Photographs from space are currently nothing like we've seen before.
With the James Webb Telescope taking unprecedented images of the deepest we've seen of the universe, the Hubble Telescope snapping colliding galaxies, NASA's Mars rover Perseverance peering into new parts of the planet, and astrophotographers looking up just at the right time, astronomy photography is at its best right now.
And while we don't all have a high-powered telescope or planetary rover to peer into the beyond, every year, on Earth, we rely on talented photographers to bring us a little closer to the skies many of whom feature in the annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.
London's Royal Museums Greenwich has unveiled the finalists for this year's batch. The astrophotography competition, which has been running for 14 years, received over 3,000 entries taken from 57 countries. The winners will be announced at an online ceremony on Sept. 15, and will be displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in London from Sept. 17.
You can see them below, across nine categories including galaxies, stars and nebulae, aurorae, sun, moon, and more. We've added the photographers' words under each image so you can know what you're looking at.
And if you'd like to see previous years, here's the finalists and winners from 2021.
"Hydra's Pinwheel"Credit: Peter Ward
Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille first observed what later became known as the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy on 23 February 1752 from the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa. This image, taken exactly 270 years later, combines a deep set of H-alpha exposures along with colour data to highlight the ruby-like star-forming regions of this beautiful barred spiral galaxy.
"Cosmic Collision"Credit: Mark Hanson, Mike Selby
NGC 5426 and NGC 5427 are two spiral galaxies of similar size engaged in a major interaction. Known collectively as Arp 27, the interaction is expected to continue for tens of millions of years.
"Interacting Galaxies in Eridanus"Credit: Terry Robison
This pair of interacting galaxies are in the southern constellation of Eridanus (the River). They are outlying members of the Fornax Cluster of galaxies. They are so close to one another that gravitational forces have distorted one of the spiral arms of the larger galaxy, NGC 1532. These forces have triggered bursts of star formation in both galaxies, but more so in NGC 1532, where a new generation of massive stars has been created.
"Clouds of Hydrogen Gas"Credit: Simon Tang
Clouds of hydrogen gas give way as the magnetic field lines of the sun snap and clash together. This display of nature creates astonishing features, known as prominences, on the limb of the Sun.
Partial Eclipse of the Sun in H-alphaCredit: Alessandro Ravagnin
A partial eclipse of the Sun shot from the Veneto region of Italy as it reached its maximum on June 10, 2021. It was a day of low solar activity, which allowed for this crisp image of the Moon passing in front of the Sun.
"Solar Inferno"Credit: Stuart Green
The Sun looks different every time astrophotographers capture an image as new sunspots form, grow and eventually fade away. The photographer selectively filtered out all wavelengths of light except a narrow red band (known as the H-alphaline) to reveal an active region of change of the Sun.
"The Crescent Nebula"Credit: Bray Falls
A deep view of the Crescent Nebula in Cygnus, the result of shockwaves originating from the WolfRayet star WR 134.
"Suburbs of Carina Nebula"Credit: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo
The main object in this image is a nebula catalogued as RCW 53c and seldom captured by astrophotographers.
"The Rolling Waves of Vela"Credit: Paul Milvain
This image captures a region on the edge of the constellation Vela. The Vela Supernova Remnant is a very heavily imaged region, but this section is not commonly associated with the supernova remnant. It shows rich star colours and the strong presence of H-alpha and SII emissions.
"Stacks and Stones"Credit: Derek Horlock
Stacking stones has had a practical use since prehistoric times, as a navigational tool to mark trails or territorial boundaries. Stacks are common on the beaches at St Agnes in the Isles of Scilly and provide an anchor for the Milky Way piercing through the nights sky in this image.
"The Starry Sky Over the Worlds Highest National Highway"Credit: Yang Sutie
The illuminated National Highway 219, the highest national highway in the world, snakes through the foreground, almost mirroring the majestic image of the Milky Way above. The two are separated by Kula Kangri, a mountain located in Shannan Prefecture, Tibet.
"Moonrise Over Los Angeles"Credit: Sean Goebel
An alignment of the Moon, mountain and iconic skyline of Los Angeles following a winter storm on 18 December 2021.
"Equinox Moon and Glastonbury Tor"Credit: Hannah Rochford
A single exposure captures people enjoying the full Harvest Moon rising behind Glastonbury Tor in the United Kingdom in September 2021.
"Riverside of Funakawa in Spring"Credit: Takanobu Kurosaki
When the Funakawa River was renovated in 1957, approximately 280 Yoshino cherry trees were planted on both banks of the embankment. They draw the eyeline towards the distant horizon, into an inky blue sky with only the hazy moonlight breaking through the darkness.
"Comet C/2021 A1 (Leonard)"Credit: Lionel Majzik
Comet Leonard was discovered by G.J. Leonard on Jan. 3, 2021 and made its closest pass to Earth on Dec. 12, 2021. The photographer secured some time with the robotic telescope at the Skygems Remote Observatories in Namibia on Dec. 27 to capture this rare glimpse of a comet that will leave the solar system and not be seen again.
"Saturn and its Moons"Credit: Flvio Fortunato
Saturns moons are distributed almost symmetrically around the planet, balancing the composition of the photograph.
"The Jovian Family"Credit: Damian Peach
Jupiter captured with three of its largest moons. The famous Great Red Spot is visible on Jupiter itself, along with many other spots and storms. Similar details are also visible on all three of the Jovian moons. The bright ray crater Osiris can be seen clearly on Ganymede at the upper left.
"Spectrum"Credit: Stefan Liebermann
The Northern Lights over the famous Icelandic mountain, Vestrahorn. A panorama of three photos, processed with Lightroom and Photoshop.
"Electric Wizardry"Credit: Shane Turgeon
The Northern Lights are reflected in the still waters of a lake in Alberta, Canada.
"An Icelandic Saga"Credit: Carl Gallagher
The photographer went on a nine-day, 2500-mile road trip, chasing gaps in the clouds, to capture the Aurora Borealis above the wreck of the Gardur in the Westfjords region of Iceland.
"Solar Wind Power"Credit: Esa Pekka Isomursu
A vivid auroral corona behind the wind turbine gives the illusion of an interaction between the two, as if the turbine was driven by the solar wind or the turbine was dispersing the aurora. This was taken during a strong auroral storm in northern Finland.
"Fly over the South Pole"Credit: Tom Glenn
A composite of images of the lunar south pole created on two different dates (giving different views of the region). It one of the most detailed amateur-produced maps of this part of the moon, which is very difficult to observe from Earth.
"Fly over the South Pole"Credit: Andrea Vanoni
Due to favourable libration, in this image you can see the craters and mountains at the lunar south pole, including the crater Bailly (with its discernible basin) on the right. Under Bailly are the craters Bettinus, Kircher and Wilson. The Montes Leibnitz are visible on the edge.
"Inverted Minerals"Credit: Noah Kujawski
The lunar surface, although it appears grey and monochrome, contains hidden colours within the soil, caused by different minerals. This colour is too faint to see with the naked eye, but digital images allow astrophotographers to enhance the colours and reveal a different view of the moon. This image is the inverted view of those colours, a unique perspective on our moon.
Want more astronomy photography? Here's the best space snaps from 2021.
See the original post:
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2022 finalists: All the otherworldly photos - Mashable
- Hubble Telescope Image Reveals a Cross Section of the Cosmos - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope - Video - April 26th, 2014 [April 26th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope Above Earth Motion Background - Video - April 28th, 2014 [April 28th, 2014]
- Hubble pictures show offers Biblical view of space - April 29th, 2014 [April 29th, 2014]
- Hubble telescope's launch celebrates 24th anniversary - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Inventor of the camera used on Hubble telescope has died - May 1st, 2014 [May 1st, 2014]
- Designer Uses Hubble Telescope Images For Her Line Of Fantastically Ethereal Silk - Video - May 4th, 2014 [May 4th, 2014]
- NOVA SCIENCE NOW - FIRST PRIMATES, KILLER MICROBE, HUBBLE TELESCOPE - Discovery Documentary - Video - May 7th, 2014 [May 7th, 2014]
- NOVA SCIENCE NOW - THE HUBBLE TELESCOPE, MEMORY LEARNING - Discovery Universe (documentary) - Video - May 7th, 2014 [May 7th, 2014]
- STS-61 December 7, 1993 Shuttle Endeavour Hubble Telescope repair mission - Video - May 9th, 2014 [May 9th, 2014]
- Saturn movie from Hubble telescope 1 - Video - May 9th, 2014 [May 9th, 2014]
- Dr Robert Williams, Director of Hubble Telescope - Video - May 12th, 2014 [May 12th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope 10 of the Best Images: Alien Worlds as seen from the Hubble Space telescope - Video - May 18th, 2014 [May 18th, 2014]
- Jupiter's Great Red Spot has shrunk to its smallest size yet - May 18th, 2014 [May 18th, 2014]
- UFO Caught on Hubble Telescope - Video - May 19th, 2014 [May 19th, 2014]
- Space-The Hubble Telescope - Video - May 24th, 2014 [May 24th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope provides best view of merging galaxies in distant Universe - August 31st, 2014 [August 31st, 2014]
- The Hubble Story | NASA - September 4th, 2014 [September 4th, 2014]
- Disappearance of geysers from Jupiter's Europa moon leaves scientists baffled - September 6th, 2014 [September 6th, 2014]
- 78 - Hubble Telescope by Sam Manary - Video - September 12th, 2014 [September 12th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope - best images - Video - September 15th, 2014 [September 15th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope Worker Tells All - Video - September 16th, 2014 [September 16th, 2014]
- NASA finds tiniest galaxy has 'supermassive' black hole - September 19th, 2014 [September 19th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope Time Preferentially Goes to Men - September 19th, 2014 [September 19th, 2014]
- Mysterious "Bermuda Triangle" in Space Affecting Hubble Telescope - Video - September 21st, 2014 [September 21st, 2014]
- Stunning Galaxy Looks Deceptively Young in Hubble Telescope Views (Photo, Video) - September 25th, 2014 [September 25th, 2014]
- New Study Looks Into Hubble Telescope Gender Bias - September 25th, 2014 [September 25th, 2014]
- Research shows gender bias in approval for Hubble Telescope use - September 27th, 2014 [September 27th, 2014]
- Male-led teams more likely to get Hubble Telescope time - September 27th, 2014 [September 27th, 2014]
- Rich Hall, 1998 - Video - September 30th, 2014 [September 30th, 2014]
- Shedding Light- Hubble Telescope - Video - October 3rd, 2014 [October 3rd, 2014]
- Telescopes History Refractor Reflector Hubble - Video - October 3rd, 2014 [October 3rd, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope Ultra Deep Field View 3D - Video - October 3rd, 2014 [October 3rd, 2014]
- Most Beautiful Galaxy? - Video - October 4th, 2014 [October 4th, 2014]
- Spiral Galaxy - Video - October 8th, 2014 [October 8th, 2014]
- INFORMUCATE: HUBBLE TELESCOPE - Video - October 8th, 2014 [October 8th, 2014]
- Week 2 - 20 Years Hubble Telescope NASA Video Cut Down - Video - October 10th, 2014 [October 10th, 2014]
- The explosive beauty of a dying star - October 14th, 2014 [October 14th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope Finds Potential Kuiper Belt Targets for New Horizons Pluto Mission - October 16th, 2014 [October 16th, 2014]
- NASA's Hubble Telescope Finds Potential Kuiper Belt Targets for New Horizons Pluto Mission - October 16th, 2014 [October 16th, 2014]
- NASAs Hubble Telescope Finds Kuiper Belt object (KBO) Targets for New Horizons Pluto Mission - Video - October 17th, 2014 [October 17th, 2014]
- Amazing Naked Universe - Revealing Pictures from Hubble Telescope - Video - October 21st, 2014 [October 21st, 2014]
- Wow! This Hubble Telescope Photo of Mars with a Comet Is Amazing - October 24th, 2014 [October 24th, 2014]
- BREAKING NEWS - Hubble Telescope Discovers UFO - Video - October 27th, 2014 [October 27th, 2014]
- I Am a Star - Video - October 27th, 2014 [October 27th, 2014]
- Nasa's Hubble Spots Jupiter Staring Back at us Through 'Cyclops Eye' - October 30th, 2014 [October 30th, 2014]
- Hubble telescope caught in staring contest with Jupiter - October 30th, 2014 [October 30th, 2014]
- Ghost Light From Distant Dead Galaxies Detected By Hubble Telescope - October 31st, 2014 [October 31st, 2014]
- NASAs Hubble Telescope Spots Ghost Light From Dead Galaxies - October 31st, 2014 [October 31st, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope makes a 'ghostly' discovery billions of light years away - October 31st, 2014 [October 31st, 2014]
- Best 100 Hubble images of cosmos - Video - November 1st, 2014 [November 1st, 2014]
- Its Complicated: Hubble Survey Finds Unexpected Diversity in Dusty Discs Around Nearby Stars - November 7th, 2014 [November 7th, 2014]
- The Hubble Telescope Operator - Video - November 8th, 2014 [November 8th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope Operator - Video - November 9th, 2014 [November 9th, 2014]
- Hubble Rumble in the Hood Happening November 20 at Lilly's Bistro - November 11th, 2014 [November 11th, 2014]
- Kelly-Hubble Telescope 11.09.14 - Video - November 11th, 2014 [November 11th, 2014]
- Hubble telescope runs on ___ power - Video - November 11th, 2014 [November 11th, 2014]
- Lead Appointed on Proposed Wide Field Space Telescope - November 15th, 2014 [November 15th, 2014]
- NASA's Hubble telescope finds young galaxies on track to becoming 'red and dead' - November 15th, 2014 [November 15th, 2014]
- Ever Wondered How the Hubble is Operated? Three Engineers ... - November 15th, 2014 [November 15th, 2014]
- Eyes On The Skies - November 17th, 2014 [November 17th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope - Library Trailer - Video - November 19th, 2014 [November 19th, 2014]
- Atlantis Captures Hubble Telescope - Video - November 21st, 2014 [November 21st, 2014]
- Hubble Space Telescope: Merry Christmas from the Hubble Telescope Images and christmas songs - Video - December 1st, 2014 [December 1st, 2014]
- This Day in History - December 2, 1993 - Hubble Repair Shuttle Mission Launched - December 3rd, 2014 [December 3rd, 2014]
- St Albans astronomer investigates mysteries of universe using Hubble telescope - December 4th, 2014 [December 4th, 2014]
- Hubble Telescope Images: Eta Carinae Supernova Fantastic astonomy photos NASA Hubble Space Telescope - Video - December 4th, 2014 [December 4th, 2014]
- Awesome NASA/ESA Hubble Telescope Hi Res render! (HD) - Video - December 5th, 2014 [December 5th, 2014]
- HUBBLE TELESCOPE PICTURES - Video - December 5th, 2014 [December 5th, 2014]
- Is NASA Going To Let The Hubble Telescope Burn Up? - December 8th, 2014 [December 8th, 2014]
- Workaholic Hubble Telescope Will Eventually Burn To Death: Report - December 8th, 2014 [December 8th, 2014]
- The Hubble Telescope - a brief summary in 3 minutes - Video - December 10th, 2014 [December 10th, 2014]
- PHY112 Hubble Telescope - Video - December 14th, 2014 [December 14th, 2014]
- Ave Maria 2014 December - Video - December 15th, 2014 [December 15th, 2014]
- NASA VIDEO ADMITS HUBBLE TELESCOPE IMAGES ARE ALL PHOTOSHOPPED - Video - December 15th, 2014 [December 15th, 2014]
- US Navy Reveals Laser as Powerful as the Hubble Telescope! - Video - December 15th, 2014 [December 15th, 2014]
- "Ave Maria" (Bach/Gounod) 2014, Anne Milligan. - Video - December 31st, 2014 [December 31st, 2014]
- Hubble's high-definition panoramic view of Andromeda galaxy - January 6th, 2015 [January 6th, 2015]
- Hubble Telescope Captures Spectacular New Views of 'Pillars of Creation' - January 6th, 2015 [January 6th, 2015]
- Hubbles Pillars of Creation, as spectacular as ever - January 6th, 2015 [January 6th, 2015]