Stars and Nebulae 2018

Each year these images become more and more tangibly real and three dimensional. The depth and texture in this shot make it difficult to take your eyes away. Your view weaves all around as if within a maze.

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

Winner - Corona Australis Dust Complex

Takahashi FSQ 106 ED telescope, Astro-Physics 1200 GTO mount, Canon EOS 6D Cooling CDS Mod camera, 530 mm f/5, ISO 1600, 6-hour total exposure

Colourful, vibrant, fantastically composed and dramatic. This image ticks all the boxes and shines brightly amongst a strong set of contenders this year. Well done.

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

Runner-up - Rigel and the Witch Head Nebula

Takahashi FSQ 106 ED telescope, Astro-Physics 1200 GTO mount, Canon EOS 6D Cooling CDS Mod camera, 383 m f/3.6, ISO 1600, 5-hour total exposure

This image has it all: a background of pin-sharp stars, reflection nebulae and tenuous gas and dust, against which sit the silhouettes of dark nebulae in which young stars could be on the verge of creation. It's all so attentively captured, and so delicately processed with a strikingly fresh take on the narrowband palette. Exquisite!

Chris Bramley; Editor of BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Highly commended - Thackeray's Globules in Narrowband Colour

Eruption Emissions

ASA N300 12-inch Astrograph telescope, ASA DDM85 mount, FLI ML 16200 camera, 1083 mm f/3.6 lens, Hα: 720-minute exposure (180 min/panel)

IC1318 Butterfly Nebula

Officina Stellare Hyper Apo 115 mm refractor telescope at f/5, Astrodon Filters, Sky-Watcher EQ8 mount, Atik 383L+ camera, 535 mm f/5.3, 6.5-hour total exposure

Carina Nebula Clouds

Sidereal Trading Mod 10-inch f/4 Newtonian telescope, Astrodon Narrowband and ZWO RGB filters, Takahashi NJP mount, ZWO ASI 1600 mm Cool camera, 1000 mm f/4, 3.4-hour exposure

Focus on the Iris - NGC 7023

RCOS 14.5-inch telescope, Astrodon Filters, Paramount ME mount, SBIG STL 16803 camera, 2580 mm f/7, 56 × 1200-second exposures

A Seahorse

Takahashi FSQ 106ED telescope, Idas lps 2-inch filter, Sky-Watcher NQ6PRO mount, Canon 550D camera, 414 mm f/3.9, ISO 1600, 2 × 60 × 400-second exposures

The Eagle Nebula

Celestron RASA telescope, Baader narrow band filters, Celestron CGEpro mount, ZWO ASI 1600 mm camera, 620 mm f/2.2, ISO 139, 10.5-hour total exposure

Witch's Broom Nebula NGC 6960 Mosaic

PlaneWave 17-inch CDK telescope, PlaneWave HR 200 mount, SBIG 16803 camera, 2937 mm f/6.7 Exposure times (for each half of the two pane mosaic): Hα: 450-minutes, OII: 540-minutes, Luminance: 180-minutes, RGB: 180-minutes (each)

Hydrogen River

Takahashi FSQ 106 f/3.5 telecope, Astrophysics GTO1200 mount, Moravian Instruments G3 16200, 385 mm Exposures: Hα: 240-minutes, Luminence: 60-minutes, RGB: 30-minutes (each)

Mosaic of the Great Orion and Running Man Nebulae

ODK 16-inch f/6.8 and GSO 14-inch f/8 telescopes, Astrodon LRGB Gen2 I-Series True-Balance lens, Losmandy Titan 50 and ASA DDM85 mounts, SBIG STL 11000 C2 and MORAVIAN G3-11002 cameras, 2720 mm f/6.8 and 2840 mm f/8, 42-hour total exposure

The Orion Nebula in 6-Filter Narrowband

PlaneWave CDK-17 telescope, Paramount ME mount, FLI PL16803 camera, 2940 mm f/6.8 lens Exposures: Hα: 18 × 30-minutes, SII: 18 × 30-minutes, OIII: 18 × 30-minutes, RGB: 12 × 15-minutes (each)

M44 - The Beehive Cluster

William Optics Star71 telescope, Sky-Watcher HEQ5 Pro mount, QSI 683-WSG8 camera, 348 mm f/4.9 lens, 209 × 300-second exposures with LRGB filters, 17 hours and 25 minutes total exposure

M20 - Trifid Nebula

PlaneWave CDK 12.5-inch telescope, Astrodon Gen II LRGB, Baarder Hα, Astro Physics 900 mount, SBIG STXL-11000 camera, 2541 mm f/8, Exposures: Hα: 20 × 120-seconds (0.6 hours), Hα: 31 × 1200-seconds (10 hours), RGB: 8 × 600-seconds each (3.9 hours)

The Cave, the Roar and its Echoes

PlaneWave CDK 20-inch telescope, PlaneWave Ascension 200h mount, SBIG STX16803 camera, 3450 mm f/6.8, ISO 1600, 26.5-hour total exposure

NGC 104 - Globular Cluster

RC Optical Systems 10-inch telescope, AP-900 mount, SBIG STL-11000 camera, 2305 mm f/9.1, 14.5-hour exposure