Stunning Photo Alert! Winners Announced for “Astronomy Photographer of the Year” Competition

The winners of the 2014 “Astronomy Photographer of the Year” competition have been announced at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich England, and British photographer James Woodend’s gorgeous image of the aurora dancing across the Icelandic night sky was named the overall winner. This is the sixth year for the competition, which is run by the ROG and the Sky at Night Magazine.

“Every year the competition becomes more and more challenging to judge and we’re always astounded by the skill of the photographers,” said Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock, a presenter on The Sky at Night and one of the judges for the competition. “The Deep Space category, where the entrants have been able to capture such amazing details of objects light-years away and are almost on par with images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, never fails to impress.”

See more gorgeous images and a list of the winners in the various categories below:

Earth and Space

James Woodend (UK) with Aurora over a Glacier Lagoon (Winner and Overall Winner)
Matt James (Australia) with Wind Farm Star Trails (Runner-up)
Patrick Cullis (USA) with Moon Balloon (Highly Commended)
Catalin Beldea (Romania) with Totality from Above the Clouds (Highly Commended)
O Chul Kwon (South Korea) with Venus-Lunar Occultation (Highly Commended)

Deep Space

Bill Snyder (USA) with Horsehead Nebula (IC 434) (Winner)
David Fitz-Henry (Australia) with The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) (Runner-Up)
J.P Metsävainio (Finland) with Veil Nebula Detail (IC 1340) (Highly Commended)
Rogelio Bernal Andreo (USA) with California vs Pleiades (Highly Commended)
Marco Lorenzi (China) with At the Feet of Orion (NGC 1999) – Full Field (Highly Commended)

Our Solar System

Alexandra Hart (UK) with Ripples in a Pond (Winner)
George Tarsoudis (Greece) with Best of the Craters (Runner-Up)
Alexandra Hart (UK) with Solar Nexus (Highly Commended)
Stephen Ramsden (USA) with Calcium K Eruption (Highly Commended)
Tunç Tezel (Turkey) with Diamond and Rubies (Highly Commended)

Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Shishir & Shashank Dholakia (USA, aged 15) with The Horsehead Nebula (IC 434) (Winner)
Emmett Sparling (Canada, aged 15) with New Year over Cypress Mountain (Runner-up)
Olivia Williamson (UK, aged 10) with The Martian Territory (Highly Commended)
Shishir & Shashank Dholakia (USA, aged 15) with The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) (Highly Commended)
Emily Jeremy (UK, aged 12) with Moon Behind the Trees (Highly Commended)

Special Prize: People and Space

Eugen Kamenew (Germany) with Hybrid Solar Eclipse 2 (Winner)
Julie Fletcher (Australia) with Lost Souls (Runner-up)

Special Prize: Sir Patrick Moore prize for Best Newcomer

Chris Murphy (New Zealand) with Coastal Stairways (Winner)

Robotic Scope Image of the Year

Mark Hanson (USA) with NGC 3718 (Winner)

For all the winners see the ROG website, and for other photos not shown here, you can see more at the Astronomy Photographer of the Year Flickr site . If you are in the UK, you can see an exhibition of the winning photos as the Astronomy Centre, Royal Observatory, Greenwich, from now until February 22, 2015.

Find more info at the ROG website, where you can also find info about the competition for next year — start planning ahead!