Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners The Royal Observatory Greenwich has announced the winners of its annual astronomy photo competition. American photographer Brad Goldpaint's Transport the Soul, a dreamy photo of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxy hanging over Moab, Utah, took the People and Space category's top prize and was named Overall Winner.
A total of 31 winning images were selected across 11 categories – take a look at them here and visit Royal Observatory Greenwich's site to get yourself ready for next year's competition.
Transport the Soul © Brad Goldpaint (USA) - WINNER (PEOPLE AND SPACE) AND OVERALL WINNER
Interested in adding a 'human element' to his photographs, once the quarter moon rose and revealed the incredible, vast landscape of the shale hills below the viewpoint, the lone photographer, to the left of the frame, stood motionless while he captured this photograph. The Andromeda Galaxy, quarter moon, Milky Way Galaxy, and position of the photographer all combined to create a captivating, harmonious portrait of a night sky photographer at work.
Moab, Utah, USA, 20 May 2017
Nikon D810 camera, 14-mm f/4. 0 lens, ISO 2500, 20-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
PEOPLE AND SPACE: Living Space © Andrew Whyte (UK) - RUNNER-UP
This is a single-frame image and not a speculative composite. Situated on a south-coast peninsula, this street falls within a part-night street lighting zone; when the lights go out, there's nothing to interfere with the view of the stars until continental Europe- miles across the English Channel. The scene might be perceived incongruous or surreal and almost shows how accustomed we've become to the loss of night sky views due to light pollution. It was a conscious decision by the photographer to feature the unlit streetlamps, hinting how it might be possible to undo the damage and restore awe-inspiring views. Pagham, West Sussex, UK, 29 April 2017
Sony ILCE-7S camera, 28-mm f/2 lens, ISO 6400, 15-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
PEOPLE AND SPACE: Me versus the Galaxy © Mark McNeill (UK) - HIGHLY COMMENDED
This photograph was taken just after Christmas at the Sycamore Gap, Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland and showcases the majestic winter Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxy. The temperature was about -4°C and the photographer arrived from Lancashire at 11am but had to wait till 2. 30am for the Moon to set and for all the stars to be visible. Hadrian’s Wall, Northumberland, UK, 28 December 2017
Nikon D810 camera, 20-mm f/1. 4 lens, ISO 5000, 10-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
AURORAE: Speeding on the Aurora lane © Nicolas Lefaudeux (France) - WINNER
A hazy, subtle auroral band is leisurely drifting across the sky providing an unusual perspective with faint bands appearing to radiate from a vanishing point, like a road disappearing over the horizon. As the aurora glided overhead, it made the photographer feel like he was driving a spaceship about to reach light speed toward the Big Dipper. This view lasted less than a minute.
Sirkka, Finland, 30 March 2017
Sony ILCE-7S2 camera, 20-mm f/1. 4 lens, ISO 2000, 3. 2-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
AURORAE: Castlerigg Stone Circle © Matthew James Turner (UK) - RUNNER-UP
This was the photographer’s first ever encounter with the aurora borealis in the UK. The Moon was bright enough to illuminate the foreground arena of standing stones perfectly and the aurora surfaced from behind the majestic mountains, giving the appearance that the hills themselves were emitting the ethereal green glow.
Keswick, Cumbria, UK, 7 November 2017
Sony ILCE-7R camera, 22-mm f/4 lens, ISO 1000, 30-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
AURORAE: Aurorascape © Mikkel Beiter (Denmark) - HIGHLY COMMENDED
The conditions to shoot an aurora that night were not ideal because of the bright Moon but the photographer managed to capture the breathtaking Aurora Borealis above the fjord in the gorgeous Lofoten archipelago, in Northern Norway. The small pool of water with rocks made the perfect foreground and a natural leading line into the frame.
Haukland Beach, Lofoten, Norway, 26 February 2018
Canon EOS 5DS R camera, 17-mm f/2. 8 lens, ISO 2000, 8-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
GALAXIES: NGC 3521, Mysterious Galaxy © Steven Mohr (Australia) - WINNER
The spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is located around 26 million light-years away in the constellation Leo and presents complex scene, with enormous amounts of surrounding dust and stray stars glowing far out from its disk. Emerging from the photographer’s colour data was a bright array of contrasting colour tones, generated by aging yellow-red stars, younger burning aggressively blue-white stars, and various nebulae throughout the disk. This image comprises approximately 20. 5 hours of exposure time, collecting data in various filter types.
Carrapooee, Victoria, Australia, 13 February 2018
Planewave CDK 12. 5 telescope, Astrodon Gen II LRGB, Baarder H
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
GALAXIES: From Mirach © Raul Villaverde Fraile (Spain) - RUNNER-UP
This photograph is a mosaic of 24 images and depicts how the galaxies Messier 31 and Messier 33 appear symmetrically on either side of the star Mirach. Despite being the two galaxies closest to our own, they are still significantly further away from us than Mirach, which is a star within our own Milky Way. We can also see the two smaller satellite galaxies of M31, M32 and M110.
Ocentejo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, 14 November 2017
Takahashi FSQ 106ED telescope, Idas lps 2-inch lens, SkyWatcher Nq6pro mount, Canon 6D camera, 414-mm f/3. 9 lens, ISO 1600, 24x30x400" exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
GALAXIES: Fireworks Galaxy NGC 6939
This image showcases the open cluster of stars NGC 6939 and the galaxy NGC 6949 with the stellar explosion of the supernova SN 2017 EAW. The data gathering for this image was carried out over a few different days and the photographer tried to obtain sharp details as well as some of the ‘foggy’ background light. The image depicts the great variety of objects we can observe in the Universe, a stellar explosion with an enormous diversity of the colours of the stars which depends on the temperature, a magnificent galaxy that can be seen directly face-on; the show of the supernova, a fantastic phenomenon which is produced not very often in our skies; and a dim nebula of IFN type in the background. Escobar de Campos, Castile and Le
Takahashi FSQ 106ED telescope, Idas lps 2-inch lens, SkyWatcher Nq6pro mount, Canon 6D camera, 414-mm f/3. 9 lens, ISO 1600, 24x30x400" exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
OUR MOON: Inverted Colours of the boundary between Mare Serenitatis and Mare Tranquilitatis © Jordi Delpeix Borrell (Spain) - WINNER
Inverting the image is a legacy of deep sky imaging, where tenuous extensions of galaxies and nebulae can be more visible on a negative image because our eye more easily detects tenuous dark details on a white background. This is also useful in Moon imaging helping to reveal otherwise barely detectable soil features such as ray systems. Low contrast areas like the lunar seas and ray systems, look much more interesting because low contrast details are revealed and according to the photographer this is a new way for Moon exploration that should be considered.
L' Ametlla del Vall
Celestron 14 telescope, Sky-Watcher NEQ6 Pro mount, ZWO ASI 224MC camera, 4,200-mm f/12 lens, multiple 20ms exposures
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
OUR MOON: Earth Shine © Peter Ward (Australia) - RUNNER-UP
During a total solar eclipse the brightness of the solar corona hides details of the Moon to the human eye. But by layering multiple digital exposures in this image from 2 seconds to 1/2000th of a second, the photographer managed to reveal much more. The image showcases not just the brilliant solar corona, but the newest possible of new moons, seen here illuminated by sunlight reflecting off the Earth.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA, 21 August 2017
Takahashi FSQ85 telescope, Losmandy Starlapse mount, Canon 5D Mark IV camera, 500-mm f/5 lens, 9 exposures ranging from ISO 100 to 900, 150 2-seconds through to 1/4000th second exposures
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
OUR MOON: From the Dark Side
The photographer had planned to capture a high resolution image of the morning crescent Moon for a long time. The waning crescent Moon only rises high above the horizon of the Carpathian basin in autumn, but in this period of the year the weather is usually cloudy and rainy. Fortunately, in October 2017, an anticyclone wiped the area clear, which allowed the photographer to take a good resolution picture capturing the special atmosphere of the thin crescent in a glitteringly bright sky.
Budapest, Hungary, 10 October 2017
Homemade 250-mm f/4 Carbon Newton telescope, f/11, 250/1000 mirror lens, Skywatcher EQ6 mount, ZWO ASI 174 MM camera, 6250 mm f/4 lens increased to f/11, multiple 1/200-second exposures
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
OUR SUN: Sun King, Little King, and God of War © Nicolas Lefaudeux (France) - WINNER
In order to capture this mesmerising image, the photographer chose the area according to weather forecasts to make sure he would get a clear sky. The image shows the Sun corona in all its glory during the August total solar eclipse. It is flanked on left hand side by the blue star Regulus – the little King – and by the red planet Mars on the right. The many radial streamers of the solar Corona are a real crown for the Sun King and the corona can be traced almost to 30 solar radii distance. The total exposure duration of 100-seconds was recorded in more than 120 individual images and it is a setup consisting of both a fast f/1. 4 lens, at full aperture to get as much signal as possible, and a large buffer camera at base ISO to avoid overexposure. The inner corona was recorded using a longer focal length setup.
Unity, Oregon, USA, 21 August 2017
AF-S NIKKOR 105-mm f/1. 4E ED lens, Nikon D810 camera on an untracked tripod, 105 mm f/1. 4 lens, ISO 64, multiple exposures of 0. 3-second, 0. 6-second and 1. 3-second
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
OUR SUN: Coloured Eruptive Prominence © Stuart Green (UK) - RUNNER-UP
In this image the photographer managed to capture an eruptive prominence just hours after this active region produced a massive X9. 0 class solar flare. Close to the solar limb and presented here in an inverted format (black to white) and colour enhanced to create a warm sunny glow, the photograph showcases the beautiful 3D structure within the hydrogen chromosphere. Captured in hydrogen alpha light at 656. 3nm, the photographer used a 150mm solar telescope and monochrome machine vision camera to record a video sequence which was stacked to bring out the fine details and image processing techniques to produce colour and a backlit effect in order to enhance the spicule features around the solar limb.
Preston, Lancashire, UK, 9 September 2017
Home-built telescope based on iStar Optical 150mm f/10 lens, double stacked hydrogen-alpha filter at 5250 mm, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount, Basler acA1920-155um camera, 150-mm f/35 lens, multiple 0. 006-second exposures as an AVI
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
OUR SUN: AR2673 © Haiyang Zong (China) - HIGHLY COMMENDED
AR2673 is a large sunspot group which formed in 2017. Clearly visible is the beautiful “rice grain” structure of the paler, outer regions of the sunspots.
Tongzhou, Beijing, China, 5 September 2017
Sky-Watcher DOB10 GOTO telescope, Optolong R Filter, QHY5III290M camera, 3,600-mm f/4. 7 lens, ISO 160, 0. 7ms exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
PLANETS, COMETS AND ASTEROIDS: The Grace of Venus © Martin Lewis (UK) - WINNER
Shortly before sunset, a slender and graceful Venus hangs low in the western sky, just 10 days before meeting the Sun at inferior conjunction. This is an infra-red image of that view, taken using a monochrome digital video camera mounted on a reflector telescope. The recording was processed to remove the blurring effects of our atmosphere and combine the video frames to create a single still image of the planet. The infra-red filter used on the camera helps steady the effects of atmospheric movement.
St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK, 15 March 2017
Home-built 444-mm Dobsonian reflecting telescope, Astronomik 807nm IR filter, Home-built Equatorial tracking platform, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 12. 4-m f/28 lens, 6msec frame time, 5. 3sec total exposure duration
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
PLANETS, COMETS AND ASTEROIDS: Parade of the Planets © Martin Lewis (UK) - RUNNER-UP
During the course of just one year the photographer managed to image surface details on every planet in our Solar System from his own back garden. At the start of the year, the photographer had captured distant Mars, eight months after opposition, sporting a tiny polar cap and dark features. Later on, he captured Venus, then Jupiter and Saturn. In September, the photographer had imaged details on the rocky face of Mercury for the first time and in November he recorded Uranus's distinct polar region, making the set complete. The more challenging planets, Mercury, Uranus and Neptune, required IR (infrared) imaging to bring out surface details and have been colourised to match their more normal visual appearance. All images are displayed at the same relative size that they would appear through a telescope.
St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK, 1 November 2017
Home-built 444-mm Dobsonian Newtonian reflector telescope (Mercury used 222-mm Dobsonian), various IR filters for Uranus, Neptune, Mercury, Saturn (L). UV filter for Venus, home-built Equatorial Platform, ZWO ASI174MC/ASI174MM/ ASI290MM camera, various focal lengths f/12 to f/36, various exposures
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
PLANETS, COMETS AND ASTEROIDS: Comet C/2016 R2 Panstarrs the blue carbon monoxide comet © Gerald Rhemann (Austria) - HIGHLY COMMENDED
Still relatively far from the Sun, the comet's well-developed ion tail shines bright in the night sky. Emission from unusually abundant ionized carbon monoxide (CO+) molecules fluorescing in the increasing sunlight is largely responsible for the beautiful blue tint. This is a median stack of the total event from 5p. m. until 11. 12p. m and the comet’s magnitude was approx. 12. 5 mag.
Eichgraben, Lower Austria, Austria, 19 January 2018
ASA 12-inch (300 mm) Astrograph telescope at f/3. 62, ASA DDM 85 telescope mount, ASI ZWO 1600 MC colour CCD camera, exposure: RGB composite, 4. 6-hours total exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
SKYSCAPES: Circumpolar
The cold winter weather weaves a transparent blanket above the human settlements. If one rises above this coherent surface of mist, the colourful star trails can be brought together with the glowing lights of the cities. This extremely long capture sequence took half of the winter’s nights facing the clear northern sky as the circumpolar star Almach, also known as Gamma Andromedae, just touched the horizon.
Gatyatet
Minolta 80–200 f/2. 8 telescope, tripod, Sony SLT-A99V camera, 135-mm f/2. 8 lens, ISO 640, 50 x 300-second exposures
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
SKYSCAPES: Eclipsed Moon Trail © Chuanjin Su (China) - RUNNER-UP
On 31 January 2018, a spectacular total lunar eclipse occurred. The photographer set his camera for a four-hour stack exposure and after he took about one thousand images, he finally captured an image that reflects the changes of the Moon's colour and brightness before, during and after the eclipse. The picture reminded the photographer of the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod, which is the weapon of the Monkey King, who is described in ancient Chinese literature.
Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, China, 31 January 2018
Sony ILCE-7RM2 camera, 17-mm f/4 lens, ISO 100, 950 x 15-seconds
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
SKYSCAPES: Midnight Glow over Limfjord © Ruslan Merzlyakov (Latvia) - HIGHLY COMMENDED
The dark summer sky in Denmark and the ideal weather on 22 May 2017 allowed the photographer to capture this magnificent orange glow over Limfjord, a beautiful place just five minutes away from where the photographer had lived for six years. The weather was so calm and quiet, which made the photographer think that time was standing still. Nyk
Canon EOS 6D camera, 14-mm f/2. 8 lens, ISO 400, 10-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
STARS AND NEBULAE: Corona Australis Dust Complex © Mario Cogo (Italy) - WINNER
Under the dark Namibian sky, the photographer set his camera to a six-hour exposure in order to capture the CrA Molecular Complex, a large, dark and irregular area in the northern part of Corona Australis where we can see reflection nebulas NGC 6726-27-29, dark dust cloud Bernes 157, globular cluster NGC 6723 and other objects. Interestingly, there is a huge difference in distance: under 500 light years for the dust complex and 30,000 light years for the globular cluster.
Tivoli Southern Sky Guest Farm, Namibia, 18 August 2017
Takahashi FSQ 106 ED telescope, Astro-Physics 1200 GTO mount, Canon EOS 6D Cooling CDS Mod camera, 530-mm f/5 lens, ISO 1600, total 6-hours exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
STARS AND NEBULAE: Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula © Mario Cogo (Italy) - RUNNER-UP
The dark Namibian sky was the perfect location to capture the wonder of the Witch Head Nebula and Rigel. The Witch Head Nebula is a very faint molecular gas cloud which is illuminated by supergiant star Rigel, the seventh brightest star of the sky and the brightest star in the constellation of Orion.
Tivoli Southern Sky Guest Farm, Namibia, 20 August 2017
Takahashi FSQ 106 ED telescope, Astro-Physics 1200 GTO mount, Canon EOS 6D Cooling CDS Mod camera, 383-mm f/3. 6 lens, ISO 1600, 1, 3 and 6 min, total 5 Hours exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
STARS AND NEBULAE: Thackeray's Globules in Narrowband Colour © Rolf Wahl Olsen (Denmark) - HIGHLY COMMENDED
Almost 5,900 light years away, toward the southern constellation Centaurus, lies a large beautiful nebula known as the Lambda Centauri Nebula. The intense light from stars in a young open cluster cause the surrounding gas to glow with a magenta hue from emission lines of ionised Hydrogen atoms. In the centre of the image, is a group of Bok globules, which are dark, dense collapsing patches of gas and dust where new stars are frequently born. These were discovered by South African astronomer, A. David Thackeray, in 1950 and are now known as Thackeray's Globules and are a favourite target for backyard astrophotographers. The largest globule is two separate clouds that overlap slightly. While they appear small in the context of the grand nebula, these overlapping globules are each 1. 4 light years across and together they contain more than 15 times the mass of our Sun.
Auckland, New Zealand, 13 May 2017
Homebuilt 12. 5-inch f/4 Serrurier Truss Newtonian telescope, Losmandy G-11 mount, QSI 683wsg-8 camera, 1,450-mm 12. 5” f/4 lens, 14 hours and 40 minute exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
YOUNG ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: Great Autumn Morning © Fabian Dalpiaz (Italy - aged 15) - WINNER
On an early Monday morning before taking an exam at school, the photographer decided to go out and take some images. Shooting on a 50mm lens the photographer got lucky and captured this incredible photograph of a meteor passing over the Dolomites. On the left side of the image the Moon is shining over the stunning landscape of the Alpe di Siusi with the autumn colours on the was illuminated only at 13. 5 per cent.
Alpe di Siusi, Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy, 16 October 2017
Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, 50-mm panorama f/2. 0 lens, ISO 6400, 8-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
YOUNG ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: The Eta Carinae Nebula © Logan Nicholson (Australia - aged 13) - RUNNER-UP
The Eta Carina Nebula, or NGC 3372, is the biggest and brightest nebula in the sky and is located in the constellation Carina. It is mostly made out of hydrogen, created when the bright orange star mid-left went nova, spewing out large amounts of hydrogen gas which now emits light at the Hydrogen-alpha wavelength. The photographer took and stacked multiple shots and processed them in Pixinsight.
Heathcote, Victoria, Australia, 16 December 2017
Takahashi MT-160 telescope, f/4. 8 reducer for MT-160, Celestron CGEM mount, Canon EOS 700D camera, 776-mm f/4. 8 lens, ISO 800, 12 x 5 minute exposures
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
YOUNG ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: Inverted Sun © Thea Hutchinson (UK - aged 11) - HIGHLY COMMENDED
This was the photographer’s first attempt at solar imaging and was from the observatory in her back garden in Wimbledon. She used her father’s solar scope and after following her father’s advice, the photographer beautifully captured our nearest star, the Sun. The picture is a mosaic of two stacked images that were merged in Photoshop CC, cropped and inverted. The final image was then converted to false colour.
London, UK, 24 September 2017
Lunt LS60 telescope, Celestron CGE Pro mount, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 1250 (500-mm with x2. 5 Powermate) f/21 (f/8. 3 x 2. 5) lens, 2000 frames best 20% retained
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
YOUNG ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: First Impressions © Casper Kentish (UK - aged 8) - HIGHLY COMMENDED
After a few days of cloudy skies the photographer finally got the chance to use his birthday present, a new telescope. The clouds were moving fast so there was not much time to capture the Moon. With the help of his grandfather who kept moving the telescope and trying to keep an iPad at the right position, he managed to capture this wonderful and artistic image of his first viewing of our Moon.
Ponthirwaun, Ceredigion, UK, 23 January 2018
SkyWatcher Skyliner 200 p, SkyWatcher 25mm wide angle, Dobsonian mount, Apple iPad 5th generation, 3. 3-mm f/2. 4 lens, ISO 250, 1/17-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
YOUNG ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR: A Valley on the Moon… © Davy van der Hoeven (Netherlands - aged 10) - HIGHLY COMMENDED
The photographer’s father taught him how to focus the telescope, capture and process the data. Once the telescope was set up the photographer started taking images of the surface of the Moon and even managed to capture more details than his father did in the past. Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Netherlands, 25 February 2018
Celestron C11 Schmidt Cassegrain telescope, Baader red filter, SkyWatcher NEQ6 mount, Imaging Resource DMK21 camera, 2,700-mm f/10 lens, 1/300-second exposure
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
SIR PATRICK MOORE PRIZE FOR BEST NEWCOMER: Galaxy Curtain Call Performance © Tianhong Li (China) – WINNER
This was the last opportunity in 2017 to see the silver core of the Milky Way before it sunk below the horizon. It was accompanied by the gradual curtain call of Scorpio heralding the upward trend of Orion in the sky. Meanwhile the season of bright shooting stars quietly arrived. The image is stitched together from a total of twenty pictures.
Ming’antu, China, 23 September 2017
Nikon D810A camera, 35-mm f/2 lens; sky: ISO 1250, 16 x 60-second exposures, total 16 pictures; ground: ISO 640, 4 x 120-second exposures, total 4 pictures
Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018 winners
ROBOTIC SCOPE: Two Comets with the Pleiades © Damian Peach (UK) - WINNER
The image showcases a very rare conjunction of two bright comets both passing the famous Pleiades star cluster in Taurus at the same time. Comet C/2017 O1 (ASASSN) is at far left while C2015 ER61 (PanSTARRS) is in the centre. Both comets have strikingly different appearances. The whole region is embedded in the faint nebulosity of the Taurus Molecular Cloud. The photographer used a remote telescope located in Mayhill, New Mexico.
Remote Astronomical Society (RAS) Observatory, Mayhill, New Mexico, USA, 19 September 2017
Takahashi FSQ106 telescope at 106 mm, Paramount ME mount, SBIG STL-11000M camera, 530-mm f/5 lens, exposure: four LRGB frames, each frame 30 minutes each
2018-10-25 14:00
