Explore the night sky with the shortlisted images in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition

It’s been an active year so far for astronomers. We’ve had the tantalizing Northern Lights, a solar eclipse, and a close call with an asteroid.

Not to mention sky platypuses and cosmic koi carp. 

Last year, an astronomical highlight was the incredible meteor storms, among other cosmic events captured by the entries to the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

The competition is run by Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with BBC Sky At Night Magazine. This year, the competition received over 3,500 entries and from passionate amateur and dedicated professional photographers from 58 countries across the globe. 

The winners will be announced September 12, but until then, we can take a look at the shortlisted entries, which include sky dragons, Himalayan cosmic rainbows, and the screams of a dying star. 

The overall winner will take home £10,000 ($12,630), with other prizes ranging from £250 to £1,500 ($315 to $1,895), and all winning entries will receive a one-year subscription to BBC Sky at Night Magazine. 

Photographers entered their work into nine categories: Skyscapes, Aurorae, People and Space, Our Sun, Our Moon, Planets, Comets and Asteroids, Stars and Nebulae, and Galaxies. 

There are also prizes for the best newcomer, and for entrants processing images using pre-existing open source data, and for the best under 16 photographer. 

Explore some of our favorite shortlisted images. 

Serpentine, Paul Haworth, Snettisham Beach, Norfolk, UK

The lead image for this story: "This image was taken at Snettisham Beach, famous for its vast tidal mudflats that attract migrating birds in staggering numbers. The foreground subject is a dilapidated jetty, which was built in the Second World War to allow gravel extracted from the nearby pits to be moved by boat. The curved channel in the mudflat mirrors the trailing stars."

Equipment used: Taken with a Canon 6D camera, Samyang 14 mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 400, 319 x 30-second exposures Foreground: ISO 800, 120-second exposure

A Night with the Valkyries, Jose Miguel Picon Chimelis, Hvalnesviti, Iceland 

"A view of the Eystrahorn Mountain on the night of a KP7 storm (a strong geomagnetic storm that can cause aurorae and upset electrical power systems). The intensity of the storm resulted in the impressive range of colours in the sky."

Equipment used: Taken with a Nikon Z7 II camera, 14 mm f/1.8, ISO 6,400, 4-second exposure

The Fire-Spitting Dragon, Moritz Telser, Uttakleiv Beach, Lofoten, Norway

"The photographer was able to capture the aurora in motion when it turned into something resembling a dragon’s head on a clear night. Telser chose to use black and white to emphasise the contrast of the aurora against the dark sky."

Equipment used: Taken with a Canon EOS R6 camera, 14 mm f/2.8, ISO 12,800, 1.6-second exposure

The International Space Station Daytime Moon Transit, Kelvin Hennessy, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

"This image shows the International Space Station (ISS) transiting the 51 per cent illuminated Moon. The photographer initially struggled to find a suitable shooting location with clear skies along the very narrow transit corridor."

Equipment used: Taken with a Saxon ED127 FCD100 Triplet Refractor telescope, Baader IR/UV filter, Sky-Watcher EQ6-R mount, ZWO 294MC Pro camera, 952 mm f/7.5, Gain 192, 1-millisecond exposure

The Palette of the Himalayas, Geshuang Chen, Shigatse City, Xizang Province, China (Tibet)

"During the Spring Festival, the Sun and altostratus clouds acted together to create this huge corona, soaring above the Himalayas. The result is an enormous colour palette above the snowy peaks."

Equipment used: Drone footage, DJI Mavic 3 Camera, 12.3 mm f/5, ISO 100, 1/3200-second exposure

Cosmos in Reflection, Jianfeng Dai, Dunhuang, Gansu Province, China

"The 100-megawatt molten salt tower photovoltaic power station pictured here has 12,000 super mirrors. In the daytime, the mirror matrix reflects the sunlight back to the central heat-collection tower which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 350,000 metric tonnes per year. At night, the mirrors reflect the light of nebulae, clusters, planets, the Milky Way and countless stars at different angles, making it difficult to tell what’s real and what’s not."

Equipment used: Taken with a Sony ILCE-7RM5 camera, Sony FE 50 mm F1.2 GM lens, 50 mm f/1.2, ISO 3,200, 5-second exposure

Auroral Touch: the Milky Way’s Close Encounter, Chester Hall-Fernandez, Castle Hill, New Zealand

"This image was taken in Castle Hill, New Zealand, facing south as the Milky Way set. Partway through the night, Hall-Fernandez noticed a faint glow growing stronger, though he was not expecting to see the Aurora Australis. As the aurora was very far away, only the deep reds were visible."

Equipment used: Taken with a Nikon Z 6 (astro-modified) camera, Tamron 35 mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 1,600, Sky: 11 x 60-second tracked exposures; Foreground: 6 x 60-second exposures  

Saturn with Six Moons, Andy Casely, Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia

"Saturn’s decreasing ring tilt means the moon Titan is closer to Saturn from our viewpoint than it has been in over a decade. At the centre of the image, Tethys is just about to disappear behind Saturn, while Rhea, Enceladus and Mimas are on the left, and Dione is to the lower right. The planet’s shadow on the rings is prominent, as are the Cassini and Encke divisions."

Equipment used: Taken with a Celestron C14 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, Tele Vue 2x Barlow lens, Chroma RGB filters, Celestron CGX-L mount, QHY5III200M camera, 10,000 mm f/29, 40-minute video, 10-millisecond exposures, 25% of ~220,000 total frames

Take a look at our guide to the best cameras for astrophotography, and the best lenses for astrophotography.

We've also go guides to the best star tracker mounts for astrophotography, and the best low-light cameras.