Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14 competion launches

Authored by Liberty Specialty Markets

The Royal Observatory Greenwich, supported by Liberty Specialty Markets and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, announces the dates for the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14 competition – a global search for the most outstanding images of our cosmos.

In its fourteenth year, the internationally acclaimed competition will open to entrants of all ages and abilities on Monday 10 January 2022, with a grand prize of £10,000.  Entrants will have until Friday 4 March 2022 to enter up to ten images into the various categories of the competition via www.rmg.co.uk/astrocomp (entry fees apply, for more information check the competition rules).

This year the 2022 competition also welcomes a new addition to the judging panel, Dr Hannah Lyons, Assistant Curator at Royal Museums Greenwich. Lyons previously worked at the University of Oxford and Tate. Her PhD, completed in collaboration with the V&A, specialised in eighteenth-century women printmakers. Upon joining the competition, Lyons commented: “I am so thrilled be appointed as a judge for the world's biggest astrophotography competition. I’m looking forward to seeing the extraordinary contributions from both professionals and complete beginners.”

All the winners, runners up and highly commended entries from this year, alongside some of the best shortlisted images of Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14 competition, will be displayed in the dedicated gallery space at the National Maritime Museum from September 2022 and will feature 100 breathtaking images.

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 14 has nine main categories:

• Skyscapes: Landscape and cityscape images of twilight and the night sky featuring the Milky Way, star trails, meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, constellation rises, halos and noctilucent clouds alongside elements of earthly scenery
• Aurorae: Photographs featuring the Northern and Southern Lights
• People and Space: Photographs of the night sky including people or a human interest element
• Our Sun: Solar images including solar eclipses and transits
• Our Moon: Lunar images including lunar eclipses and occultation of planets
• Planets, Comets and Asteroids: Everything else in our solar system, including planets and their satellites, comets, asteroids and other forms of zodiacal debris
• Stars and Nebulae: Deep space objects within the Milky Way galaxy, including stars, star clusters, supernova remnants, nebulae and other intergalactic phenomena
• Galaxies: Deep space objects beyond the Milky Way galaxy, including galaxies, galaxy clusters, and stellar associations
• Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year: Pictures taken by budding astronomers under the age of 16 years

There are also two special prizes: The Prize for Best Newcomer is awarded to the best photo by an amateur astrophotographer who has taken up the hobby in the last year and who has not entered an image into the competition before.

The Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation recognizes the best photo processed using pre-existing open source data. Visit rmg.co.uk/image innovation to learn more about the Annie Maunder Prize and see step-by-step guides for finding images and image processing.

Entries to the competition must be submitted by 4 March 2022, and the winning images will be showcased in the annual exhibition at the National Maritime Museum on 17 September 2022.

Photographers can enter online by visiting www.rmg.co.uk/astrocomp. Each entrant may submit up to ten images to the competition.

Website:                     www.rmg.co.uk/astrocomp

Twitter:                       @RMGreenwich #APY14

Instagram:                 @royalmuseumsgreenwich #APY14

Facebook:                   @royalmuseumsgreenwich