Taking pictures of our universe is hard work, but the winners and contestants in the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition make it look easy. People who take pictures of the universe are called astrophotographers, and it can become an obsession. But they come from all walks of life, with varying degrees of equipment and expertise from around the world. But what they all have in common is a love for our night sky and a desire to share it with others. Taking astronomical photos requires a lot of patience. For deep-sky images—such as nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters—most astrophotographers use special cameras attached to their telescopes. Like space telescopes, photographers often use different filters, such as red, green, and blue, but sometimes others that only allow certain wavelengths to appear on the sensor. They take multiple images in each filter, leaving the camera shutter open for varying amounts of time, sometimes 10 minutes or more, depending on how dark the subject is. Then, using special astrophotography software, they stack these images together — imagine literally adding photos on top of each other. This sharpens the image and reduces what photographers call noise. This produces the final color image which can then be processed using different photo software. Here are some of this year’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year winners, along with honors and special mentions. Disconnect event Gerald Rhemann was the overall winner in the Royal Observatory Greenwich Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards for this image of Comet Leonard taken at Tivoli Southern Sky Guest Farm, Khomas, Namibia. (Gerald Rehman) The overall award winner was Gerald Rhemann for the above image of Comet Leonard, which was discovered by GJ Leonard on January 3, 2021. The comet made its closest pass by Earth in December 2021. Comets are balls of dust and ice that orbit the sun. As comets—often called “dirty snowballs”—close to the sun, their tails can lengthen and become brighter. Rhemann’s image shows the comet on December 25, 2021, where a significant portion of its tail has been pinched off and swept away by the solar wind. Unfortunately, Comet Leonard disbanded in early 2022 and will not be seen again. The Jovian family The massive Jupiter, taken by Damian Peach at El Sauce Observatory, Río Hurtado, Coquimbo, Chile, August 5, 2021 (Damian Peach ) Damian Peach is an accomplished astrophotographer, with most of his images focusing on Jupiter and Saturn. It won second in the Planets, Comets and Asteroids category. It snapped an image of our solar system’s largest planet, Jupiter, along with three of its largest moons – Ganymede, Io and Europa – from Chile in August 2021. Also visible is Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, a storm that has been raging across the planet for at least 400 years. Cosmic Rose A cosmic rose is seen here by Lionel Majzik in October 2021. (Lionel Majzik) Lionel Majzik took this image of Comet 4P/Faye in front of a nebula known as the Inferior Nebula or Sh2-261 in the constellation Orion. This image is highly commended in the Planets, Comets and Asteroids category. He used a remote telescope located in Mayhill, NM, and was able to capture this rose-like nebula with the comet creating what looks like a green stem. Misty Green River The only Canadian to take part in the final winners was Fred Bailey, who photographed the aurora dancing over the Cameron River, NWT (Fred Bailey) Canadian Fred Bailey was second in the saddle class. Capture the splendor of the Northern Lights over the Cameron River near Yellowknife on September 1, 2021. He took this shot using only a camera with an 18mm lens and a 15 second exposure. Winged Aurora Another beautiful display of the northern lights is seen here like an angel in the sky. (Alexander Stepanenko) A very commendable image in the Aurora category is that of Alexander Stepanenko. He photographed an almost angelic aurora against a clear sky in Murmansk, Russia, on January 15, 2022. This was only a 1.6 second exposure. “Photos of Aurora are always beautiful to look at, but I have never been deterred by images like this,” said Judge Melissa Brobby. “This wonderfully lucky capture is simplistic in its beauty, but the sheer majesty of the winged aurora towering over the mountain is breathtaking. I haven’t stopped looking at this photo in awe.” Majestic Sombrero Galaxy This image of the Sombrero galaxy was a collaboration of three astrophotographers. (Utkarsh Mishra, Michael Petrasko, Muir Evenden) The Sombrero Galaxy is a favorite of many astrophotographers. This image was a collaboration between Utkarsh Mishra, Michael Petrasko and Muir Evenden. Images taken from Pie Town, NM on May 5, 2021. The galaxy appears to hang in a jewel box of stars with faint dusty star streams created when a smaller galaxy collided with our Milky Way. The image won in the Galaxies category. A giant at the edge of the Sun A solar bulge composed of gas and dust appears to hang gently over the edge of the sun. (Miguel Claro) A huge solar prominence — a feature made of plasma, a hot gas containing electrically charged helium and hydrogen — hangs above our sun. The picture was especially awarded in the category, Our Sun. Miguel Claro captured this image from the Alqueva Dark Sky region in Portugal on February 7, 2022. The bulge was visible for two days and later ejected a coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. If the Earth is in the path of a CME, we can have wonderful aurora displays or northern (and southern) lights. Miguel used a telescope with a special solar filter and captured the prominence on video. The International Space Station Transiting Tranquility Base The International Space Station crosses the moon’s Sea of Tranquility. (Andrew McCarthy) The International Space Station (ISS) is seen directly above the Apollo 11 moon landing site in the Sea of Tranquility. Andrew McCarthy, the winner in the Humans and Space category, was able to get the shot from Florence, Ariz. The entire ISS transit past the moon lasted only a few milliseconds and required a lot of planning to get the shot right. The image itself was an exposure of just 0.3 milliseconds. The Eye of God The Helix Nebula, also known as the “Eye of God” is a beautiful remnant of a dying star. (Weitang Liang) The winner in the Stars and Nebula category is Weitang Liang who photographed the Helix Nebula from Río Hurtado, in the Coquimbo region of Chile on August 8, 2021. This nebula – often called the Eye of God – is a planetary nebula, which surprisingly has nothing to do with planets. It is a cloud of gas and dust that has shed a parent star as it nears the end of its life. It is believed that one day, our sun will also create a beautiful nebula like this. Liang collected 22.5 hours of data to produce this final image. Badwater Milky Way The Milky Way hangs over Death Valley National Park. (Abhijit Patil) Abhijit Patil is the runner-up in the Skyscapes category. He photographed the Milky Way stretching over the salt flats at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park in California. Each winter, new rainwater is carried into the flats, where a continuous freeze-thaw-evaporation process creates the hexagonal patterns seen in this photo. The image is a combination of a five second exposure of the ground and a five minute exposure of the sky. Andromeda Galaxy, The Neighbor This image of the Andromeda Galaxy, which can be seen with the naked eye in dark-sky locations, was taken by two 14-year-old boys in China. (Yang Hanwen, Zhou Zezhen) Finally, the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year award went to Yang Hanwen and Zhou Zezhen, two 14-year-old boys from China. The pair teamed up to capture an image of our nearest neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy on February 21, 2021. The galaxy is one of our closest and largest neighbors and is on a collision course with our Milky Way. But there’s no need to panic: it’s not expected to happen for another five billion years. It took a total exposure of 17 hours to capture this image. For a full list of winners, visit the Royal Museums Greenwich website. The photographs will also be on display at the National Maritime Museum in London from 17 September. 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