2020 Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year Competition Opens

The Royal Observatory Greenwich, in association with Insight Investment and BBC Sky at Night Magazine, has announced the key dates for the Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 competition — its annual global search for the most beautiful and spectacular visions of the cosmos, whether they are striking pictures of vast galaxies millions of light-years away, or dramatic images of the night sky much closer to home. ESO will support the 2020 competition by providing a judge from its Department of Communication.

Now in its twelfth year, the hugely popular competition opens to entrants on 13 January 2020, giving them the chance of taking home the grand prize of £10 000. Entrants will have until Friday 6 March 2020 to enter up to ten images in the various categories of the competition via www.rmg.co.uk/astrocomp. 

Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020 has nine main categories:

• Aurorae: Photographs featuring the Northern and Southern Lights.
• Galaxies: Deep space objects beyond the Milky Way Galaxy, including galaxies, galaxy clusters, and stellar associations.
• Our Moon: Lunar images including lunar eclipses and occultations of planets.
• Our Sun: Solar images including solar eclipses and transits.
• People and Space: Photographs of the night sky including people or a human interest element.
• Planets, Comets and Asteroids: Everything else in the Solar System, including planets and their satellites, comets, asteroids and other forms of zodiacal debris.
• Skyscapes: Photographs of landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes in which the night sky or twilight sky is a prominent feature.
• Stars and Nebulae: Deep space objects within the Milky Way Galaxy, including stars, star clusters, supernova remnants, nebulae and other intergalactic phenomena.
• Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year: Pictures taken by budding astronomers under 16 years of age.

There are also two special prizes: the Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer, 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; and the Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation, for images processed using pre-existing open source data.

Three new judges have joined the panel this year: Dr Emily Drabek-Maunder (ROG astronomer), László Francsics (astrophotographer and Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2019 overall winner) and Susan Derges (artist).

Entries to the competition must be submitted by 6 March 2020, and the winning images will be showcased in the annual exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. Entry to the exhibition is charged.

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

More Information

The full list of rules for photographers are available at https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronomy-photographer-year/competition/competition-rules

Courtesy of European Southern Observatory