From mesmerizing “mythical monsters” to stunning distant constellations, the nominees for Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 showcase the exquisite beauty of 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 multicolored hues in the night sky over Iceland.
“There was a forecast of a KP7 storm [a strong geomagnetic storm that can cause auroras and affect electrical power systems] and I was excited about what I might see,” photographer José Miguel Picón Chimelis said in a rack.
He took the panoramic photo at the Eystrahorn mountain, where he captured a scene full of vibrant colors. He described it as “one of the most amazing photos I’ve ever experienced during my night photography trips.”
Solar pulsation — Wenlian Li
In this vibrant display of energy, photographer Wenlian Li captured an exploding sunspot that spewed glowing plasma from the sun’s surface.
Observations at night — Jakob Sahner
In this photo, taken from La Palma, one of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the immense Isaac Newton Telescope can be seen beneath the menacing cosmic clouds of the constellation Cygnus.
“The Cygnus region with its bright and vibrant star-forming areas is one of my favorite parts of the night sky. You can see it in the upper right of the image,” photographer Jakob Sahner according to the statement.
Cygnus, which means ‘the swan’ in Latinis a northern constellation located above the Milky Way.
Related: The Milky Way is visible without a telescope this summer. These are the most important nights to watch out for.
Arctic Dragon — Carina Letelier Baeza
Carina Letelier Baeza captured the Northern Lights in the form of a dragon. Its tail descends toward the horizon, its bright green hues forming wings that tower over the rock pyramids of Iceland’s Arctic Henge.
Snakeskin — Paul Haworth
Paul Haworth created this mesmerizing image of radial stars above the ruins of an old pier and cracked mudflats on Snettisham beach in Norfolk, UK
“I named this image ‘Serpentine’ because I like the curving groove in the mud sheet that leaves the stars behind, and the beautiful flaky texture of the mud cracks,” Haworth said in the statement.
The Galaxy Devourer — ShaRa (Shared Remote Astrophotography) Team
The interstellar clouds of CG 4 (Cometary Globule 4) form a monstrous shape, as if ready to devour the cosmos, as shown in this image taken by a team of astrophotographers known as ShaRA (Shared Remote Astrophotography).
The peculiar formation of gas clouds and dust is classified as a “comet blob” because of its comet-like shape, and is often referred to as “God’s hand“because it looks like an arm stretching out across the universe.
In addition to these names, a member of the astrophotography team noticed that the monsters resembled two famous fictional monsters.
“Is this the cosmic sandworm of Arrakis from ‘Dune’ or the terrifying Graboid from the movie ‘Tremors’?” ShaRa group member Alessandro Ravagnin said in the statement.
The Blue Details of M45: The Pleiades — Sandor Biliczki
In this image, Sandor Biliczki captured the beauty of the Pleiades constellation.
The Pleiades, also known as Messier 45 or the Seven Sisters, are made up of thousands of stars but are known for their seven brightest stars and are 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 Firework: The Geminid Meteor Shower — Jakob Sahner
This panorama shows the Geminid meteor shower for the entire winter Milky Way in the night sky above La Palma.
Jakob Sahner said that during the peak of the meteor shower he could see three meteors per minute within his field of view.
The Cry of a Dying Star — Yann Sainty
Yann Sainty captured the supernova in Cygnus in this eerie image, called “The Scream of a Dying Star.”
The name is a reference to Edvard Munch’s famous painting “The Scream,” 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 the long exposure time to capture rare details of the Cygnus Loop, including the outer layers of the supernova remnant.
Martian Dementors — Leonardo Di Maggio
Leonardo Di Maggio created this eerie, abstract landscape photograph using a photo taken from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), a spacecraft on a mission to evidence of water on mars.