In Pics | Award-winning Astronomy photographs that will blow your mind

The Royal Observatory Greenwich has announced the winners of its 13th annual astronomy photographer of the year competition. In its thirteenth year, the competition received over 4,500 entries from 75 countries. Here we take a look at the award-winning photographs. These exceptional photographs – winners, runners-up, highly commended and shortlisted – are showcased in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, opening to the public from September 18, 2021.

Winner and Overall Winner: The Golden Ring. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Shuchang Dong (China)

Runner-Up: The Sun Sharing its Crown with a Comet. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Vincent Bouchama (France)

Highly Commended: Curtain of Hydrogen. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Alan Friedman (USA)

Aurorae Winner: Polar Lights Dance. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Dmitrii Rybalka (Russia)

Aurorae Runner-Up: Proper Welcome for the Moon. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Thomas Kast (Finland)

Aurorae Highly Commended: Goðafoss Flow. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Larryn Rae (New Zealand)

Galaxies Winner: The Milky Ring. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Zhong Wu (China)

Galaxies Runner-Up: The Nebulae of the Triangulum Galaxy. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Russell Croman (USA)

Galaxies Highly Commended: A Smiley in Space. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Nicolas Rolland (France) and Martin Pugh (Australia)

Our Moon Winner: Beyond the Limb. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Nicolas Lefaudeux (France)

Our Moon Runner-Up: Lunar Halo. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Goran Strand (Sweden)

Our Moon Highly Commended: Iridum To Imbrium. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Stefan Buda (Australia)

People and Space Winner: Lockdown. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Deepal Ratnayaka (UK)

People and Space Runner-Up: A Lonely Ship Under the Stars. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Andre van der Hoeven (Netherlands)

People and Space Highly Commended: Break of a New Day. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Nicholas Roemmelt (Germany)

Planets,Comets and Asteroids Winner: A Colourful Quadrantid Meteor. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Frank Kuszaj (USA)

Planets,Comets and Asteroids Runner-Up: Perseverance. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Damian Peach (UK)

Skyscapes Winner: Luna Dunes. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Jeffrey Lovelace (USA)

Skyscapes Runner-Up: Moon Over Mount Etna South-East Crater. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Dario Giannobile (Italy)

Skyscapes Highly Commended: Van Gogh's Sketchpad. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Jin Yang (China)

Stars and Nebulae Winner: California Dreamin' NGC 1499. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Terry Hancock (UK)

Stars and Nebulae Runner-Up: Clouds in IC 2944. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Bogdan Borz (Romania)

Stars and Nebulae Highly Commended: The Colour Splash of Cygnus Loop. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Min Xie (USA)

Young Competition Winner: Family Photo of the Solar System. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - 至璞 王 (Zhipu Wang) (China)

Young Competition Runner-Up: Nebula. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition- Hassaana Begam & Aathilah Maryam H (India)

Young Competition Highly Commended: Starry Beach in Space. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Davy van der Hoeven (Netherlands)

Young Competition Highly Commended: Neptune and Triton.. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Julian Shapiro (USA)

Young Competition Highly Commended: Satellite Cluster around 47 Tucan. Credit: Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 13 (2021) competition/exhibition - Alice Fock Hang (Reunion)