm and 391 mm, f/3.6 and f/2.8, 148.33 hours total exposure.

An orange, detailed image of the Sun with a dotted, diagonal black line crossing it, representing the silhouette of the International Space Station transiting in front of the Sun. — Encounter Within One Second © Zhang Yanguang. This image captures the International Space Station (ISS) transiting across the solar disc. The solar background was captured separately with double-stacked etalon[an optical filter that isolates specific wavelengths, used to observe solar details], and reveals high-contrast chromospheric details. The imaging sequences were strategically combined during post-processing to preserve both the spacecraft’s crisp silhouette and the Sun’s intricate surface features. Taken with a Takahashi Teegul 60 telescope, Coronado SolarMax 60 double stacked, Vixen polaris mount, Player One Astronomy Neptune-M camera, 500 mm f/8.3, 0.3-millisecond exposure.

A bright, colorful spiral galaxy with glowing clouds of gas and dust, sparkling stars, and clusters scattered throughout the image against the dark backdrop of space. — Fireworks © Bence Tóth, Péter Feltóti, Bertalan Kecskés. The image shows M33, the Triangulum Galaxy from a new perspective. Due to tidal interaction with M31, there is very prominent star-forming activity in M33, which results in a spectacular structure of emission nebulae. During processing, a separate SHO picture was created with a strong SII/H-alpha presence, the glowing red structures in the picture, and blended with a high-resolution LRGB processing of the continuum data, representing the ‘background’ light. Taken with a custom-built 250/1000 Newtonian astrograph and Lacerta 300/1200 Photo Newtonian telescope, Antlia V-Pro LRGB and 3 nm H-alpha, OIII and SII filters, Astronomik LRGB and 6 nm H-alpha, OIII and SII filters, Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro mount, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro and ASI294MM Pro cameras,1,000 and 1,200 mm f/4, 8.4-hour L exposures, 6.8-hour R exposures, 6.7-hour G exposures and 6.3-hour B exposures, 39.3-hour H-alpha exposures, 15.3-hour OIII exposures, 28.3-hour SII exposures

A narrow coastal road curves past a small boat shed and fishing nets, with boats on the side. The night sky above sparkles with stars and the bright arc of the Milky Way, creating a dramatic contrast over the calm sea. — Galactic Catch: Salt and Vinegar With Your Cosmos? © Paul Joels. The Milky Way arcs over Lulworth Cove, where just a short walk from the water’s edge, there’s a fish and chip shop, boathouse, and a little boat that sit quietly at night. Taken with a CanonR6 Mark II camera, Benro Polaris mount, Foreground: Tamron 24-70 mm lens, 38 mm f/22, ISO 800, 3.2-second exposure, Sky: Samyang 14 mm lens,14 mm f/2.8, ISO 3,200.

A dramatic night sky filled with stars and the glowing Milky Way above angular, dark stone structures reflected in calm water, creating a surreal and striking scene. — Gateway to the Galaxy © Yujie Zhang. Under the night sky, several black geometric buildings appear to stand on the water’s surface, resembling gateways to the galaxy. The bright Milky Way stretches across the sky behind them, with stars twinkling. The reflections of the buildings shimmer in the water, blending reality and illusion, as if opening a passage to the mysteries of the Universe, inspiring endless reverie and a longing to explore the vast starry sky. Taken with a Nikon Z 8 camera, 15 mm f/4, ISO 2,000, multiple 480-second exposures.

A stunning nightscape of a rugged, eroded canyon under a star-filled sky, with the Milky Way forming a bright, colorful arc above the rocky landscape. — Into the Past © Jim Hildreth. This impressive panorama is a view from the Utah desert. 23,000 pixels wide, the photograph shows the desolate, character rich landscape, below a starry Milky Way. Taken with an astro-modified Canon EOS R and EOS R5 cameras, 28mm f/2.8 and f/8, ISO 800 and 100, Sky: 59-second exposure, Land: 3-second exposure.

Green northern lights dance in the night sky above rugged mountain peaks and a calm lake, framed by the trunks of birch trees in the foreground. — Kongen © Filip Hrebenda. The photograph captures a remote location on the Senja Peninsula in northern Norway. In the foreground, birch trees beautifully reflect the colours of the dancing aurora in the sky. Taken with a Sony Alpha 7R V camera, 12 mm f/2.8 (with focus stacking for foreground), ISO 4,000, 2-second exposure.

Panoramic view of an observatory under a vivid, star-filled night sky with the Milky Way arched overhead, glowing above buildings and a rocky, open landscape. — Looking Beyond © Chester Hall-Fernandez. This image shows the western view from Mount John Observatory, New Zealand’s premier optical observatory. To the right is the MOA-II telescope, the largest telescope in the country. Due to the southern hemisphere location of the observatory, the Milky Way sets in parallel to the horizon, which allows for striking compositions. Taken with a Nikon Z 6 camera, Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer mount, 35 mm f/1.4, ISO 1,600, 25-panel mosaic.

A detailed, color-enhanced image of the Moon shows a series of small, bright dots in a diagonal line along the left edge, illustrating the path of a satellite or object moving across the lunar surface. — Lunar Occultation of Saturn © Chayaphon Phanitloet. This is a composite image that brings images of both the Moon and Saturn together to show the lunar occultation of Saturn. A lunar occultation of Saturn occurs when the Moon passes in front of Saturn, temporarily blocking its light from Earth. This event is brief and can be observed as the Moon obscures the planet. Taken with a Svbony SV503 80ED telescope, Svbony 2x Barlow lens, iOptron CEM70 mount, QHYCCD QHY485C camera, 560 mm f/7, Moon: 0.23-millisecond exposure, Saturn: 4-millisecond exposure.

A large, orange full moon rises over a historic hilltop village with stone buildings, a church, and a castle, surrounded by trees at dusk. — Moonrise Over Villebois-Lavalette © Flavien Beauvais. This unique photograph was taken 6.4 km (4 miles) from the château of Villebois-Lavalette, just north of Bordeaux. The distortions are related to the distance between the imaged Moon and the foreground but also with respect to the atmospheric disturbance, hence the curves on the surface of the Moon. Taken with a Canon EOS R7 camera, Sigma 150-600 mm lens at 600 mm f/6.3, ISO 2,500, 1/50-second exposure.

A large, full moon rises over rugged, reddish-orange mountain peaks at dusk, contrasting against the darkening sky. A small structure is silhouetted on the ridge below the moon. — Moonrise Perfection Over the Dolomites © Fabian Dalpiaz. The full Moon rising above the rugged peaks of the Dolomites. With no clouds in sight and in flawless conditions, the golden light of sunset bathes the mountains, creating harmony between Earth and sky. Taken with a Sony Alpha 7R V camera, 400 mm f/9, ISO 320, 1/200-second exposure.

A glowing, colorful torus with swirling patterns of purple, pink, yellow, and orange on a black background. The ring appears luminous and abstract, with a shiny, marbled texture. — Neon Sun © Peter Ward. The data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observer (SDO) probe was used here to show the Sun’s inner corona in a way that hints at a process that is similar to that which energises colourful neon lights on Earth. Images taken by the SDO in the ultraviolet spectrum (at 171, 193 and 304 nm) were re-mapped to a more vibrant palette, with the same coronal data turned ‘inside out’ to surround the Sun, creating the illusion of it being enclosed in a neon tube. While neon tubes use electrical current to cause the low-pressure gas within them to glow, it is the heat from nuclear fusion that ionises the gas of the Sun’s atmosphere. While this ultraviolet light is undetectable to human eyes, it can easily cause sunburn on unprotected human skin within just few minutes of exposure. Remapped in Photoshop, the data was then polar inversed to mirror the inner coronal image. Colour saturation was increased by around 30 per cent and given one pass of a noise reduction filter.

A colorful spiral galaxy surrounded by countless stars is set against a backdrop of red glowing nebulae and deep space. Bright blue and white stars are scattered throughout the image. — NGC 2997: The Antlia Cabbage Galaxy © Xinran Li. NGC 2997 is a barred spiral galaxy (type SBc) in the constellation of Antlia. At 35 million light years distance, it has a visual magnitude of about 9.5, making it visible with binoculars in dark sites. The region is full of background H-alpha emissions, giving wonderful colour to the image. Taken with a ASA 500N telescope, Astrodon LRGB and H-alpha filters, ASA DDM85 mount, FLI ProLine 16803 camera, 1900 mm f/3.8, 600 seconds per frame for LRGB, 1,200 seconds per frame.

A composite image shows the stages of a solar eclipse, with the sun partially covered on the left and right, and the fully eclipsed sun, surrounded by its corona, at the center. — Progression of Baily’s Beads © Damien Cannane. Baily’s Beads are bright spots around the Moon during a solar eclipse that are caused by sunlight passing through lunar valleys. This composite shows the progression, from left to right, from the first ‘diamond ring’ – a moment when one last bright point of sunlight shines beside the faint corona, resembling a diamond on a ring – fading through Baily’s Beads into totality and beyond until a ‘diamond ring’ occurs again as the Sun starts to reappear. Taken with a Sky-Watcher Evolux 62 ED telescope, Celestron NexStar Evolution mount, ZWO ASI2600MC Pro camera, 360 mm f/5.8, Gain 100, Diamond Rings: 200 x 1/ 3-second exposures Baily’s Beads: 400 x 1/ 6-second exposures, Totality: stack of 7 x 1/400-second exposure.

Colorful nebula in deep space with glowing clouds of blue, orange, and red gas and dust, surrounded by smaller bright formations and set against a backdrop of countless stars. — Radiant Canopy: The Lustrous Realms of the Running Chicken Nebula © Rod Prazeres. IC 2944, the Running Chicken Nebula is known for its unique avian shape. NGC 3766, an open star cluster, appears as a sparkling jewel box that contrasts with the diffuse nebulosity. In the top left, filamentary shell G296.2-2.8, displays delicate, thread-like structures that weave through the cosmic backdrop. Taken with a William Optics RedCat 51 II telescope, Antlia 3 nm SHO 36mm and Baader CMOS Optimized RGB 36 mm filters, Sky-Watcher NEQ6–Pro mount, ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera, 250 mm f/4, 42 hours 15 minutes total exposure.

A lineup of the eight planets in the solar system, shown in order and to scale, against a black background: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. — Solar System Portrait © Sophie Paulin. This image presents all the planets of our Solar System, excluding Earth, showcasing their unique characteristics. Mercury, the closest to the Sun, is a barren, cratered world, while Venus is shrouded in thick clouds. Mars, the Red Planet, has vast deserts and the largest volcano in the Solar System. The gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, dominate with their immense size and swirling storms, while Saturn’s rings make it especially striking. Uranus and Neptune, the ice giants, are rich in methane, giving them their blue hue. Taken with a Spacewalk Telescopes Horizon 20″ f/3.2 Dobsonian, Tele Vue 5x 1.25″ Powermate, Spacewalk Telescopes EQ-Platform ‘Trackie’, Player One Astronomy Uranus-C camera, thousands of <10-millisecond exposures.

Aurora borealis in green and purple hues lights up the night sky above snow-covered mountains and a calm body of water. — The Arctic Flower © Vincent Beudez. In April, there is no ‘true’ night in northern Norway. This is why the Northern Lights look much more blue than usual. Vincent Beudez captured the visually pleasing aurora shape above the Norwegian background. Taken with a Sony Alpha 7S III camera, 14 mm f/1.8, ISO 4,000, 1.3-second exposure.

A detailed, full view of the Moon showing craters and maria in shades of gray, blue, and brown, highlighting varied surface textures and colors against a black background. — The Last Mineral Supermoon of 2024 © Karthik Easvur. The Beaver Moon was the last supermoon of 2024. This photograph was taken from the hazy, Bortle 9 skies of Delhi. The full-disc mosaic is composed of 24 images then stitched together to create a seamless mosaic. Taken with a GSO RC 6″ telescope, ZWO IR/UV cut filter, Explore Scientific EXOS-2 PMC-Eight mount, ZWO ASI662MC camera, 1,370 mm f/9, 24 x 30-second videos, 50% of frames stacked per video.

A sequence of images shows the stages of a solar eclipse, from partial coverage through totality (with a bright corona), and back to partial coverage, set against a black background. — Total Solar Eclipse © Louis Egan. This 22-megapixel panorama shows the different stages of the full solar eclipse, with a high dynamic range (HDR) image of totality in the middle. This reveals both the bright corona and finer details otherwise lost in standard exposures. The final image uses approximately 200 images with varying exposure times to create a HDR totality, before combining everything together. Taken with a Canon EOS 60D camera, SWSA 2I mount, Sigma 70-300 DG lens, Baader solar filter, 300 mm f/6.3, ISO 100, approximately 1,200 x 1/200-second exposures and 200 x 1/25-second exposures.

In this year’s competition, The Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation has become The Annie Maunder Open Category where entrants can experiment with different approaches to astronomy art, showcasing high concept, creative work. The striking image, Neon Sun by Peter Ward, uses images taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) remapped with a more vibrant palette. The same coronal data is turned ’inside out’ to surround the Sun, creating the illusion of it being enclosed in a neon tube.

The ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is now in its seventeenth year and returns with an expert panel of judges from the worlds of art and astronomy. The winners of the competition’s nine categories, two special prizes and the overall winner will be announced on Thursday September 11. The winning images will be displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum from Friday September 12, alongside a selection of exceptional shortlisted images. The competition’s official book, published by Collins in association with Royal Museums Greenwich, will be available exclusively on-site and online at Royal Museums Greenwich from the exhibition opening date. It will then be available more widely from bookstores from Thursday September 25.