The winners of the 2023 Astronomy Photographer of the Year award have already been announced, and among the winning images we find an unexpected plasma arc, galactic neighbors and a unique view of Venus
More than 4,000 entries from 64 countries were submitted for this year’s competition, but Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty won the top prize for their photo “Andromeda, Unexpected.” The image shows something unexpected next to the Andromeda Galaxy: a huge arc of plasma. This surprising discovery has led to a transnational collaboration to study the structure of the arch.
Overall winner: Andromeda, Unexpected. Photo credits: © Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty
The competition also features the Young Astronomical Photographer of the Year award, won by 14-year-olds Runwei Xu and Binyu Wang.
Winner (young): The Running Chicken Nebula Photo credit: © Runwei Xu and Binyu Wang
In what judge and professional astronomer Yuri Beletsky called a “strikingly beautiful image,” the two teenagers captured the colorful “Running Chicken Nebula,” located more than 6,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Centaur.
Other competition categories include images of the northern lights, distant stars and planets, and of course our sun and moon. These are some of the winning photos.
Second (Aurors): Circle of Light Photo credit: © Andreas Ettl
Winner (planets, comets and asteroids): Suspended in the Sunbeam Photo credit: © Tom Williams
Winner (Skyscapes): Great Cosmic Fireworks
Photo credit: © Angel An
Winner (Our Sun): A question about the sun Photo credit: © Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau
Special Mention (Galaxies): Neighbors Photo credit: © Paul Montague
Winner (Stars and Nebulae): New class of galactic nebulae around the star YY Hya Photo credit: © Marcel Drechsler
The winning images will be exhibited at the National Maritime Museum in London from September 16th.