Royal Observatory Greenwich Announces the Winner of Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14
The overall winner of the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14 is Gerald Rhemann for Disconnection Event, a rare photograph of a piece of Comet Leonard’s gas tail being disconnected and carried away by the solar wind. The image will be on display alongside the winners of the other categories in the accompanying exhibition, opening at the National Maritime Museum on Saturday 17 September 2022.
Rhemann’s astonishing image of Comet Leonard, a long period comet first identified in January 2021, was captured by the Austrian photographer in Namibia on Christmas Day. Comet Leonard was the brightest comet of the year in 2021 but won’t be seen from Earth again. This remarkable photograph astounded the judges, who voted unanimously to award Rhemann the title Astronomy Photographer of the Year.
Gerald Rhemann said, ‘This award is one of the highlights of my astrophotography work. All the effort that went into making this image a success was worth it.’
Melissa Brobby, judge and Social Media Officer for the Institute of Physics said ‘when I first saw this image of Comet Leonard, I was blown away. This picture of a recent visitor to our Solar System has been captured so beautifully. The stars in the background give the comet’s tail a magical appearance. I could stare at this image all day.’
The Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year award was won by two fourteen-year-old boys from China. Yang Hanwen and Zhou Zezhen collaborated to capture Andromeda Galaxy: The Neighbour, a spellbinding photograph of one of the Milky Way’s closest and largest neighbours. As well as revealing the vibrant colours of a nearby galaxy, stars pierce through the darkness and emphasise the awe and wonder of this breath-taking sight.
Yang Hanwen said, ‘I think this photo shows how gorgeous our nearest neighbour is.’ Zhou Zezhen said, ‘I feel honoured and thank the judges.’ He added, ‘One of the main functions of astrophotography is to attract more people to fall in love with astronomy by showing the beauty of the Universe.’
László Francsics, judge and Chairman of the Hungarian Astrophotographers’ Association said, ‘It is a superb capture by young astrophotographers, who also demonstrate their exceptional talent in processing a deep-sky photo.’
The other winning images include In the Embrace of a Green Lady by Slovakian photographer Filip Hrebenda, which shows the Northern Lights reflected on a freezing Icelandic lake; Shadow Profile of Plato’s East Rim by British photographer Martin Lewis, one of the sharpest images of the giant lunar crater, Plato; A Year in the Sun by Indian photographer Soumyadeep Mukherjee, which traces sunspots gradually drifting over the course of a year; and The Eye of God by Chinese photographer Weitang Liang, an ethereal image of the Helix Nebula, which resembles a gazing eye looking back at us on Earth.
Another of the judges’ favourite images was The International Space Station Transiting Tranquility Base by American photographer Andrew McCarthy, which won the People & Space category. It features the ISS positioned directly over the Sea of Tranquility, the landing site for the first manned landing on the Moon in 1969. Judge Imad Ahmed, Director of the New Crescent Society, described the image as ‘one of my favourite pictures in this year’s competition. The ancient rocky expanse of the Moon serves as the perfect background for the inquisitive ISS. To me, this not only captures our human fascination with the Moon, but perhaps hints at a future, where touching down on its surface may finally, one day, be an opportunity open to all of us.’
Steve Marsh, judge and Art Editor for BBC Sky at Night Magazine, said, ‘The world’s best astrophotographers have turned out to showcase their talent and innovation. Fourteen years of the competition have shown that astronomy is timeless and can withstand anything. This year has showcased some almost ‘space telescope’ quality imaging, with entrants pouncing on celestial events as they happen, finding new ways to bring us well documented objects and showing acute knowledge of their craft. As ever, it has been both humbling and a pleasure to judge these incredible images.’
Ed Bloomer, astronomer at Royal Observatory Greenwich said, ‘Once again, we’ve had a great year for astrophotography, and the entrants have produced amazing images for the competition. The standard is incredibly high. It was really satisfying to see how many entrants challenged themselves to capture unusual, rarely imaged or transient events: there are some things you won’t have seen before, and even some things that won’t be seen again.’
The Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, supported by Liberty Specialty Markets and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. In 2022, the competition received over three thousand entries from sixty-seven countries around the world.
Exhibition information for visitors:
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Venue: |
National Maritime Museum, London |
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Dates: |
Opening 17 September 2022 |
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Website: |
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Visitor Enquiries: |
020 8858 4422 | bookings@rmg.co.uk |
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Twitter: |
@RMGreenwich #APY14 |
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Instagram: |
@royalmuseumsgreenwich #APY14 |
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Facebook: |
/royalmuseumsgreenwich #APY14 |
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Astrophotography Group: |
Notes to editors:
1. Full details of the 2022 winners:
Planets, Comets & Asteroids
- Gherard Rhemann (Austria) with Disconnection Event (Winner and Overall Winner)
- Damian Peach (UK) with The Jovian Family (Runner Up)
- Lionel Majzik (Hungary) with Cosmic Rose (Highly Commended)
Skyscapes
- Zihui Hu (China) with Stabbing Into the Stars (Winner)
- Abhijit Patil (USA) with Badwater Milky Way (Runner Up)
- Filip Hrebenda (Slovakia) with The Night Highway (Highly Commended)
People & Space
- Andrew McCarthy (USA) with The International Space Station Transiting Tranquility Base (Winner)
- Mikhail Minkov (Bulgaria) with Back to the Spaceship (Runner Up)
- Hannah Rochford (UK) with Equinox Moon and Glastonbury Tor
Aurorae
- Filip Hrebenda (Slovakia) with In the Embrace of a Green Lady (Winner)
- Fred Bailey (Canada) with Misty Green River (Runner Up)
- Akexander Stepanenko (Russia) with Winged Aurora (Highly Commended)
Galaxies
- Utkarsh Mishra (India), Michael Petrasko (USA) and Muir Evenden (USA) with Majestic Sombrero Galaxy (Winner)
- Mark Hanson (USA) and Mike Selby (Thailand) with Arp 271 “Cosmic Collision” (Runner Up)
- Mathew Ludgate (New Zealand) with SMC and the Magellanic Bridge (Highly Commended)
Our Moon
- Martin Lewis (UK) with Shadow Profile of Plato’s East Rim (Winner)
- Andrea Vanoni (Italy) with Moon: Big Mosaic (Runner Up)
- Noah Kujawski (USA) with An Eclipse From a Thousand Sunsets (Highly Commended)
Our Sun
- Soumyadeep Mukherjee (India) with A Year in the Sun (Winner)
- Stuart Green (UK) with Solar Inferno (Runner Up)
- Miguel Claro (Portugal) with A Giant in the Sun’s Limb (Highly Commended)
Stars & Nebulae
- Weitang Liang (China) with The Eye of God (Winner)
- Martin Cohen (UK) with What a Flaming Star! (Runner Up)
- Péter Feltóti (Hungary) with The Centre of the Heart Nebula (Highly Commended)
Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year
- Yang Hanwen and Zhou Zezhen (China) with Andromeda Galaxy, The Neighbour (Winner)
- Peter Szabo (Hungary) with Mineral Moon Mosaic (Highly Commended)
- Saahil Sinha (USA) with A Rainbow Rose (Highly Commended)
- Julian Shapiro (USA) with The Crab Nebula in Hydrogen and Oxygen
The Annie Maunder Prize for Digital Innovation
- Pauline Woolley (UK) with Solar Tree (Winner)
The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer
- Lun Deng (China) with The Milky Way Bridge Across Big Snowy Mountains (Winner)
2. The winning photographs will be exhibited in the National Maritime Museum, alongside a selection of shortlisted images. General admission will be £10.
The overall winner will receive £10,000. The winners of all the other categories and the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year 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.
3. Royal Observatory Greenwich is home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian and is one of the most important historic scientific sites in the world. Since its founding in 1675, 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 Greenwich 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 Greenwich 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, 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 www.rmg.co.uk.
4. Liberty Specialty Markets 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 insurers 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 sixth largest global property and casualty insurer based on 2021 gross written premium. We also rank 78th on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2021 revenue. As of December 31, 2021, we had $48.2 billion in annual consolidated revenue.
We employ over 47,000 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.
5. About BBC Sky at Night Magazine
BBC Sky at Night Magazine is Britain's best-selling astronomy magazine, with a combined print and digital circulation of 23,082 copies a month. skyatnightmagazine.com has 680,000 visits a month and reaches 75,000 social media followers through Facebook and Twitter. The magazine is available on Apple Newsstand, Google Play and Zinio as well as in print, and is media partner of the annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the 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 Immediate Media Co under licence from BBC Worldwide.
6.The Royal Observatory Greenwich, in partnership with Collins, will be publishing Astronomy Photographer of the Year, Collection 11 on 29 September 2022 It is the official publication for the Astronomy Photography of the Year competition and will showcase breathtaking images of space and the night sky from the 2022 competition shortlist. Photographs will be accompanied by full details including each photographer’s information, location where photographs were taken and technical specifications.
The collection of last year’s prize-winning images are still available to buy: Astronomy Photographer of the Year: Collection 10 / RRP £25.00 / Hardback / Published September 2021 / Royal Museums Greenwich online shop.
For further information or to request review copies please contact:
Marta Juncosa / marta.juncosa@harpercollins.co.uk / DL: 020 8307 4176
Media interviews:
The Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Modern Astronomy team 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, is there life beyond Earth and the origins of the universe.
For further information or to request press images, please contact:
Victoria Mottram
Press & PR Manager, Science & Cultural
press@rmg.co.uk | 020 8312 6789
Header image credit: Disconnection Event © Gherard Rhemann