- Search events
- What's on guide
-
Exhibitions
- Gallery listing
- The Great Map
- Contemporary Arts at Royal Museums Greenwich
- Nelson's Ship in a Bottle
- Traders: the East India Company & Asia
- Voyagers: Britons and the sea
- Arctic Convoys
- Compass Lounge
- Astronomy Photographer of the Year
- The Atlantic: Slavery, Trade, Empire
- Art for the Nation
- Future exhibitions
- Past exhibitions
- How to get here
- Times & admission
- Latest visitor information
- Planetarium shows
- Coming soon
- Food & drink
- Access
- Staying in Greenwich
- Floor plans
- Group & school visits
- Scenic attractions
- Newsletter
Winners: Earth and Space
This category is for photos that include landscape, people or other 'Earthly' things along with an astronomical subject.
Earth and Space | Our Solar System | Deep Space | Young astronomy photographer | Special prizes
Winner
Star Icefall by Masahiro Miyasaka (Japan)
8 January 2011
What the photographer says:
‘The stars fell from the heavens.
The stars transformed themselves into an icicle.
Stars sleep eternally here.’
Canon 5D Mark II camera; Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED MC Aspherical lens; ISO 5000
What it shows:
Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades form the backdrop to this eerie frozen landscape. Though the stars appear to gleam with a cold, frosty light, bright-blue stars like the Pleiades can be as hot as 30,000 degrees Celsius. Cooler orange stars such as Betelgeuse and Aldebaran are still a scorching 3500 degrees Celsius.
What the judges say:
Pete Lawrence says: This image grabs you from the word go – the lines of ice naturally draw your eyes skyward towards the rich star fields above. I find there’s a great visual balance here between the Earth and the sky and for me, this makes it a perfect picture for the category.
What Flickr members say:
Leonardo Martins says: It's pure magic! Fascinating!!
Runner-up
Green World by Arild Heitmann (Norway)
22 January 2012
What the photographer says:
‘This is a special shot for me since it captures the intense feeling of standing deep in the mountains, far away from light pollution, watching the finest lightshow on the planet!’
Canon 5D camera; 16–35mm f/2.8 lens at 16 mm; ISO 1600; 23-second exposure
What it shows:
The shimmering curtains of the aurora borealis trace the shifting patterns of the Earth’s magnetic field. The eerie green light in this image comes from oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere, which have been energised by subatomic particles from the solar wind.
Highly commended
The Milky Way View from the Piton de l’Eau, Réunion Island by Luc Perrot (Réunion Island)
24 June 2012
What the photographer says:
‘Here is a picture of the Piton de l’Eau, an ancient crater filled with water. At the bottom of the picture you can see the Piton des Neiges, the highest peak of Réunion which is 3069 metres tall. I waited two years before all the combined conditions were favourable to succeed with this photo.’
Nikon D700 camera; Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 lens; ISO 3200; 15-second exposure
What it shows:
This is a spectacular view of the Milky Way arching over a tranquil lake on the island of Réunion. The bright patch to the left of the image marks the bulge of stars at the heart of our galaxy. However, our view of the centre is blocked by thick clouds of interstellar dust which are clearly visible in this image.
-
Aurora photography provides a great opportunity to escape to a world with just you, your camera and the Universe.
Highly commended
Summer Nights in Michigan by Michael A. Rosinski (USA)
20 June 2012
What the photographer says:
‘I’ve been taking combined fireflies and star trail images since 2010 - it’s a learned technique. I noticed that, due to the hot weather, the fireflies seemed to be peaking much earlier than in either 2010 or 2011: four to five weeks sooner. With the heat-wave the fireflies were going bonkers on this particular evening, so I was motivated to capture them! I had to start imaging at 11pm, as it was too light before that.’
Canon T1i camera; Canon 15–85mm zoom lens at 15mm; ISO 800; 400 25-second exposures
What it shows:
Earthly and heavenly sources of light are contrasted in this long-exposure image. Up in the sky, the rotation of the Earth draws the stars out into neat concentric trails, while down on the ground the swarming of fireflies creates a more frenzied pattern.
Highly commended
Sky away from the Lights by Tunç Tezel (Turkey)
12 August 2010
What the photographer says:
‘In the evening of 12 August 2010, I went up to Uludag National Park near my hometown of Bursa, Turkey. My destination was the glacial lakes area and…my first aim was to catch the evening planets and the Moon before they set, and then watch the Perseids as the meteor shower peaked. …The lights of towns and villages down below were greatly diffused by the dust, haze and humidity accompanying the heat wave of July–August 2010. Normally, it is either very clear or the lower lands are lost under the clouds all together.’
Hutech modified Canon 5D camera; 35mm f/2 lens at f/2.8; ISO 3200; 30-second exposure
What it shows:
The distant lights of towns and villages seem to be embedded into this landscape in Turkey, which has been the site of human civilisation for thousands of years. The Milky Way above would have been a familiar sight to even the earliest settlers.