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Check Out the 11 Out-of-This-World Winners in the 2015 Insight Astrophotography Contest

Lorin Robinson  |  Sep 21, 2015

“Skyscapes” and Overall Winner: Eclipse Totality over Sassendalen © Luc Jamet (France). The total solar eclipse of March 20, 2015 seen from Svalbard—one of only two habitable locations where totality could be witnessed. The image was made about 300 feet above the large valley of Sassendalen situated on the only permanently inhabited island of the Norwegian archipelago. Venus can also be seen in the photograph, as a bright spot in the upper left of the image. (Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway— Canon EOS 7D, 16mm f/5 lens, ISO 200, 1/6, 1/2 and 1.6-second exposures.)

Astrophotography can produce some truly mind-blowing space imagery. For evidence, check out the just announced winners in the annual Insight Astrophotography Competition including Photographer of the Year.

The prestigious competition is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with Insight Investment and BBC Sky at Night Magazine. French photographer Luc Jamet won the title of Insight Photographer of the Year in competition with over 1,000 amateur and professional photographers from around the globe. Now in its seventh year, the competition received over 2,700 entries from 60 countries.

The judges were excited by Jamet’s image capturing the drama of the total solar eclipse of March 20, 2015. The image was made 300 feet above the wintry valley of Sassendalen in the Norwegian territory of Svalbard.

“Aurorae” Winner: Silk Skies © Jamen Percy (Australia). Taken in Abisko National Park, Lapland, the photographer had all but given up hope of seeing an aurora after spending many hours atop a mountain waiting. As he stumbled down the hill he saw the green reflection of an aurora in the snow and captured this breath-taking shot of the piercing blue light show coursing through the night sky. (Abisko National Park, Lapland, Sweden—Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, 24mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 2000, 4-second exposure.)

Competition judge and Royal Observatory Public Astronomer, Dr. Marek Kukula, said: “The total solar eclipse was one of the astronomical highlights of the year and Luc Jamet has captured it perfectly. I love the way that the icy landscape of Svalbard reflects and intensifies the evocative colors of the sky—colors that only occur during the few minutes of totality—and which make any eclipse an unforgettable experience.”

“Galaxies” Winner: M33 Core © Michael van Doorn (Netherlands). Lying approximately three million light years away, M33—often named the Triangulum Galaxy after the constellation in which it can be found— is the third largest member of the Local Group of galaxies behind the Andromeda Galaxy, our own galaxy, also called the Milky Way. It is one of the most distant permanent objects in the night sky that can be seen with the naked eye in optimum conditions. (Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands—C11 telescope, ASA Reducer telescope lens, SXVR-H18 camera, 2156mm f/7.7 lens.)

Images placing in other categories included:

• An awe-inspiring view of the International Space Station crossing the face of the moon at approximately 17,300 miles per hour taken by Daniel Fernandez Caxete (Spain)

• A close encounter between Mars and comet Siding Spring taken with a robotic scope by Sebastian Voltmer (Germany)

• The movement of the sun over six months tracked through a home-made pinhole camera  taken by Chris Bakley (USA)

• A striking portrayal of the stellar nursery that is the Orion Nebula, 1,300 light years distant, and one of the Running Man nebula, at 200 light years, captured by David Tolliday (UK), winner of the Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer.

“Our Moon” Winner: Full Face of our Moon © András Papp (Hungary). An arresting shot of the Earth’s natural satellite is captured with the lunar terminator—the division between light and dark—cutting it almost exactly down the center of the image. The dark side of the Moon is subtly illuminated by the faint glow of the reflected light from the Earth, contrasting starkly with the clearly defined detail photographed on the sun-drenched side. (Veszprémvarsánym Győr-Moson-Sopron County, Hungary—GPU Optical telescope, Sky-watcher HEQ5 mount, 5-inch f/9.45 telescope lens, DMK41AF04 camera, 2400mm lens, 1/192 and 2-second exposures.

Entrants in the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year category again impressed the judges with 15-year-old George Martin (UK) awarded top prize for his image of Comet Lovejoy.

Judge Chris Bramley, BBC Sky at Night Magazine’s editor, said of this year’s contest: “The quality of this year’s field of over 2,700 images from across the globe meant that there was some lively debate over the judging. Each and every category contained images of a jaw-dropping standard.”

The overall winner received £2,500 ($3,750). Winner of “Skyscape,” sponsored by Insight Investment, received £1000 ($1,500). Winners of all other categories and the “Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year” received £500 ($750). Special Prize winners received £350 ($525).

“Our Sun” Winner: Huge Prominence Lift-off © Paolo Porcellana (Italy). A massive, searing hot loop of plasma radiates from the edge of the Sun in a phenomenon known as a solar prominence. During the process of detachment the prominence reached a length of over 425,000 miles— a length roughly equal to the radius of the Sun itself. (Photographer’s backyard, Costigliole d’Asti, Asti, Italy—Home-made truss refractor telescope, AZ EQ6 mount, 150mm telescope lens, PTG Chameleon Mono camera, f/15 lens.)

The winning photographs will be exhibited in the Astronomy Centre, Royal Greenwich Observatory, until next June. Winners and shortlisted entries will also be published in the competition’s official book, available exclusively in the Royal Observatory Greenwich shop and on sale at bookstores and online from November 5 at £25 ($37.50).

See more of the winners from the Insight Astrophotography Competition below. Additional images from the 2015 contest and information about 2016 contest may be found at www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto.

If you want to learn how to take great astrophotography images, check out these 10 helpful tips from astronomer Tom Kerss.


“People and Space” Winner: Sunset Peak Star Trail © Chap Him Wong (Hong Kong). Campers shelter from the wind next to old stone cottages looking up to Sunset Peak, the third highest mountain in Hong Kong standing at 2,600 feet. Above the mountain, the stars appear to flash across the night sky leaving trails in their wake, but are in fact portraying the movement of the Earth on its axis. (Sunset Peak, Lantau Island, Hong Kong—Canon 6D camera, 14mm f/4 lens, ISO 1600, 3600-second exposure.)

“Planets, Comets and Asteroids” Winner: The Arrow Missed the Heart © Lefteris Velissaratos (Greece). A coincidental alignment shows the Comet C/2014 E2 Jacques travelling just below the famed Heart Nebula in the constellation of Cassiopeia. This image is slightly misleading since the two objects are not quite as close as they appear. The comet is actually journeying within our solar system at a distance of several million miles from Earth, while the Heart Nebula is at a distance of 7,500 light years. (Strethi Mountain, Corinthia, Greece—FSQ106 f/5 telescope, EQ8 mount, STL 11000M camera, 530mm lens, 120-second exposure.)

“Stars and Nebulae” Winner: The Magnificent Omega Centauri © Ignacio Diaz Bobillo (Argentina). The globular cluster, Omega Centauri, is a dense orb of approximately ten million stars, many of which are redder, cooler and even older than our Sun. The cluster can be found 15,800 light years away and has a diameter of 150 light years. (Rural location in San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires, Argentina—AP130GT telescope, Losmandy G11 mount, Canon 6D, Baader modified and peltier-cooled camera, 865mm f/6.5 lens, ISO 800, 22 x 180-second exposures.)

“Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year” Winner: A Celestial Visitor © George Martin (UK—aged 15). Comet C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy made the news in late 2014 as it soared through the night sky and was visible to many with the naked eye. The sight won’t be seen for another 8,000 years, but was captured by 15-year-old George Martin. Comet Lovejoy is known for its distinctive, bright green coloring caused by excited molecules of cyanogen and diatomic carbon in its nucleus. (Market Harborough, Leicestershire, UK—Sky-watcher 200P telescope, Sky-watcher EQ5 equatorial, single axis motor mount, Nikon D3200 camera, 1000mm f/5 lens, ISO 3200.)

“Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer” Winner—Orion DT © David Tolliday (UK). Lying 1,300 light years away, the Orion Nebula is found in Orion’s Sword in the famous constellation named after the blade’s owner. The Orion Nebula is one of the most photographed objects in the night sky because of the intense activity within the stellar nursery with thousands of new stars being created. The nebula is thought to measure about 24 light years across. (Elan Valley, Powys, UK—Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, Astrotrac mount, 500mm f/4 lens, ISO 800, 18-, 44-, and 117-second exposures.)

“Robotic Scope” Winner: Comet C/2013 A1 alongside Mars © Sebastian Voltmer. A close encounter between Mars and Comet C/2013 A1, also known as Siding Spring, as it whizzes through the night sky. It was initially thought that there was a chance of collision between the comet and Mars when the comet was discovered in 2013, but this was ruled out when the comet’s orbit was determined more accurately. (Siding Spring Observatory, Coonabarabran, New South Wales, Australia—SBIG STL11000M camera.)

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