Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13: watch the awards online tonight

By Iain Todd

Published: Thursday, 16 September 2021 at 12:00 am

The winning images of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 competition will be announced tonight, 16 September 2021, during an online awards ceremony beginning at 18:30 BST (17:30 UTC).

In previous years astrophotographers, astronomers, Royal Observatory Greenwich staff and the world’s press have gathered at the National Maritime Museum in London where the highly commended, runner-up and winning images have been announced.

But lockdown restrictions caused by COVID-19 have led organisers to move both the 2020 and the 2021 awards ceremonies online.

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 shortlisted images

"A
A Daytime Transit © Andrew McCarthy (USA) Elk Grove, California, USA, 14 October 2020 Equipment: Monochrome: Celestron EdgeHD800 telescope at f/10, Hobym Traveller mount, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 1,000 x 1-millisecond exposure. Colour: Orion XT10 telescope at f/10, Hobym Traveller mount, Sony A7II camera, ISO 200, 1-millisecond exposure
"Aurora
Aurora in Murmansk © Vitaliy Novikov (Russia) Kola Bay, Murmansk, Russia, 11 January 2020. Equipment: Nikon D850 camera, 24 mm f/5.6 lens, ISO 1000, 0.8-second exposure
"Waterfall
Waterfall © Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints (Israel), Near Arvidsjaur, Swedish Lapland, Sweden, 24 October 2020. Equipment: Sony A7R3 camera, Leica Summicron-M 28 mm f/2 lens. Foreground: 28 mm lens at f/5.6, ISO 1600, 3 x 151-seconds. Sky: 28 mm lens at f/2, ISO 3200, 587 x 10-second exposures
"The
The Tumult of the Sun © Hassan Hatami (Iran), Solar Dynamics Observatory – Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (13 January 2015), AIA 171, 193 and 211 channels, NASA
"The
The Star Observer © Antoni Cladera Barceló (Spain), Pont den Gil, Ciutadella, Spain, 1 July 2020. Equipment: Nikon Z6 camera, 14 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 6400, 6 x 15-second exposures
"The
The Soul of Space (Close-up of the Soul Nebula) © Kush Chandaria (UK), aged 13, Notting Hill, London, UK, 25–27 February 2021. Equipment: Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25″ telescope at f/6.3, Celestron focal reducer, Astronomik filters, SkyWatcher EQ6-R Pro mount, ZWO ASI1600MM Pro camera, Ha-SII-OIII composite, 14.4 hours total exposure
"The
The Rose © Josep Drudis (USA), Mayhill, New Mexico, USA, 10–18 April, 5–31 May and 1–11 June 2020. Equipment: Planewave CDK24 telescope at f/6.5, Astrodon filters, Planewave L600 mount, FLI PL16803 camera, RGB-Ha-NII-OIII composite, 63 hours total exposure
"The
The Milky Way on the Ancient Village © Zhang Xiao (China), Hongcun, Anhui, China, 21 February 2021. Equipment: Canon EOS 6D Mark II camera, 35 mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 2500, 20 x 13-second exposures
"The
The Magnetic Field of our Active Sun © Andrew McCarthy (USA), Elk Grove, California, USA, 29 November 2020. Equipment: Coronado Solarmax III telescope at f/5, Hobym Traveller mount, ZWO ASI178MM camera, 6-millisecond exposure
"The
The Full Moon in Moscow © Anna Kaunis (Russia), Hodynka, Moscow, Russia, 3 July 2020. Equipment: Nikon Z6 camera, 200–500mm lens at 500 mm f/22, ISO 400, 0.25-second exposure
"The
The Eyes of Clavius © Thea Hutchinson (UK), Wimbledon, London, UK, 20 February 2021. Equipment: Celestron C11 HD Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at f/10, Baader filter, Celestron CGE Pro mount, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 1,200 x 5.895-millisecond exposures
"The
The Exceptionally Active Ion Tail of Comet 2020F8 SWAN © Gerald Rhemann (Austria), Tivoli Farm, Khomas, Namibia, 1 May 2020. Equipment: ASA Astrograph 12″ telescope at f/3.6, ASA DDM 85 mount, FLI ML16200 camera, LRGB composite, 21 minutes total exposure
"The
The Cave © Markus van Hauten (Germany), Breidamerkurjökull, Eastern Region, Iceland, 19 January 2020. Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV camera, 16 mm f/4 lens. Foreground: ISO 100, 1/-800-second exposure. Sky: ISO 800, 20-second exposure
"Sunspot
Sunspot Looking out into Space © Siu Fone Tang (USA), Los Angeles, California, USA, 25 November 2020. Equipment: SkyWatcher Esprit 150 telescope at f/7, DayStar Quark Gemini lens, SkyWatcher EQ8Rh-Pro mount, ZWO ASI174MM camera, 2,000 x 16-millisecond exposures
"Sunrise
Sunrise of the Magic City © Jiajun Hua (China), Shanghai, China, 7 February 2021. Equipment: Sony ILCE-7RM3 camera, 403 mm f/9 lens, ISO 320, 4 x 1/320-second exposures
"Star
Star Watcher © Yang Sutie (China), Ranwu, Tibet, China, 22 October 2020. Equipment: Nikon Z 7II camera, 17 mm f/2.8 lens. Car lights and figure: ISO 1000, 2 x 25-second exposures. Sky and mountains: ISO 6400, 25-second exposure
"Star
Star trails over the Lujiazui City Skyline © Daning Kai (China), Shanghai, East China, China, 13 October 2020. Equipment: Sony ILCE-7RM3 camera, 16 mm f/5.6 lens, ISO 100, 305 x 15-second exposures
"Star
Star Fall © Wang Zheng (China), Minqin County, Wuwei City, China, 23 August 2020. Equipment: Canon EOS 6D Mark II camera, 14 mm f/1.8 lens, ISO 5000, 8-second exposure
"Saturn
Saturn at its Best © Damian Peach (UK), La Palma, Murcia, Spain, 27 July 2020. Equipment: ASA 500 mm Cassegrain telescope, SkyWatcher EQ-8 mount, ZWO ASI290MM camera, c.100,000 x 0.03-second exposures
"Proximity
Proximity © Péter Feltóti (Hungary), Törökkoppány, Somogy County, Hungary, 13–19 October 2017, 7 November 2020, 27 December 2020, 7 and 14 January 2021. Equipment: SkyWatcher 200/800 Newton Astrograph telescope at f/4, Astronomik filters, SkyWatcher NEQ6 Pro mount, ZWO ASI183MM Pro, Moravian Instruments G3 16200 Mk II and Canon EOS 600D cameras, L-RGB-Ha composite, 14.1 hours total exposure
"Pleiades
Pleiades Sisters © Jashanpreet Singh Dingra (India), aged 14, Patiala, Punjab, India, 11 December 2020. Equipment: Takahashi FSQ-85ED telescope at 450 mm f/5.3, Astrodon filters, Avalon M-Uno mount, QSI 660WSG-8 camera, L-RGB-Ha composite, 3 hours 3 minutes total exposure
"Path
Path of the Full Moon above the Sleeping City © Rémi Leblanc-Messager (France), Paris, Île-de-France, France, 27 February 2021. Equipment: Canon EOS 6D camera, 28 mm f/6.3 lens, ISO 200, 1,080 x 15-second exposures
"NGC
NGC 6723, NGC 6726, NGC 6727 and NGC 6729 – Dark Molecular Cloud in Corona Australis © Steven Mohr (Australia), St Arnaud, Victoria, Australia, June–October 2020. Equipment: Planewave CDK 12.5″ telescope at f/8, Astrodon and Baader filters, AP900GTO mount, SBIG STXL-11000 + AOX camera, L-RGB-Ha composite, 82.58 hours total exposure
"NGC
NGC 6188 SHOrgb by Cielaustral team © Jean-Claude Canonne, Didier Chaplain, Georges Chassaigne, Philippe Bernhard, Laurent Bourgon and Nicolas Outters (France), El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 1 May – 18 October 2020. Equipment: CDK 20″ homemade telescope at f/6.8, Paramount ME2 mount, Moravian G4 16803 camera, RGB-Ha-SII-OIII composite, 253 hours total exposure
"NGC
NGC 3981 © Bernard Miller (USA) Telescope Live, El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 24 February 2021. Equipment: ASA RC-1000AZ telescope at f/6.8, Astrodon filters, ASA Alt-Azimuth Direct Drive Mount, FLI PL16803 camera, L-RGB composite, 34 hours total exposure
"NGC
NGC 2024 – Flame Nebula © Steven Mohr (Australia) St Arnaud, Victoria, Australia, November – December 2020. Equipment: Planewave CDK 12.5″ telescope at f/8, Astrodon and Baader filters, AP900GTO mount, SBIG STXL-1100 + AOX camera, L-RGB-Ha composite, 23 hours total exposure
"Moonrise
Moonrise over Jodrell Bank © Matt Naylor (UK) Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, UK, 29 December 2020. Equipment: Canon EOS 90D camera, Canon EF 100–400 mm lens at 286 mm f/14, ISO 100, 1/15-second exposure
"Milky
Milky Way rising over Durdle Door © Anthony Sullivan (UK) West Lulworth, Dorset, UK, 20 May 2020. Equipment: Canon 6D camera. Foreground: 20 mm f/8 lens, ISO 100, 244-second exposure. Sky: 20 mm f/4 lens, ISO 1600, 4 x 240-second exposures
"Martian
Martian Sunset © John White (UK) Mars Curiosity Rover (April 15 2015), BW channels, NASA/JPL-Caltech
"Luna
Luna Park © Ed Hurst (Australia) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 26 November 2020. Equipment: Pentax 645Z camera, 25 mm f/4 DA lens. Foreground: ISO 100, 60-second exposure at f/13. Sky: ISO 1250, 3,004 x 1.6 second exposures at f/5
"Iceland
Iceland Vortex © Larryn Rae (New Zealand) Vik, Southern Region, Iceland, 31 January 2020. Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark 4 camera, 16 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 6400, 20 x 6-second exposures
"Harmony
Harmony © Stefan Liebermann (Germany) Valensole, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France, 22 June 2020. Equipment: Sony ILCE-7M3 camera, Fornax Mounts LighTrack II mount, 16 mm f/2.8 lens. Foreground: ISO 2500, 15 x 0.8-second exposures. Sky: ISO 2000, 5 x 120-second exposures
"Glory
Glory of Damavand and Milky Way © Masoud Ghadiri (Iran) Mount Damavand, Mazandaran, Iran, 29 May 2020. Equipment: Nikon D850 camera, Vixen Polarie mount, 24 mm f/4 lens, ISO 6400, 10 x 30-second exposures
"Dugi
Dugi Otok – Variant A © Ivan Vucetic (Croatia) Mala Rava, Rava, Croatia, 10 July 2020. Equipment: Nikon D600 camera, 20 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 1600. Foreground: 526-second exposure. Sky: 247 x 25-seconds
"Dolphin
Dolphin Head Nebula © Yovin Yahathugoda (Sri Lanka) Telescope Live, El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 14 November 2020, 25 January and 4 February 2021. Equipment: ASA 500N telescope at f/3.8, Astrodon filters, ASA DDM85 Premium mount, FLI PL16803 camera, Ha-OIII composite, 1.5 hours total exposure
"Comet
Comet Neowise over Stonehenge © James Rushforth (UK) Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK, 20 July 2020. Equipment: Nikon D850 camera, 70–200 mm lens at 100 mm f/2.8, ISO 5000, 4-second exposure
"Château
Château de Chambord © Benjamin Barakat (UK) Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France, 24 June 2020. Equipment: Sigma Art 40 mm telescope, iOptron SkyTracker Pro mount, Canon 6D Baader modified camera. Foreground: 40 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 3200, 4 x 30-second exposures. Sky: 40 mm f/2 lens, ISO 1600, 8 x 30-second exposures
"Bicolour
Bicolour Veil Nebula © Péter Feltóti (Hungary) Halásztelek, Pest County, Hungary, 28–29 June, 20 July, 13–20 August 2020. Equipment: SkyWatcher 200/800 Newton Astrograph telescope at f/4.6, Astronomik Ha and OIII filters, SkyWatcher NEQ6 Pro mount, Moravian G3-16200 Mark II camera, Ha-OIII composite, 12 hours total exposure

The Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 awards will begin at 18:30 BST (17:30 UTC) and will last for around an hour.

The ceremony will be hosted by two of this year’s judges: Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder of the Royal Observatory, and comedian and amateur astronomer Jon Culshaw.

Keep up with news and goings-on before the event by following the #APY13 hashtag on social media.

How to watch Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13

The 2021 awards ceremony will be broadcast live and can be viewed either at the Royal Museums Greenwich Facebook page, or via YouTube below:

If you’re unable to watch the ceremony, you can keep track of all the winning images as they’re announced on the night by following BBC Sky at Night Magazine’s Facebook or Twitter accounts.

Check the Royal Museum Greenwich’s Facebook and Twitter accounts for more info.