Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2009

Astronomy Photographer of the Year
来源: guardian　 时间: 2009年08月31日　 macky

These are some of the shortlisted images in this year's Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition organised by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. The winners will be announced on Wednesday 9 September, and an exhibition of all the images opens on 10 September at the observatory.



Part of Eta Carina, a vast nebula or cloud of dust and gas from which a new generation of stars is condensing
Photograph: Thomas Davis/Royal Observatory Greenwich




Trails were left by stars as the Earth rotated during this 40-minute exposure in Death Valley, California. The three distinct lines extending from the horizon on the left are stars in Orion’s Belt
Photograph: Nikhil Shahi/Royal Observatory Greenwich



All the stars individually visible in this image are in our own Milky Way, while the galaxy Centaurus-A in the centre is millions of light years beyond. Centaurus-A has merged with another, smaller galaxy and the debris from this collision forms the rusty brown band of dust across its middle
Photograph: Michael Sidonio/Royal Observatory Greenwich



The Horsehead Nebula (centre) is a dark cloud of gas and dust in the constellation Orion. The gas, dust and other materials condense to form dense knots, which will eventually become stars and planets
Photograph: Martin Pugh/Royal Observatory Greenwich



The Northern Lights or aurora borealis. Auroras are caused when particles in the solar wind collide in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The planet's magnetic field funnels the particles down over the poles, giving rise to glowing curtains of coloured light
Photograph: Karl Johnston/Royal Observatory Greenwich



The dark areas in this photograph of the moon are vast plains of solidified lava known as lunar seas (maria) because they were once believed to be filled with water
Photograph: Michael O'Connell/Royal Observatory Greenwich



Venus, Jupiter and the moon rise at sunset over the Nepean river, New South Wales, Australia. Exposure time: two hours
Photograph: Vincent Miu/Royal Observatory Greenwich



Comet Holmes, whose orbit lies between Mars and Jupiter, can be seen roughly every seven years. The nucleus of a comet is a 'dirty snowball' just a few kilometres across, surrounded by a tenuous cloud of glowing dust
Photograph: Nick Howes/Royal Observatory Greenwich



Two 'blue-reflection nebulae' – clouds of dust that scatter the light of nearby stars. They are associated with young stars not more than a few million years old. A much older globular cluster of thousands of stars can be seen top right
Photograph: Martin Pugh/Royal Observatory Greenwich



As the Earth spins during this 30-minute exposure the stars make trails around the sky’s south pole over Blue Mountains, Australia. The orange glow is caused by light pollution
Photograph: Ted Dobosz/Royal Observatory Greenwich