The overall winner of Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 16 is Ryan Imperio for his photograph, Distorted Shadows of the Moon’s Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse, that captures the progression of Baily’s beads during the 2023 annular eclipse.
Baily’s beads are formed when sunlight shines through the valleys and craters of the Moon’s surface, breaking the eclipse’s well-known ring pattern, and are only visible when the Moon either enters or exits an eclipse. These are a challenge to capture due to their brevity and the precise timing needed. The image will be on display alongside the winners of the other categories in the accompanying exhibition, opening at the National Maritime Museum on Friday 13 September 2024.
Ryan Imperio said, ‘The images selected each year are absolutely astonishing and I am both thrilled and honoured to have my photo among them. I had hoped my image would be shared in some way but never expected to be selected as a winner, let alone Overall Winner!’
Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn, judge and meteorologist said, ’This is an impressive dissection of the fleeting few seconds during the visibility of the Baily’s beads. This image left me captivated and amazed. It’s exceptional work deserving of high recognition.’
The Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year award was won by Daniel Borsari for his image NGC NGC 1499, A Dusty California. Neal White, judge and artist, commented that ‘it demonstrated the future of astronomy photography being fearlessly, and openly, taken forward by a new generation’.
The other winning images include Aurora Borealis over Brighton Seafront by Michael Steven Harris, which beautifully captures the pink hues of the aurora despite the significant light pollution in the area; Tasman Gems by Tom Rae, a Milky Way photograph of the southern hemisphere night sky including the hydrogen clouds of the Gum Nebula and Parallel Lines Over the City by Ran Shen which uses a simple but powerful composition to show the trajectories of Venus and Jupiter over the skyline of Lujiazui, Shanghai. In the Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation category, judges awarded the winning prize to Anatomy of a Habitable Planet by Sergio Díaz Ruiz. This image shows Earth as a seemingly alien world as a distant civilisation might study it.
National Maritime Museum, London
Opening 13 September 2024
www.rmg.co.uk/shortlist
