In addition to the four main competition categories, this year the judges have also awarded three special prizes:

Best Newcomer – for photos taken by people who have taken up the hobby in the last year and have not entered an image into the competition before. The judges have given special consideration to those using simple and inexpensive start-out kit.

People and Space – for photos that include people in a creative and original way.

Robotic Scope – for images that have been taken by robotic or remote telescopes and then processed by the entrant.

Earth and Space | Our Solar System | Deep Space | Young astronomy photographer | Special prizes

Elephant’s Trunk with Ananasby Lóránd Fényes (Hungary)

2 February 2012 

What the photographer says:

‘I bought my first tube at the end of 2010. I didn't have any information about astronomy, so I started to learn the basic things about the sky and tried the serious astrophotography at the beginning of 2011. It is my first attempt at entering your competition. The Elephant's trunk is my 34th photo.’

GSO-Orion 200/800 telescope; SkyWatcher HEQ5 mount; Canon 1000D camera; ISO1600; 8-hour exposure

What it shows:

The Elephant’s Trunk seems to uncoil from the dusty nebula on the right of the image, its tip curled around a cavity carved out by the radiation produced by young stars. Capturing a deep sky object like this takes skill and painstaking attention to detail.

What the judges say:

Marek Kukula says: This is such an evocative image. There’s something quite ominous about the towering column of dust and gas. It could almost be the cover of a sci-fi novel or a 70s rock album.

Venus-Jupiter Close Conjunction by Laurent Laveder (France)

15 March 2012 

What the photographer says:

‘In this image Venus is higher and on the right of Jupiter. I take my place in the lower right corner of the frame to complete the diagonal formed by me, the two planets, the Pleiades and Taurus. With my red flashlight on my head, I illuminate the beach. At low tide, the sand is wet and is reflecting the blockhaus.’ 

Canon 5D Mark II camera; Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens at f/2.0; ISO 3200; 8-second exposure 

What it shows:

The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, when the two bright planets appeared conspicuously close together in the sky, was one of the astronomical highlights of 2012. Their apparent closeness was an optical illusion – Jupiter was in fact millions of kilometres further away than Venus. This picture also nicely demonstrates a stargazing tip: astronomers often use red torches to find their way about in the dark as these help to preserve their night vision.

What Flickr members say:

Mohammed Laaifat says: Magique cette composition, j’adore !!!!!