16 of the Best Astronomy Photos

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This photo, called “The Star Observer,” was captured in Menorca, Spain.

The Event Horizon Telescope captured a great photo of Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. If you want to continue to be transported across the cosmos, photos from Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition may be up your ally.

The year 2021 was the 13th running of the annual contest, organized by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. The winning images were announced at a special online ceremony on September 16, 2021, and then put on display at the National Maritime Museum, alongside a selection of exceptional shortlisted images. Here’s a selection of our favorite shortlisted candidates.

If you want to see some mind-blowing images of Earth from space, you can check them out here. Also keep a lookout for photos from the James Webb Space Telescope which is slated to come July 12. NASA has also released the 2022 Photographer of the Year awards.

For more space news and incredible visualizations and photos, check out all our articles here.

Updated May 12, 2022 to include the overall winner.

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Comet NEOWISE over Stonehenge

Comet NEOWISE was visible to the unaided in during the spring and summer of 2020.

Comet NEOWISE paid our inner solar system a visit last year. Here it is shown above Stonehenge in the UK—a site that didn’t exist when the comet last came through some 6,800 years ago (Stonehenge was built about 5,000 years ago).

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Bicolor Veil Nebula

Called the Veil Nebula complex, this is the remnant of a giant supernova explosion. This image was captured by a camera mounted to a SkyWatcher Newton telescope.

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Luna Park

Thousands of frames were required to produce this shot, showing streaks of stars set behind the iconic entrance to Luna Park in Sydney, Australia.

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Martian Sunset

NASA’s Curiosity rover captured this sunset on Mars, but photographer John White from the UK managed to find this sequence among the nearly 390,000 images tucked away in the Mars Curiosity raw archive. He then filtered the images to produce the lovely set you see here.

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Saturn at its Best

Image for article titled 16 Great Astronomy Photos — Image: Royal Observatory Greenwich/Damian Peach (UK)

Saturn, as imaged from a ground-based telescope on July 27, 2020. The planet’s bands are clearly visible, including the south polar hexagonal region.

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Dolphin Head Nebula

This nebula is also known as Sharpless 308 (Sh2-308).

An incredible view of the Dolphin Head Nebula, revealing a celestial bubble carved by interstellar winds and other forces. The bright star at center, a Wolf-Rayet star, is responsible for the feature. This image was taken by a camera mounted to an ASA 500N telescope.

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Sunrise of the Magic City

Four different exposures showing a sunrise over Shanghai.

A smoggy view of Shanghai on the morning of February 7, 2021.

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Sunspot Looking Out Into Space

An incredible view of a sunspot and its associated plasma. Imaged with a hydrogen-alpha filter, it’s made up of multiple frames stacked together and adjusted with imaging software. The inverted view heightens the contrast.

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The Exceptionally Active Ion Tail of Comet 2020F8 SWAN

A view of comet 2020F8 SWAN, which eventually disintegrated.

An exquisitely detailed view of Comet 2020F8 SWAN, which was visible in both the north and south hemispheres during the course of 2020. The comet eventually disintegrated.

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A Daytime Transit

A unique view of the International Space Station, shown transiting the Moon on October 14, 2020.

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The Soul of Space

A stunning image of the Soul Nebula. Equally impressive: The photographer, Kush Chandaria, is just 13 years old.

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Pleiades Sisters

Photographer Singh Dingra, 14, captured this spectacular view of the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45. Total exposure time was 3 hours and 2 minutes, and the chosen telescope was a Takahashi FSQ-85ED.

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The Rose

A deep view of the Messier 57 nebula. Note the distant galaxy in the background.

The Messier 57 nebula shown in infrared, with hydrogen visible in red, oxygen in green and blue, and nitrogen in deep red. A camera mounted to a Planewave CDK24 telescope made this image possible.

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The Full Moon in Moscow

A view of the Moon from Hodnyka park in Moscow.

The full Moon rises behind a Moscow apartment, as seen on July 3, 2020.

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NGC 6188 SHOrgb by Cielaustral Team

The NGC 6188 nebula comes alive, in this stunning image captured by the Cielaustral Team. Total exposure time for the mosaic image was 253 hours, and it was taken by a camera mounted to a custom-built 20-inch telescope.

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The Tumult of the Sun

The Sun, as seen through three different wavelengths.

Hassan Hatami chose this image of the Sun from thousands of images in the Solar Dynamics Observatory collection. Adjusting the brightness of the three different wavelengths proved to be a formidable challenge.

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The Golden Ring

Solar Eclpise — **Solar eclipse taken in Tibet**

The overall winner for Astronomy Photographer of the Year in 2021 was Shuchang Dong for the photographer on the annual solar eclipse taken in the Ali region of Tibet on June 21, 2020.

“We were waiting with anxious minds but we were lucky. Within a minute of the annular eclipse, the sunshine penetrated through the clouds and afterwards the Sun was sucked into the thick clouds. We were so lucky here!” Dong told Royal Museums Greenwich.

16 Great Astronomy Photos

The Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition showcased some of the best photos from the cosmos year after year.

Comet NEOWISE over Stonehenge

Comet NEOWISE over Stonehenge

Bicolor Veil Nebula

Bicolor Veil Nebula

Luna Park

Luna Park

Martian Sunset

Martian Sunset

Saturn at its Best

Saturn at its Best

Dolphin Head Nebula

Dolphin Head Nebula

Sunrise of the Magic City

Sunrise of the Magic City

Sunspot Looking Out Into Space

Sunspot Looking Out Into Space

The Exceptionally Active Ion Tail of Comet 2020F8 SWAN

The Exceptionally Active Ion Tail of Comet 2020F8 SWAN

A Daytime Transit

A Daytime Transit

The Soul of Space

The Soul of Space

Pleiades Sisters

Pleiades Sisters

The Rose

The Rose

The Full Moon in Moscow

The Full Moon in Moscow

NGC 6188 SHOrgb by Cielaustral Team

NGC 6188 SHOrgb by Cielaustral Team

The Tumult of the Sun

The Tumult of the Sun

The Golden Ring

The Golden Ring