Australian photographer Mark Gee has beaten over a thousand amateur and professional photographers from around the globe to win the title of Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2013. As well as securing the £1,500 top prize, his image takes pride of place in the exhibition of winning photographs opening at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
Winners and runners up of the other categories and special prizes include the striking vision of a green Aurora Borealis captured by Fredrik Broms (Norway); a breath-taking view of a total eclipse of the Sun, sometimes called a ‘cosmic coincidence’ due to the similar apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon, taken by Man-To Hui (China); a dreamlike panorama of the Rho Ophiuchi and Antares Nebulae, appearing like spots of ink floating through water, by Tom O’Donoghue (Ireland); and a ghostly, visceral depiction of the 2012 Transit of Venus snapped by British newcomer Sam Cornwell, winner of the newly renamed Sir Patrick Moore prize for Best Newcomer, 14 year old Jacob Marchio from the USA impressed the judges with two images; the first a highly skilled portrait of a waxing crescent Moon and the second and winning image of the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year category, a beautifully moody picture of the Milky Way Galaxy rendered with a dusky brown colour palette.
The exhibition is on view in London, until February 2014.
EXHIBITION
Astronomy photographer of the year
19 September 2013 – 23 February 2014
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Blackheath Ave
London SE10 8XJ
United Kingdom
http://www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto
