Unless Elon Musk has his way in the near future, most of us probably aren't going to get to go to space. But that doesn't mean we can't admire it from afar.
On Sunday, London's Royal Museums Greenwich unveiled the winners (and the runners up) of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020. The competition has been running for 12 years now, and this year saw over 5,000 entries from six continents.
From the dancing lights of the aurorae to our swirling neighbour, the Andromeda Galaxy, and with titles provided by the photographers, here are the top of the crop in their respective categories...
Aurorae
Highly commended: 'Iceland' by Kristina Makeeva.
Credit: Kristina Makeeva
Runner-up: 'Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora' by Tom Archer.
Credit: Tom Archer
Winner: 'The Green Lady' by Nicholas Roemmelt.
Credit:
Best newcomer
Winner: 'Waves' by Bence Toth.
Credit: Bence Toth
Galaxies
Highly commended: 'Attack on the Large Magellanic Cloud' by Juan-Carlos Munoz-Mateos.
Credit: Juan-Carlos Munoz-Mateos
Runner-up: 'NGC 3628 with 300,000 Light Year Long Tail' by Mark Hanson.
Credit: Mark Hanson
Winner and overall winner: 'Andromeda Galaxy at Arms Length' by Nicolas Lefaudeux.
Credit: Nicolas Lefaudeux
Our moon
Highly commended: 'Moon Base' by Daniel Koszela.
Credit: Daniel Koszela
Runner-up: 'HDR Partial Lunar Eclipse With Clouds' by Ethan Roberts.
Credit: Ethan Roberts
Winner: 'Tycho Crater Region with Colours' by Alain Paillou.
Credit: Alain Paillou
Our sun
Highly commended: 'Ultraviolet' by Alan Friedman.
Credit: Alan Friedman
Runner-up: '145 Seconds of Darkness' by Filip Ogorzelski.
Credit: Filip Ogorzelski
Winner: 'Liquid Sunshine' by Alexandra Hart.
Credit: Alexandra Hart
People and space
Highly commended: 'AZURE Vapor Tracers' by Yang Sutie.
Credit: Yang Sutie
Runner-up: 'Observe the Heart of the Galaxy' by Tian Li.
Credit: Tian Li
Winner: 'The Prison of Technology' by Rafael Schmall.
Credit: Rafael Schmall
Planets, comets, and asteroids
Highly commended: 'The Ghost of Alnilam and a Near Earth Asteroid' by Robert Stephens.
Credit: Robert Stephens
Runner-up: 'In the Outer Reaches' by Martin Lewis.
Credit: Martin Lewis
Winner: 'Space Between Us...' by Łukasz Sujka.
Credit: Łukasz Sujka
Skyscapes
Highly commended: 'Voice of the Universe' by Weijian Chen.
Credit: Weijian Chen
Runner-up: 'Desert Magic' by Stefan Liebermann.
Credit: Stefan Liebermann
Winner: 'Painting the Sky' by Thomas Kast.
Credit: Thomas Kast
Stars and nebulae
Highly commended: 'The Misty Elephant's Trunk' by Min Xie.
Credit: Min Xie
Runner-up: 'The Dolphin Jumping out of an Ocean of Gas' by Connor Matherne.
Credit: Connor Matherne
Winner: 'Cosmic Inferno' by Peter Ward.
Credit: Peter Ward
Young competition
Runner-up: 'Detached Prominences' by Thea Hutchinson.
Credit: Thea Hutchinson
Winner: 'The Four Planets and the Moon' by Alice Fock Hang.
Credit: Alice Fock Hang
Tickets for the 2020 exhibition are available from Sept 14. via the Royal Museum Greenwich website, if you happen to be in London. Otherwise, find the biggest screen you can.
