Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition

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Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year is open to everyone. All you need is a camera or phone and an eye for a stunning shot.

The competition showcases the world's best space photography, from spectacular skyscapes to mindblowing images of distant planets and galaxies.

Every year, photographers from across the globe compete to be part of the final exhibition and take home the prestigious title.

The 2020 photography competition is now closed, but you can still visit the current exhibition to see this year's stunning space winners.

Visit the exhibition

Find out more about the competition below, including everything you need to know about prizes, rules, categories and key dates.

• About the competition
• How to enter
• Rules and categories
• Prizes
• Meet the judges
• Keep in touch

Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020

Competition opening date: Monday 13 January 2020

Competition closing date: 12pm GMT (midday) on Friday 6 March 2020

Photographers of all skill levels are invited to submit up to 10 images to be considered for the competition.

There are separate photography prizes open to adults, young photographers and astrophotography newcomers. A full list of competition categories is below.

All entrants have a chance of winning cash prizes, seeing their image displayed in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, a year’s subscription to BBC Sky at Night magazine, and a copy of the Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year publication. 

Sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear when the shortlist is announced for Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2020. Just let us know you're interested in 'space and astronomy' when you register.

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Check out the spectacular winning images from 2019 and our latest exhibition at the National Maritime Museum to see examples of award-winning astrophotography images. 

How to enter Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year

• The competition is free to enter via our online entry site here
• If you are new to the competition, you’ll need to register and set up a competition account
• The Adult competition is open to anyone aged 16 and over, and the Young competition is open to anyone under 16
• You may submit a total of 10 images to be considered
• The overall winner's prize across all Adult categories is £10,000. Keep reading this page for full details about the prizes on offer

Register now

Rules and categories

The full competition rules are available here. If you have any questions, please email astrophotocomp@rmg.co.uk.

The different categories are listed below. For further details, check the competition rules.

Adult competition categories

• Aurorae: Photographs featuring the northern and southern lights (Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis)
• Galaxies: Photographs of deep-space objects beyond the Milky Way galaxy, including galaxies, galaxy clusters and stellar associations
• Our Moon: Photographs of the Moon, including lunar eclipses and the occultation of stars and planets.
• Our Sun: Photographs of the Sun, including solar eclipses and transits.
• People and Space: Photographs of the night sky that include people or elements that show the presence or influence of human beings
• Planets, Comets and Asteroids: Photographs of objects in our solar system, including planets and their satellites, comets, asteroids and other forms of zodiacal debris
• Skyscapes: Photographs of landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes in which the night sky or twilight sky is a prominent feature
• Stars and Nebulae: Photographs of deep-space objects in the Milky Way galaxy, including stars, star clusters, supernova remnants, nebulae and other galactic phenomena

Young competition

There are no separate categories in the Young competition. The Young competition will have one winner, one runner-up and three highly commended awards.

Special prizes

The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer: For newcomers who have only been practising astronomy photography since January 2019, are aged 16 or over, and have not entered the competition before.

The Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation: For images processed using pre-existing open source data. Find out more about the new prize.

Prizes

Adult competition

There are eight different categories for adult photographers to enter. The judges will select a winner, runner-up and one highly commended entry from each category. These will receive the following prize money:

• Winner: £1500
• Runner-up: £500
• Highly commended: £250

Young competition

The judges will select a winner, runner-up and three highly commended images in the Young Competition.

• Young Winner: £1500 and a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ MD telescope
• Young Runner-up: £500
• Young Highly Commended: £250

Special Prizes

The judges will also award two Special Prizes: the Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer and the Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation. Both winners will receive £750.

Overall winner

The overall winner is chosen from amongst all the Adult competition category winners. This winner receives £10,000 and the title of Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year.

Additional information