If you love astrophotography, here’s a real treat. Royal Observatory Greenwich has just announced the magnificent shortlisted images of its 2021 Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest. The photos were taken all over the globe, and even beyond: there’s even a photo of the sunset on Mars. So without further ado, let’s dive in and enjoy this gorgeous selection of images.

Martian Sunset © John White
Royal Observatory Greenwich organizes the contest in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, and it’s now in its 13th year. This year’s contest received over 4,500 entries from enthusiastic amateurs and professional photographers, taken from 75 countries across the globe.
The contest features nine categories, as well as two special prizes. The winners will be announced on Thursday, 16 September and the ceremony will take place online. For anyone interested in attending, it will also be streamed live on Facebook and YouTube.

Luna Park © Ed Hurst
The winning and shortlisted images will be displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum from Saturday 18 September, and they will be published in the competition’s official book, which will be available in September.
Take a look at the remaining shortlisted photos below and visit the contest’s website for more information. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for September to see who the winners will be. Do you have your favorites already?

NGC 6723, NGC 6726, NGC 6727 and NGC 6729 – Dark Molecular Cloud in Corona Australis © Steven Mohr

NGC 6188 SHOrgb by Cielaustral team © Jean-Claude Canonne, Didier Chaplain, Georges Chassaigne, Philippe Bernhard, Laurent Bourgon and Nicolas Outters

NGC 3981 © Bernard Miller

NGC 2024 – Flame Nebula © Steven Mohr

Moonrise over Jodrell Bank © Matt Naylor

Milky Way rising over Durdle Door © Anthony Sullivan

Iceland Vortex © Larryn Rae

Harmony © Stefan Liebermann

Glory of Damavand and Milky Way © Masoud Ghadiri

Dugi Otok – Variant A © Ivan Vucetic

Dolphin Head Nebula © Yovin Yahathugoda

Comet Neowise over Stonehenge © James Rushforth

Château de Chambord © Benjamin Barakat

Bicolour Veil Nebula © Péter Feltóti

Aurora in Murmansk © Vitaliy Novikov

A Daytime Transit © Andrew McCarthy

Waterfall © Anna Dobrovolskaya-Mints

The Tumult of the Sun © Hassan Hatami

The Star Observer © Antoni Cladera Barceló

The Soul of Space (Close-up of the Soul Nebula) © Kush Chandaria

The Rose © Josep Drudis

The Milky Way on the Ancient Village © Zhang Xiao

The Magnetic Field of our Active Sun © Andrew McCarthy

The Full Moon in Moscow © Anna Kaunis

The Eyes of Clavius © Thea Hutchinson

The Exceptionally Active Ion Tail of Comet 2020F8 SWAN © Gerald Rhemann

The Cave © Markus van Hauten

Sunspot Looking out into Space © Siu Fone Tang

Sunrise of the Magic City © Jiajun Hua

Star Watcher © Yang Sutie

Star trails over the Lujiazui City Skyline © Daning Kai

Star Fall © Wang Zheng

Saturn at its Best © Damian Peach

Proximity © Péter Feltóti

Pleiades Sisters © Jashanpreet Singh Dingra

Path of the Full Moon above the Sleeping City © Rémi Leblanc-Messager
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