The best pictures of the Universe: the jury summed up the results of the astrophotography competition

The famous Royal Observatory Greenwich Astronomy Photo Awards has been running for 13 years. Samu

The observatory was founded back in 1675. It became the center of several scientific discoveries.

This year's Grand Prize went to photographer Shuchan Dong for his deceptively simple photo of a Solar Eclipse. The photo was taken in Tibet during a total solar eclipse in mid-2020.

“This image shows not only the beautyand the simplicity of the eclipse, but also the science behind this astronomical event,” explains Emily Darbeck-Maunder, one of this year’s competition judges. 

Fujifilm XT-4 camera. Sun: 386mm f / 10 lens, ISO 160, shutter speed 1/2000 second. Moving cloud: ND1000 filter, 386mm f / 16 lens, ISO 160, 1 second exposure. Shuchan Dong

In the category "Aurora Borealis" wonmemorable shot by photographer Dmitry Rybalka. Judge Sue Pritchard said the picture, taken from a moving ship approaching the Kara Strait in Russia, resembles an opening scene from a science fiction movie.

Sony ILCE-7M3 camera, 28 mm f / 2.8 lens, ISO 100, exposure 25 seconds.
Dmitry Rybalka

Another winner, this time in the category«Galaxies» — 360-degree mosaic of the Milky Way by Chinese photographer Zhong Wu. Wu spent two years assembling the image from 1,000 individual images taken in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres.

Winner — Galaxies.Milky ring. Sichuan and Qinghai, China; Lake Pukaki, New Zealand. Nikon D810a camera, 40mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 8000, shutter speed 1000 x 6 seconds
Zhong Wu

“This cosmic circle is one of the mostexciting pictures that we have seen this year,” said judge Imad Ahmed. “The dedication of the photographer, who took almost two years to put this image together, should also be applauded.”

Planewave CDK 17" Telescope with f/aperture6.8, Astrodon filters, Software Bisque Paramount ME mount, SBIG STXL-11002 camera, L-RGB-Ha composite, total exposure 27.5 hours. Nicolas Rolland and Martin Pugh

Hi-Tech Editor's Choice—photo taken in the Coquimbo region, Chile. The authors of the photo are Nicolas Rolland and Martin Pugh. The exposure of this frame took more than a day.

Read more

An unknown US plane was caught on the video. Possibly a sixth generation fighter

Тепловой парадокс наноматериалов решен. Охладить технику можно в 3 раза эффективнее

There is a new optical switch. It is a thousand times faster than analogs