Announcement

Winners of Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 announced

16 September 2016

The winners of Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 were announced at an award ceremony at the Royal Observatory Greenwich on 15 September 2016. The winning photographs will be exhibited at the Observatory’s Astronomy Centre from 17 September 2016 until 28 June 2017. ESO joined the 2016 competition as a partner, by contributing a judge from its education and Public Outreach Department (ePOD).

The overall winner of the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 competition is Chinese photographer Yu Jun who takes home a prize of £10 000. His winning photograph depicts the phenomenon of Baily’s Beads of the total solar eclipse on 9 March 2016 from Luwuk, Indonesia, captured in a matter of mere minutes.

The winners of all the categories are:

Our Sun

  • Yu Jun (China) with Baily’s Beads (Winner and Overall Winner)
  • Catalin Beldea and Alson Wong (Romania; USA) with Sun Flower Corona (Runner Up)
  • Gabriel Octavian Corban (Romania) with Huge Filaprom (Highly Commended)

Aurorae

  • György Soponyai (Hungary) with Twilight Aurora (Winner)
  • Kolbein Svensson (Norway) with Black and White Aurora (Runner Up)
  • Bernt Olsen (Norway) with Corona (Highly Commended)

Galaxies

  • Nicolas Outters (France) with M94: Deep Space Halo (Winner)
  • Ignacio Diaz Bobillo (Argentina) with Towards the Small Magellanic Cloud (Runner Up)
  • Rolf Wahl Olsen (Denmark) with Antlia Galaxy Cluster: Extreme Deep Field, 152 Hours (Highly Commended)

Our Moon

  • Jordi Delpeix Borrell (Spain) with From Maurolycus to Moretus (Winner)
  • Katherine Young (Sweden) with Rise Lunation (Runner Up)
  • Sergio Garcia (Mexico) with Moonrise at the Pier (Highly Commended)

People and Space

  • Wing Ka Ho (Hong Kong) with City Lights (Winner)
  • Dani Caxete (Spain) with Man on the Moon (Runner Up)
  • Robin Stuart (Kenya) with A Wise Son Makes a Glad Father (Highly Commended)

Planets, Comets and Asteroids

  • Damian Peach (UK) with Serene Saturn (Winner)
  • Gerald Rhemann (Austria) with Comet Catalina (Runner Up)
  • Damian Peach (UK) with King of the Planets (Highly Commended)

Skyscapes

  • Ainsley Bennett (UK) with Binary Haze (Winner)
  • Mikko Silvola (Finland) with Silent Waves of the Sky: Noctilucent Clouds (Runner Up)
  • Yu Jun (China) with Geminids over the LAMOST Telescope (Highly Commended)

Stars and Nebulae

  • Steve Brown (UK) with The Rainbow Star (Winner)
  • Pavel Pech (Czechia) with Perseus Molecular Cloud (Runner Up)
  • Tom O’Donoghue (Ireland) with Starlight and Silhouettes (Highly Commended)

Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year

  • Brendan Devine (USA — aged 15) with Lunar Reversal (Winner)
  • Jasmin Villalobos (USA — aged 15) with What the City Does Not Show You  (Runner Up)
  • Jonathan Farooqi (UK — aged 15) with Northumbrian Aurora (Highly Commended)
  • Olivia Williamson (UK — aged 12) with Jupiter (Highly Commended)
  • Scott Carnie-Bronca (Australia — aged 14) with Just Missed the Bullseye (Highly Commended)

Special Prize: The Sir Patrick Moore prize for Best Newcomer

  • Carlos Fairbairn (Brazil) with Large Magellanic Cloud (Winner)

Special Prize: Robotic Scope

  • Robert Smith (UK) with Iridis (Winner)

Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with Insight Investment and BBC Sky at Night Magazine. Now in its eighth year, the competition received a record number of over 4500 entries from over 80 countries.

More information

ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world’s most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czechia, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope, the world’s most advanced visible-light astronomical observatory and two survey telescopes. VISTA works in the infrared and is the world’s largest survey telescope and the VLT Survey Telescope is the largest telescope designed to exclusively survey the skies in visible light. ESO is a major partner in ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre European Extremely Large Telescope, the E-ELT, which will become “the world’s biggest eye on the sky”.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich is home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian and one of the most important historic scientific sites in the world. Since its founding in 1675, Greenwich has been at the centre of the measurement of time and space. Today the Observatory galleries and Peter Harrison Planetarium help unravel the extraordinary phenomena of time, space and astronomy. The Royal Observatory Greenwich is part of Royal Museums Greenwich which also incorporates the National Maritime Museum, the 17th-century Queen’s House and Cutty Sark. Royal Museums Greenwich works to illustrate for everyone the importance of the sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people. This unique collection of attractions, which form a key part of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site, welcomes over two million British and international visitors a year and is also a major centre of education and research. For more information visit www.rmg.co.uk.

Insight Investment is a leading asset manager focused on designing investment solutions to meet its clients’ needs. Founded in 2002, Insight’s partnership approach has delivered both investment performance and impressive growth in assets under management. Insight manages £400bn ($605bn) across liability-driven investment, fixed income & currency, global multi-asset and absolute return, global farmland and specialist equities. Insight is owned by BNY Mellon, a global leader in investment management and investment services with $1.6 trillion in assets under management, as at 30 September 2015. The value of investments and any income from them will fluctuate and is not guaranteed (this may be partly due to exchange rate fluctuations). Investors may not get back the full amount invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. More information about Insight Investment can be found at: www.insightinvestment.com

BBC Sky at Night Magazine has become Britain's best-selling astronomy title since its launch in 2005, with 25 000 subscribers and average sales of 7500 copies a month. skyatnightmagazine.com has 33 000 unique users a month and reaches more than 32 000 social media followers through Facebook and Twitter. The magazine is also available on iTunes Newsstand, Google Play and Zinio, and is media partner of the annual Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich. With writing from the world’s leading astronomers and writers, the BBC Sky at Night Magazine complements one of the world's longest running TV programmes, The Sky at Night, and features regular articles from its presenters Chris Lintott, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Pete Lawrence and Paul Abel, plus in-depth equipment reviews and stargazing advice. Every issue also includes the latest episode of The Sky At Night on a cover-mounted disc. BBC Sky at Night Magazine is published by Immediate Media Co under licence from BBC Worldwide. Follow us on @skyatnightmag.

Links

Contacts

Rhianon Davies
Royal Observatory Greenwich Press Office
Tel: 020 8312 6545/6789/6790
Mobile: 07983 512 841
Email: rdavies@rmg.co.uk

Oana Sandu
Community Coordinator & Communication Strategy Officer
ESO education and Public Outreach Department
Tel: +49 89 320 069 65
Email: osandu@partner.eso.org

About the Announcement

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Images

Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year award ceremony
Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year award ceremony