From fascinating “mythical monsters” to stunning distant constellations, the shortlisted candidates for Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 showcase the majestic beauty in the skies around us. Here are this year’s stunning nominees.
A Night with the Valkyries – Jose Miguel Picon Chimelis
In this image, a powerful geomagnetic storm creates a stunning display of colorful hues in the night sky in Iceland.
“There was a forecast for a KP7 storm [a strong geomagnetic storm that can cause auroras and affect electrical power systems] and I was excited about what I could see,” photographer José Miguel Picón Chimelis said in one STATEMENT.
He took the panoramic photo near the Eystrahorn mountain, capturing a scene full of vivid colors which he described as “one of the most amazing I’ve experienced on my night photography outings”.
Solar Pulsation – Wenlian Li
In this vivid display of energy, photographer Wenlian Li captured an exploding sunspot spewing glowing plasma from the sun’s surface.
Night Observations – Jakob Sahner
In this shot from La Palma, one of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the huge Isaac Newton telescope sits below ominous cosmic clouds from the constellation Cygnus.
“The Cygnus region with its bright and vibrant star-forming regions is one of my favorite parts of the night sky. You can see it in the upper right of the image,” photographer Jakob Sahner said the statement.
Cygnus, which translates to “swan” in Latinis a northern constellation located above the Milky Way.
Connected: The Milky Way will be visible without a telescope this summer. Here are the top nights to watch.
Arctic Dragon – Carina Letelier Baeza
Carina Letelier Baeza captured the aurora borealis forming the shape of a dragon. Its tail descends to the horizon and bright green hues take the form of wings that rise above the rocky pyramids of the Arctic Henge in Iceland.
Serpentine – Paul Haworth
Paul Haworth created this fascinating image of radial stars over the ruins of an old dock and cracked mud on Snettisham Beach in Norfolk, UK
“I named this image ‘Serpentine’ because I love the curved channel in the mud, reflecting the trailing stars and the wonderful scaly texture of the mud cracks,” Haworth said in the statement.
Galaxy Devourer Team – ShaRa (Shared Remote Astrophotography).
The interstellar clouds of CG 4 (Cometary Globule 4) form a monstrous shape as if ready to devour the cosmos, in this photo taken by a team of astrophotographers known as SHARA (Shared Remote Astrophotography).
The particular formation of clouds of gas and dust is classified as a “globular comet” due to its comet-like shape, and is often called “The hand of God“because of its resemblance to an arm that stretches across the universe.
Along with these names, a member of the astrophotography team noticed its resemblance to two famous fictional monsters.
“Is this the Arrakis Cosmic Worm from ‘Dune’ or the terrifying Graboid from the movie ‘Tremors’?” ShaRa band member Alessandro Ravagnin said in the statement.
Blue details of M45: Pleiades – Sandor Biliczki
In this image, Sandor Biliczki captured the beauty of the Pleiades constellation.
Also known as Messier 45 or the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades is made up of thousands of stars, but is known for its seven brightest stars and is located 445 light-years from Earth, according to NASA.
Due to light pollution in Budapest, Biliczki traveled to Spain to photograph the constellation.
“The Pleiades are a popular target among astrophotographers, but there are still many small details to be discovered,” Biliczki said in the statement.
A Cosmic Fireworks: The Geminid Meteor Shower – Jakob Sahner
This panorama captures the Geminid meteor shower in front of the entire winter Milky Way in the night sky above La Palma.
Jakob Sahner said he could see three meteors per minute within his field of view during the shower’s peak.
Scream of a Dying Star – Yann Sainty
Yann Sainty captured the Cygnus supernova in this terrifying image, called “The Scream of a Dying Star.”
The name is a reference to ‘The Scream’, Edvard Munch’s famous painting, which symbolizes the scream that continues to echo through space after the star’s death, according to the image’s caption.
Sainty took advantage of the lack of light pollution and a long exposure time to capture rare details of the Cygnus Loop, such as the outer layers of the supernova remnant.
The Martian Dementors – Leonardo Di Maggio
Leonardo Di Maggio created this eerie, abstract landscape image using a photo taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) – a spacecraft on a mission to find evidence of water on Mars.
