Royal Observatory announce dates of annual Astronomy Photography Competition
The Royal Observatory Greenwich has announced the dates for its annual astronomy photography competition.
In its 17th year, the Astronomy Photographer of the Year has now opened to entrants of all ages and abilities and has a grand prize of £10,000.
Entrants have until March 3 to submit up to 10 images into the various categories of the competition.
The eight main categories include Skyscapes, Aurorae, People and Space, Our Sun, Our Moon, Planets, Comets and Asteroids, Stars and Nebulae and Galaxies.
As well as the main categories, Astronomy Photographer of the Year includes the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year prize for budding astronomers under the age of 16.
There are also two special prizes, The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer and The Annie Maunder Open Category.
The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer is open to amateur photographers who have taken up astrophotography in the past year and have not entered an image to the competition previously.
The Annie Maunder Open Category recognises the best photo processed using any form of astronomical data, bringing together the worlds of the arts, astronomy and astrophotography.
For this category entrants can use any software, analogue or digital manipulation, or AI processing to produce their image. AI-generated data or any other artificial data are not eligible.
Winners of the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year category will receive £1,500. There are also prizes of £500 for runners-up and £250 for highly commended entries. The two special prize winners will receive £750.
All the winners, runners up and highly commended entries from this year, from the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 17 competition will be displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum from September 2025.
Photographers can enter online by visiting apy.rmg.co.uk.
Pictured top: Overall winning image of Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024, Distorted Shadows of the Moon’s Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse (Picture: Ryan Imperio)