Galaxies 2020

Photo of the Andromeda Galaxy - a dark black sky sprinkled with stars

Andromeda Galaxy at Arm's Length

By Nicolas Lefaudeux

Winner of the Galaxies category and overall competition winner

"This image has certainly been my favourite in this year’s competition and also one that gives me a big smile every time I view it."

- Ed Robinson, Award-winning photographer, creative director and visual consultant. Founder of OneRedEye Visual Communications

See the overall winners

NGC 3628 with 300,000 Light Year Long Tail

by Mark Hanson

Runner Up

"A 300,000 light-year long tail captured like a delicate wisp of vapour. It conveys the feeling of the impossibly vast distances and spans of time within the Universe which are far beyond our usual parameters. Nevertheless, we simply have to accept them."

- Jon Culshaw, comedian, impersonator and regular guest on The Sky at Night

Attack on the Large Magellanic Cloud

by Juan-Carlos Munoz-Mateos

Highly commended

While it may look like the Earth is attacking the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud, this is actually an insider’s view of how astronomers observe and study the Universe. This image is an excellent example of how even the process of understanding space can itself be beautiful!

- Emily Drabek-Maunder, astrophysicist, astronomer and science communicator at Royal Observatory Greenwich