Awe-inspiring scenes of the Milky Way, dancing aurorae and serene galaxies are all features of the shortlist for this year’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year. The competition is run by Royal Observatory Greenwich, supported by Liberty Specialty Markets and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. In 2024, the competition received over 3,500 entries from passionate amateur and dedicated professional photographers, submitted from 58 countries across the globe.

Shortlisted images from this year’s competition include an aurora in the shape of a dragon, the Milky Way over the Isaac Newton Telescope, Spain, and supernova remnants that are over 10,000 years old.

One of the astronomical highlights of 2023 was the amazing meteor storms. The shortlisted image ’A Cosmic Firework: the Geminid Meteor Shower’ combines a view of the Milky Way with the spectacle of the Geminid meteor shower.

The Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is now in its sixteenth 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 12 September. The winning images will be displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum from Friday 13 September, 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 26 September.

Exhibition information for visitors:

Venue:                                    National Maritime Museum, London

Dates:                                     Opening 13 September 2024

Website:                                 www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronomy-photographer-year/galleries/2024-shortlist

Visitor Enquiries:                   020 8858 4422 | bookings@rmg.co.uk

Twitter:                                   @RMGreenwich #APY16
Instagram:                             @royalmuseumsgreenwich #APY16

Facebook                                /royalmuseumsgreenwich #APY16

Astrophotography Group:     facebook.com/groups/astrophotos

 

Notes to editors

1. Competition Categories:

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 16 – Overall winner

Skyscapes: Landscape and cityscape images of twilight and the night sky featuring the Milky Way, star trails, meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, constellation rises, halos and noctilucent clouds alongside elements of earthly scenery.

Aurorae: Photographs featuring auroral activity.

People and Space: Photographs of the night sky including people or a human-interest element.

Our Sun: Solar images including transits and solar eclipses.

Our Moon: Lunar images including occultation of planets and lunar eclipses and transits.

Planets, Comets and Asteroids: Everything else in our Solar System, including planets and their satellites, comets, asteroids and other forms of zodiacal debris.

Stars and Nebulae: Deep-space objects within the Milky Way galaxy, including stars, star clusters, supernova remnants, nebulae and other galactic phenomena.

Galaxies: Deep-space objects beyond the Milky Way galaxy, including galaxies, galaxy clusters and stellar associations.

Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year: Pictures taken by budding astronomers under the age of 16.

The judges will also award two special prizes:

The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer: Photos taken by people who have taken up the hobby in the last year and have not entered an image into the competition before. The judges will give special consideration to those using simple and inexpensive start-out kits.

The Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation: For images processed by the entrants using pre-existing open-source data.

2. The winners of Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 16 will be announced at an award ceremony in September 2024. The winning photographs will be exhibited at the National Maritime Museum alongside a selection of shortlisted images.

3. The overall winner will receive £10,000. Winners of all other categories and the photographer named winner in the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year category will receive £1,500. There are also prizes for runners-up (£500) and highly commended (£250) entries. The special prize winners will receive £750. All the winning entrants will receive a one-year subscription to BBC Sky at Night Magazine. 

4. Royal Observatory Greenwich is the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian and one of the most important historic scientific sites in the world. Since its founding in 1675, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich has been at the centre of the measurement of time and space and visitors today can still stand on the historic Prime Meridian line. The Observatory galleries and Peter Harrison Planetarium help unravel the extraordinary phenomena of time, space and astronomy. In 2018, the Royal Observatory acquired the Annie Maunder Astrographic Telescope (AMAT), the first new telescope to be installed in Greenwich in over 60 years, marking a new era for the world-famous site and restoring its status as a working observatory.

The Royal Observatory is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, which also incorporates the National Maritime Museum, the Queen’s House and Cutty Sark. This unique collection of museums and heritage buildings, which form a key part of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site, welcomes over 2.5 million British and international visitors a year and is also a major centre of education and research. The mission of Royal Museums Greenwich is to enrich people’s understanding of the sea, the exploration of space and Britain’s role in world history. For more information visit rmg.co.uk.

5. Liberty Specialty Markets ,part of Liberty Mutual, offers specialty and commercial insurance and reinsurance products across key UK, European, Middle East, US, Bermuda, Asia Pacific & Latin America markets. We provide brokers and insureds with a broad product range through both the Company and Lloyd’s markets and have over 2,000 employees in approximately 60 offices. At Liberty Mutual, we believe progress happens when people feel secure. By providing protection for the unexpected and delivering it with care, we help people embrace today and confidently pursue tomorrow. In business since 1912, and headquartered in Boston, today we are the eighth largest global property and casualty insurer based on 2023 gross written premium. We also rank 87 on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the US based on 2023 revenue. As of December 31, 2023, we had $49.4 billion in annual consolidated revenue. We employ over 45,000 people in 29 countries and economies around the world. We offer a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, specialty lines, reinsurance, commercial multiple-peril, workers compensation, commercial automobile, general liability, surety, and commercial property.

6. BBC Sky at Night Magazine is Britain’s best-selling astronomy magazine, with a combined print and digital monthly circulation of 31,289. skyatnightmagazine.com has 700,000 visits a month and reaches 110,000 organic social media followers through Facebook, X and Instagram. The magazine is available monthly through its app (available on Apple App Store and Google Play), on Apple News, on Zinio and in print, and is media partner of the annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich. With writing from the world’s leading astronomers and science communicators, BBC Sky at Night Magazine complements one of the world’s longest running TV programmes, BBC Four’s The Sky at Night, and is published by Our Media under licence from BBC Worldwide.

7. Royal Observatory Greenwich, in partnership with Collins, will be publishing Astronomy Photographer of the Year, Collection 13 in September 2024, RRP £30.00. It is the official publication of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition and will showcase breathtaking images of space and the night sky from the 2024 competition shortlist. Photographs will be accompanied by full details, including each photographer’s information, location where photographs were taken and technical specifications.

Last year’s publication is still available to buy: Astronomy Photographer of the Year, Collection 12 / RRP £30.00 / Hardback / Published September 2023 / Royal Museums Greenwich online shop. For further information or to request review copies please contact: Catherine Howe/ catherine.howe@harpercollins.co.uk / 020 8307 4048.

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Media interviews:

The Modern Astronomy team at Royal Observatory Greenwich is dedicated to the public understanding of science and its experts are available to give radio and TV interviews on astronomy – at the historic Observatory site or in the studio.

The Observatory offers a short notice service to media stations looking for comment or interviews on any aspect of modern astronomy – discussing new discoveries and space missions, telling people what to look for in this month’s night sky, or talking about old favourites like black holes, whether there is life beyond Earth and the origins of the Universe.

For further information or images, please contact:

Press Office Tel: 020 8312 6790/6667/6545

or Email: press@rmg.co.uk