Amazing, The Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition 2013
An image of Venus crossing the sun over the Black Sea in Romania and astral clouds of rose-coloured gas revealing star formations in distant galaxies are just two of the incredible images shortlisted for the 2013 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.
The competition, which is now in its fifth year, is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with Sky at Night Magazine.
It received a record number of over 1,200 entries from enthusiastic amateurs and professional photographers from around the globe.
A vast sweep of auroral light appears to mirror the shape of the frozen shoreline in this photograph by Mike Curry
The natural rock archway of Durdle Door, frames the distant band of our Milky Way in this shot by Stephen Banks.The rock formations on Dorset's Jurassic Coast are more than 100 million years old but many of the stars that make up the Milky Way are far older, at up to ten billion years old
The Carina Nebula is a chaotic region of star formation several thousand light years from Earth. In the central part of the nebula, shown here, dense clouds of gas and dust are lit up by the light of newly born stars. The star Eta Carinae is at the centre of this image by Michael Sidonio
Wayne England managed to catch the moment when the Milky Way appears to line up with the giant 64 metre dish of the radio telescope at Parkes Observatory in Australia. As you can see from the artificial lights around the telescope, light pollution is not a problem for radio astronomers
This photograph by Rogelio Bernal Andreo shows the Milky Way arching over Yosemite Valley in California's famous national park. A lens-shaped (lenticular) cloud hovers over the distinct granite dome of Liberty Cap, which rises to an elevation of over 2,000 metres
Transits of Venus are rare events, occurring in pairs eight years apart, with each pair separated by more than a century. The transits themselves are brief, as Venus only takes around 6 hours to cross the disc of the Sun. Alexandru Conu captured the event in Romania (pictured left). On the right, Tommy Eliassen photographed a bright meteor streaking across the sky
Although auroral displays have become more common as the Sun nears the peak of its 11 year cycle of activity in 2013, these hilltop observers were still lucky to witness such a spectacular example and were photographed by James Woodend
As the full Moon sinks in the west, the Sun rises in the east, lighting up the snow-capped Alpine horizon, captured by Stefano De Rosa
The birth of new stars is a complex process. One aspect of stellar formation is the production of jets of material which blast out from the poles of some new-born stars. Here, these jets can be seen emerging from the thick dust and gas clouds of the Pelican Nebula, as photographed by Andre van der Hoeven
Although a line of burnt orange along the horizon marks where sunset has already occurred, most of the light in this image by Ingólfur Bjargmundsson comes from the Sun. High in the sky the bright disc of the Moon is shining with reflected sunlight, while a tiny smudge above the sea is sunlight reflecting from the dust and gas in the tail of Comet Panstarrs
This full disc image of the Sun, captured by Paul Haese, shows dark filaments rising from the surface and back again. These features are known as prominences
This full disc image of the Sun, captured by Paul Haese, shows dark filaments rising from the surface and back again. These features are known as prominences
Noctilucent clouds are formed of tiny ice crystals high in the atmosphere around 80km above the ground and can be seen at Twilight. Here, despite the urban lights, they are photographed above the Pennine Hills of northern England by Mark Shaw
Modern cameras can detect light which is too faint for our eyes to see. Nik Szymanek has chosen a subdued palette of colours to represent the Orion Nebula to emphasise the delicate structure of the nebula's dust clouds
Familiar stars and constellations form a line rising up behind this windswept tree in Dartmoor National Park in the southwest of England. Just above the horizon is Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, photographed by Anna Walls
Familiar stars and constellations form a line rising up behind this windswept tree in Dartmoor National Park in the southwest of England. Just above the horizon is Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, photographed by Anna Walls
source : Dailymail
