Astronomy Photographer of the Year shares stunning 2022 shortlists

Astronomy Photographer of the Year has a real treat for all astrophotography fans. The 2022 contest has just announced its shortlists, and just as always, there are so many stunning photos in the selection.

The Harvest Moon rising behind Glastonbury Tor in the United Kingdom, the Milky Way mirrored by the highest national highway in the world in Tibet, a partial solar eclipse over Italy, the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy captured exactly 270 years after its discovery… You’ll see all of that and more among this year’s shortlists!

The competition is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, supported by Liberty Specialty Markets, and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. In 2022, the competition received over 3,000 entries from amateur and professional photographers, submitted from 67 countries across the globe.

One of the themes covered this year was the impact of pollution and light pollution on astrophotography. Some of them are Sean Goebel from the US and a young photographer Zezhen Zhou, from China, who both had to overcome light pollution to capture their images. “If you are in a city, it doesn’t mean that the stars are leaving you,” Zhou said. “I think that this image not only shows the beauty of the night sky but also tells us we shouldn’t lose our love of astronomy because of the bad environment.”

Now in its fourteenth year, Astronomy Photographer of the Year selects the overall winner and winners in two special categories. In addition to them, the contest chooses a winner in each of these nine categories:

• Skyscapes: Landscape and cityscape images of twilight and the night sky featuring the Milky Way, star trails, meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, constellation rises, halos and noctilucent clouds alongside elements of earthly scenery.
• Aurorae: Photographs featuring auroral activity.
• People and Space:Photographs of the night sky including people or a human-interest element.
• Our Sun: Solar images including transits and solar eclipses.
• Our Moon: Lunar images including occultation of planets and lunar eclipses.
• Planets, Comets and Asteroids: Everything else in our solar system, including planets and their satellites, comets, asteroids and other forms of zodiacal debris.
• Stars and Nebulae: Deep space objects within the Milky Way galaxy, including stars, star clusters, supernova remnants, nebulae and other intergalactic phenomena.
• Galaxies: Deep space objects beyond the Milky Way galaxy, including galaxies, galaxy clusters, and stellar associations.
• Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year: Pictures taken by budding astronomers under the age of 16 years old.

All winners will be announced on 15 September 2022 and we’re looking forward to it! Two days later, an exhibition will be open at the National Maritime Museum in London. In the meantime, enjoy the shortlisted images below and check out the contest’s website for more details.