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A spectacular image of sun streaming through mountains on the moon during asolar eclipsehas been crowned this year ’s grand prize succeeder in the annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition host by the Royal Observatory , Greenwich in the U.K.

But the winning paradigm in other categories were just as telling , including arresting photographs of the Dolphin Head nebula and a backlit , worm - similar galaxy .

A composite image of an annular solar eclipse showing baily�s beads.

A composite image of an annular solar eclipse showing Baily’s Beads won top prize at the 2024 Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.

The overall winner of the competition , Ryan Imperio , carry the striking eclipse image on Oct. 14 , 2023 in Odessa , Texas . The image , style " Distorted Shadows of the Moon ’s Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse , " boast a successiveness of continuous occultation shaft that captured phantasm in the ring patterns , love asBaily ’s beads .

Baily ’s beads appear because the open of the synodic month is peppered with mounds , valley and craters , meaning sun is break up as it shine around the moon during an eclipse . These visible breaks in sunshine are rare , only occurring as the moon enter or exits an eclipse , and it takes immense preciseness to capture them , harmonize to a command shared with Live Science .

" This is an impressive dissection of the fleeting few second during the profile of the Baily ’s beads,“Kerry - Ann Lecky Hepburn , a meteorologist and evaluator in the contention , said in the statement . " It ’s exceptional study merit of high realisation . "

An image of the Centaurus A galaxy.

An image of the Centaurus A galaxy.

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The Royal Observatory , Greenwich received around 3,500 image entries , from which a gore of judges choose winners in 11 class .

In the Galaxies family , the justice chose an image of Centaurus A , a galaxy also know as NGC 5128 , surrounded by powerful jets of radiation and mote jaunt close to the amphetamine of light . The image , capture by Bence Tóth and Péter Feltóti from Hungary , shows the galaxy in a worm - same shape . Centaurus A is only seeable from the Southern Hemisphere and depressed northern latitude , so the photographer traveled to Namibia to trance the figure in June 2023 , according to the affirmation .

A image of the dolphin-head nebula colored blue against a reddish background of stars.

SH2-308: Dolphin Head Nebula © Xin Feng, Miao Gong

A mesmerizing trope of the Dolphin Head Nebula , showing both the main body of the nebula and ground astral wind , won the Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer . Xin Feng and Miao Gong captivate the image over a period of 10 days inChina ’s Sichuan province in January before serve the simulacrum .

— 35 jaw - dropping James Webb Space Telescope images

— The Andromeda Galaxy beam rosy-cheeked red in gorgeous new Hubble Telescope ikon

A picture of Earth colored red, blue and green to show land masses, oceans and atmospheric elements.

Anatomy of a Habitable Planet © Sergio Díaz Ruiz

— Star - load down Triangulum Galaxy shines in newfangled Hubble Telescope range of a function

For the Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation , the jury take a multicolored picture of Earth create using satellite data . Land masses , ocean and atmospheric feature appear red , light-green and blue in this prototype by Sergio Díaz Ruiz from Spain .

To view the full list of this year ’s competition winner , maneuver over to the Royal Museums Greenwhich’sAstronomy Photographer of the Year home page .

A photo of the sun setting from the Moon

Looped video footage of a large shadow moving across North America

A photo of the �blood moon� hovering above Austin in March, 2025.

A photo of the Blue Ghost lunar lander on the surface of the moon bathed in a red light

A photo of a large, white comet tail in space

a wispy white spiral galaxy seen in front of hundreds of background stars

an illustration of a base on the moon

person using binoculars to look at the stars

A composite image of the rings on Saturn, Uranus and Jupiter

an illustration of Mars

An image of a spiral galaxy

A two-paneled image. On the left, a deep sky image showing many stars. On the right, a zoomed-in version showing a cluster of stars.

Diagram of the mud waves found in the sediment.

An aerial photo of mountains rising out of Antarctica snowy and icy landscape, as seen from NASA�s Operation IceBridge research aircraft.

A tree is silhouetted against the full completed Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

Screen-capture of a home security camera facing a front porch during an earthquake.

An active fumerole in Iceland spews hydrogen sulfide gas.

A woman exercising on a rowing machine while observing her workout stats on an adjacent monitor