“The Ridge” © Tom Rae (New Zealand). Skyscapes, Winner
“This is the largest panorama Tom Rae has ever captured, with the full resolution image containing over a billion pixels from 62 images stitched together. The photograph captures the twin glacial rivers with the Milky Way core off to the left of the image, as well as the famous Southern Cross and other pointers high in the center sky.”
The winners of the annual ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition have been announced, and they’re just what astronomy lovers have been waiting for. From fantastical photos of distant nebulae to vibrant aurora captures, these images spark the imagination and remind us of the beauty and mystery found in the night sky.
Run by the UK’s Royal Observatory Greenwich, the contest attracts well-respected astrophotographers from around the world who submit their highest-quality work. This year was no exception. Two photographers worked on the overall winning image, which captures the Andromeda Galaxy’s core. Qi Yang and Chuhong Yu of China were named ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year for their incredible shot.
“Not to show it all—this is one of the greatest virtues of this photo,” says astrophotographer and competition judge László Francsics. “The Andromeda Galaxy has been photographed in so many different ways and so many times with telescopes that it is hard to imagine a new photo would ever add to what we’ve already seen. But this does just that, an unusual dynamic composition with unprecedented detail that doesn’t obscure the overall scene.”
In addition to the overall winner, there were eight category award winners. The ZWO Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year award was won by Daniele Borsari, who the judges awarded for his bold choice to photograph a variety of nebulae in black and white. Two special awards honor the best new astrophotographer and the creative use of astronomy imagery.
“Once again, ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year offers up some of the best astrophotography in the world,” says Dr. Ed Bloomer, Royal Observatory Greenwich Astronomer and Judge. “This year, I believe we’re particularly strong on images which ask the observer to really think about what they’re looking at and investigate just how the astrophotographer has achieved those particular results, this proved true for the judges as well!”
Scroll down to see the winners of this year’s competition and head over to the official website to learn more about how the grand prize photo was captured. The Astronomy Photographer of the Year book, which includes all of the winning and shortlisted images, will be published on September 25, 2025, and is now available for pre-order.
The winners of the annual ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition have been announced.
“The Andromeda Core” © Weitang Liang, Qi Yang, Chuhong Yu (China). Overall Winner & Galaxies, Winner
“This image showcases the core of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) in exceptional detail, captured using a long focal-length telescope. Taking advantage of the excellent seeing conditions at Nerpio, the photographers focused on revealing the intricate structure of the galaxy’s central region and its surrounding stellar population.”
“Active Region of the Sun’s Chromosphere” © James Sinclair (USA). Our Sun, Winner
“The chromosphere is the most picturesque part of the Sun. Composed of hydrogen and helium plasma, it is manipulated by the intense and tangled magnetic fields of the Sun. The Sun’s chromosphere does not just change day by day, it changes second by second, which is why solar astrophotographers become obsessed with it.”
“Crown of Light” © Kavan Chay (New Zealand). Winner, Aurorae
“The image was taken during the G5 storm, the most extreme level of geomagnetic storm, in May. The reds were a level of intensity the photographer had never experienced.”
“Encounter Across Light Years” © Yurui Gong, Xizhen Ruan (China). The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer
“This photograph captures a serendipitous moment when a brilliant fireball from the Perseid meteor shower appears to graze M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. Originally, the photographers had only planned to capture a close-up of the M31 galaxy. Retrieving the camera the next morning, they discovered this wonderful surprise.”
“Orion, the Horsehead and the Flame in H-alpha” © Daniele Borsari (Italy). ZWO Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year
“This image was captured with an H-alpha filter to make a monochrome image highlighting the emission nebulae. On the lower left lies the Horsehead Nebula, also known as Barnard 33. This dense dark cloud of gases hides the light coming from the emission nebula IC 434 and creates the apparent shape of a horse’s head. A little to the left, we find the Flame Nebula, NGC 2024. The star responsible for the illumination of this nebula, IRS2, is located behind dust and gases and is therefore not visible in the optical spectrum. And finally, in the upper-right of the image, is M42, famously known as the Orion Nebula. This nebula is a huge cloud of dust and gas where a lot of new stars are born. The energy released by the four central stars (the Trapezium Cluster) shapes the nebula, ionizing the gas components.”
“ISS Lunar Flyby” © Tom Williams (UK). People & Space, Winner
“This image shows the International Space Station making a close pass of our Moon. The event was predicted to be a transit but ended up being a close flyby. However, the result is still dramatic, with the station’s solar arrays backlit by the rising Sun. Notably, the white radiators can also be seen and are illuminated by earthshine rather than direct sunlight.”
In addition to the overall winner, there were eight category awards.
“M13: An Ultra-Deep Exposure of the Popular Cluster” © Distant Luminosity (Julian Zoller, Jan Beckmann, Lukas Eisert, Wolfgang Hummel) (Germany). Stars & Nebulae, Winner
“M13, or the Great Hercules Cluster, is one of the most prominent and well-studied globular clusters in the northern sky. Discovered by Edmond Halley in 1714, it is located in the constellation Hercules and lies about 22,200 light-years from Earth. With an apparent magnitude [a measure of brightness] of 5.8, M13 is visible to the naked eye under dark skies and can be easily observed through binoculars or a small telescope. Our goal was to get the deepest possible image of the cluster, in which, to our surprise, even integrated flux nebulae (IFN) clouds appeared.”
“Comet 12P/Pons−Brooks Taking a Final Bow” © Dan Bartlett (USA). Planets, Comets, & Asteroids, Winner
“Comet 12P/Pons−Brooks reacted visibly to the intensified solar winds associated with the current solar maximum, creating a spectacle of tail dynamics and colourful hues expelled by its nuclear coma, the bright cloud of gas around the comet’s center.”
“Saturnrise” © Tom Williams (UK). Our Moon, Runner-Up
“This image shows the tail end of August’s lunar occultation of Saturn. Although rare for any one location on Earth, 2024 saw a total of ten occultations occur across the globe! The event pictured here occurred near Saturn’s opposition and so coincided with the near-Full Moon.”
“Fourth Dimension” © Leonardo Di Maggio (UK). Annie Maunder Open Category
“The image uses data of gravitational lensing [magnifies distant galaxies by bending light through massive foreground objects] from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and combines it with a photograph that Leonardo Di Maggio took of the inside of a meteorite. Inside some meteorites, patterns are formed through the extremely slow cooling of metal alloys over millions of years. This particular pattern has an incredible geometric design, looking almost like the edges of boxes or buildings in a city. Some images produced by JWST, if processed a certain way, would have a very similar look due to the star diffraction spikes. This piece can be imagined as an alien ship, city, dimension, or anything in between, with the distorted galaxies on the right giving a sense of movement and surreal science-fiction symbolism. Both images have been converted to black and white and merged with the opacity of the meteorite layer set low to allow the JWST data to still bleed through and to produce a surreal hazy look.”
“The Moon With Saturn” © Shamiqh Gajdhar (India). ZWO Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year, Highly Commended
“This image captures the conjunction of the Moon and Saturn, when they were exceptionally close in the night sky. It was an ideal night for astrophotography, with clear skies providing perfect visibility. The image is a seven-panel mosaic, carefully stitched together to showcase the Moon’s surface in stunning detail and Saturn in its full glory against the black backdrop of space.”
“Rotation” © Takanobu Kurosaki (Japan). People & Space, Runner-Up
“In the northern hemisphere, stars appear to rotate around Polaris, which lies near the north celestial pole. This motion, about 15 degrees per hour from east to west, is caused by Earth’s rotation. The giant Ferris wheel at Mirageland in Uozu only operates at night a few times a year, it stands at 66 m (216 ft) high and with a diameter of 62.5 m (205 ft). It takes about 15 minutes for the wheel to make a complete circle.”
“Satellites and Storms” © Tom Williams (UK). Planets, Comets, & Asteroids, Runner-Up
“This image shows Jupiter and two of the four largest moons discovered by Galileo, Europa and Callisto. Notably, the planet’s recent storm outbreak is prominent as a white streak near the centre of the disc and is neatly mirrored by the Great Red Spot in the southern hemisphere.
With long exposures, it was possible to detect the minor moon of Amalthea, which sits between Europa and Jupiter’s western limb here.”
“Once again, ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year offers up some of the best astrophotography in the world.”
“Fireworks” © Bence Tóth, Péter Feltóti, Bertalan Kecskés (Hungary). Galaxies, Highly Commended.
“The image shows M33, the Triangulum Galaxy from a new perspective. Due to tidal interaction with M31, there is very prominent star-forming activity in M33, which results in a spectacular structure of emission nebulae. During processing, a separate SHO picture was created with a strong SII/H-alpha presence, the glowing red structures in the picture, and blended with a high-resolution LRGB processing of the continuum data, representing the ‘background’ light.”
“A Sun Yawn” © Zhang Yanguang (China). Our Sun, Runner-Up
“This image sequence documents the eruption of a massive solar prominence, originating as a small protrusion from the Sun’s surface that subsequently expanded into an enormous plasma structure in space before eventually dissipating into the void. Using 11 sequentially captured images taken approximately 12 minutes apart, the photographer documented this entire celestial event – as if the Sun had let out a cosmic yawn, stretching and releasing its luminous plasma energies back into the stellar expanse.”
“The Trace of Refraction” © Marcella Giulia Pace (Italy). Our Moon, Winner
“This image captures the phenomenon of atmospheric refraction, where moonlight passes through dense layers of Earth’s atmosphere near the horizon, bending in a manner similar to light rays through a prism. Additionally, the redness of the Moon can be explained by a process known as Rayleigh scattering [smaller particles in the atmosphere scatter shorter wavelengths of light, resulting in longer wavelengths, namely red, being more predominant].”
“Aurora Over Mono Lake: A Rare Dance of Light” © Dan Zafra (Spain). Aurorae, Highly Commended
“This photograph captures the rare occurrence of Northern Lights in California. Vibrant ribbons of magenta and green light up the sky, reflecting in the still waters among the rock formations.”
“Veil of Stars” © Zixiong Jin (China). Stars & Nebulae, Runner-Up
“This image showcases the iconic NGC 6960, also known as the Veil Nebula. To capture its intricate details and vivid colors, Zixiong Jin used a telescope, a cooled monochrome camera, an equatorial mount and a motorized filter wheel equipped with H-Alpha, OIII, SII, Red, Green, and Blue filters. For this particular target, the photographer cropped from a larger mosaic to better illustrate the concept and shape of the ‘veil’ by using a unique composition.”
“Celestial Arch” © Luis Vilariño (Spain). Aurorae, Runner-Up
“This image shows an intense aurora, forming an immense arc that spanned more than 180º. A gigantic and perfect green neon sign illuminated the entire sky.”
“Trails at Rest” © Alex van Harmelen (Australia). Skyscapes, Runner-Up
“Even at anchor the ship continued to move with the ocean currents, causing a back-and-forth arc of travel. This photo captures that motion in the star trails, traced into the night sky over a 20-minute period. It is interesting to note that the trails on the right have a larger vertical amplitude [the star trails on the right appear taller, showing greater vertical movement, due to distortion] which reduces to near zero amplitude on the left. This is due to Earth’s rotation around the south celestial pole, positioned towards the left of the photo. Some zodiacal light [faint, triangular glow visible in the night sky, particularly around twilight, that extends from the direction of the Sun] also makes an appearance in this pre-dawn long exposure.”
ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year: Website | Facebook | Instagram
My Modern Met granted permission to use photos by the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
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