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From a blood moon hanging over Shanghai to a family portrait of the Solar System and a close-up of a comet's streaming tails, distant astronomical wonders are photographed in magnificent detail for all to admire. Now in its 17th year, in 2025 the competition received a record number of entries, with just over 5,880 photographs submitted from 68 different countries. See a small selection of shortlisted images below, and stay tuned to discover this year's full shortlist, winners and runners-up at a special online awards ceremony on 11 September. Keep up to date with the competition Sign up to our space newsletter for exclusive astronomy news, guides and events, and be among the first to see this year's Astronomy Photographer of the Year winners Sign up See the shortlist Image Huge blood red moon rising at night behind Shanghai skyscrapers (c) Tianyao Yang Blood Moon Rising Behind the City Skyscrapers by Tianyao Yang Jiading District, Shanghai, China 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. Image Photo showing icy snowy mountain landscape with vast sky above filled with green and purple aurorae, at the top is a large firework-shape aurora in green and purple (c) Vincent Beudez The Arctic Flower by Vincent Beudez Sjursnes, Tromso, Norway 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. Image Vivid Milky Way core vertical in sky over sculpture of black stones with water in foreground (c) Yujie Zhang Gateway to the Galaxy by Yujie Zhang Songyang County, China 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. Image Photo of the Sun in bright oranges and yellows with a solar prominence coming out of the bottom of it (c) PengFei Chou 500,000-km Solar Prominence Eruption by PengFei Chou Eastern New District, Xinxing County, Guangdong province 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. Image Photo of Andromeda Galaxy up close in vivid reds and purples (c) Chuhong Yu, Jingyao Hong, Xi Zhu, Yaguang Wan Eight-Panel Mosaic of M31: Stars, Nebulae and Central Bulge by Chuhong Yu, Jingyao Hong, Xi Zhu, Yaguang Wan Daocheng County, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China 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. Image Desolate, dry and cracked Utah landscape, below a starry Milky Way arching in the sky in purples, blues and oranges (c) Jim Hildreth Into the Past by Jim Hildreth Moonscape Overlook, Wayne County, Utah, USA 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. Image Photo showing top of mountain range in the Dolomites in Italy, with the Moon fitting neatly in a groove in the mountain (c) Fabian Dalpiaz Moonrise Perfection Over the Dolomites by Fabian Dalpiaz Santuario di Pietralba, Deutschnofen, South Tyrol, Italy The full Moon rises 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. Image Photo of lone tree in the centre of a flat landscape with distant hill, in the sky are multicoloured star trails forming a perfect circle around the tree (c) Benjamin Barakat Dragon Tree Trails by Benjamin Barakat Firmihin Forest, Hidaybu District, Yemen 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. Image Photo showing progression of Moon moving in front of the Sun incrementally, with a total eclipse in the middle (c) Louis Egan Total Solar Eclipse by Louis Egan Shortlisted in ZWO Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year. Coaticook, Quebec, Canada 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. Image Photo showing lit up city landscape with a large white comet in the sky (c) Ran Shen Comet Over Waikiki by Ran Shen Honolulu, Hawaii, USA Taken on the evening of 12 October 2024 at Pu'u O Kaimuki 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. Image Photo of M33, the Triangulum Galaxy, resembling fireworks with bright spots of white, purple and reds against black background (c) Bence Toth, Peter Feltoti, Bertalan Kecskes Fireworks by Bence Toth, Peter Feltoti and Bertalan Kecskes Szodliget, Pest and Torokkoppany, Somogy, Hungary 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. Image Long landscape image showing all planets in the Solar System (c) Sophie Paulin Solar System Portrait by Sophie Paulin Bobingen, Bavaria, Germany 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. Image Photo showing landscape, on the bottom half is a lake with rock protrusions and in the top half is the sky with bright green and purple aurorae, which is reflected in the lake (c) Daniel Zafra Aurora Over Mono Lake: A Rare Dance of Light by Daniel Zafra Mono Lake, Mono County, USA 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. Image Bright star in the centre of a small egg-shaped pink nebula surrounded by protrusions of purple nebulae clouds, against a deep purple sky smattered with stars (c) Charles Pevsner NGC 6164 and NGC 6165: The Dragon's Egg by Charles Pevsner Deep Sky Chile Observatory, Camino del Observatorio, Rio Hurtado, Chile At the centre of this image is the bright star HD148937, part of a luminous triple-star system at the centre of the Dragon's Egg Nebula (NGC 6164 and 6165) that lights up the nebula structure. Charles Pevsner was originally attracted to this target because of the striking symmetry of the magenta lobes of the Dragon's Egg, but his favourite element ended up being the wispy outer shell. Image Landscape photo of French town called Villebois-Lavalette with a large orange moon in the sky with the top half visible (c) Flavien Beauvais Moonrise Over Villebois-Lavalette by Flavien Beauvais La Font Aride, Saint-Amant-de-Montmoreau, France This unique photograph was taken 6.4 km (4 miles) from the chateau 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. Image Photo showing bright vivid comet streaming in white, with another tail in bright blue (c) Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jager Close-up of a Comet by Gerald Rhemann and Michael Jager Tivoli Astrofarm, Windhoek Rural, Namibia 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. Image Photo taken from inside a cave looking out on a seascape with the Milky Way diagonal in the sky above (c) Yoshiki Abe Cave of Stars by Yoshiki Abe Nagato, Yamaguchi, Japan 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. Image Photo of the Moon which fades into darkness at the top, with a dotted line to the left which disappears behind the left limb of the moon momentarily (c) Chayaphon Phanitloet Lunar Occultation of Saturn by Chayaphon Phanitloet Bua Yai, Bua Yai District, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand 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. Image Long photo showing progression of solar eclipse, with baily's beads appearing (c) Damien Cannane Progression of Baily's Beads by Damien Cannane Dexter, Missouri, USA 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. Image Vivid photo of a nebula in reds, purples and blues, resembling a large bubble (c) Shaoyu Zhang Electric Threads of the Lightning Spaghetti Nebula by Shaoyu Zhang Deep Sky Chile Observatory, Rio Hurtado, Chile and Xiangcheng, Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, China 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. Image Square image showing black background on which is a ring in purples and greens Data from NASA, processed by Peter Ward Neon Sun by Peter Ward Shortlisted in the Annie Maunder Open Category. Original data from NASA SDO 171, 193, 304 nanometre from 1 June 2024 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 similar to that which energises colourful neon lights on Earth. Images taken by the SDO in the ultraviolet spectrum were remapped 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. The data was then polar inversed to mirror the inner coronal image and colour saturation was increased. Learn more about Astronomy Photographer of the Year [OS-2913-85] Visit the current exhibition See the remarkable shortlisted and winning images from 2024's competition for free at the National Maritime Museum, open until 11 August. Visit [Arctic] See past winners Explore the winning and shortlisted images from previous years of Astronomy Photographer of the Year Browse the galleries [Collection] Shop Astronomy Photographer of the Year Photography Book: Collection 14 PS30.00 Note: This title is currently available to pre-order. Pre-orders will be dispatched on 12 September, ahead of the general publication release date of 25 September 2025... Buy now: Astronomy Photographer of the Year Photography Book: Collection 14 Read more Explore the universe with Royal Observatory Greenwich astronomers and curators. 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Meet the man tasked with mapping the night sky from Greenwich, and discover how a feud with Isaac Newton shaped the early history of the Royal Observatory Sponsors and supporters Logo that says ZWO x Seestar BBC Sky at Night logo in black Header image: NGC 6164 and NGC 6165: The Dragon's Egg (c) Charles Pevsner Close Search [ ] Want to search our collection? Search here. Our sites * Cutty Sark * National Maritime Museum * Queen's House * Royal Observatory About us * What we do * Contact us * Jobs & volunteering * Press office * Sustainability Commercial services * Brand licensing * Image licensing * Filming & photography * Publishing * Venue hire Legal * Terms & Conditions * Privacy Notice * Accessibility * Cookie Policy Follow us on Facebook Follow us on X Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Youtube Follow us on Weibo Sign up to our newsletter Back To Top