Our Sun 2018

Almost unbelievably brilliant! With the detail and breathtaking starkness captured in the corona, we could be forgiven for thinking we were seeing an eclipsed pulsar.

Jon Culshaw; Comedian, impersonator and regular guest on The Sky at Night

Winner - Sun King, little King, and God of War

Nikon D810 camera, AF S NIKKOR 105mm f/1.4E ED lens at 105 mm f/1.4, untracked tripod, ISO 64, multiple exposures of 0.3-second, 0.6-second and 1.3-second

Such a distinctive shot of prominence activity. Evocative of a microscopic image of a wasp stinger. A most unusual and alluring solar view.

Ed Robinson; Award-winning photographer, creative director, visual consultant and founder of OneRedEye Visual Communications

Runner-up - Coloured Eruptive Prominence

Home-built telescope based on iStar Optical 150 mm f/10 lens, double stacked hydrogen alpha filter at 5250 mm, Sky-Watcher EQ6 Pro mount, Basler acA1920-155um camera, 150 mm f/35 lens, multiple 0.006-second exposures as an AVI

This photograph stood out as a superb example of documentation of a phenomenon that played with representation by taking the black and white data and describing space and movement resonant of early magnetic field and scientific analogue photography.

Sarah Pickering; Award-winning artist and Teaching Fellow at the Slade School of Fine Art

Highly commended - AR2673

Sky-Watcher DOB10 GoTo telescope, Optolong R filter, Sky-Watcher DOB10 GoTo mount, QHY5III290M camera, 3600 mm f/4.7, ISO 16, 0.7-millisecond exposure

Total Solar Eclipse Flash Spectrum

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT camera, 200 mm f/4.5 lens, ISO 200, 1/90-second exposure

AR 2665 and Quiescent Prominence

TS Individual 102/1100 telescope, ZWO ASI 178MM-C camera etalon from Lunt50ThaPT + B1200 + BelOptik ERF + TV Barlow x2 lens at 1100 mm f/11, Z 178 mm-C camera, 10-millisecond exposure

Tower-Like Prominence

TEC140ED APO refractor telescope at 980 mm f/7, Daystar Quantum PE 0.4A lens, iOptron EQ45 mount, Point Grey Grasshopper USB3 camera, 1000 frames at 31.1-millisecond exposure

Solar Swirl in Hydrogen-Alpha Light

Explore Scientific ES127mm carbon fibre refractor telescope, Daystar Quark and Lunt DSSII lens at 4000 mm f/7.5, Basler acA1920-155um camera, 300 x 1/60-second exposures

ISS Sunspots

Long Perng ED 80 telescope, 2x Barlow and 1x Herschel Prism lens at 1100 mm f/12, Nikon D610 camera, ISO 1000, 1/4000-second exposure

Looping Tunnel

TMB 130 mm telescope, Daystar Quantum PE 0.2A lens at 3000 mm f/130, Sky-Watcher EQ6 AZ-GT mount, ZWO ASI 290MM Cool camera, multiple 20-millisecond exposures