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

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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
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ESO education and Public Outreach Department
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Email: osandu@partner.eso.org

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