Incredible lunar eclipse photo wins Astronomy Photographer of the Year

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Here are the winners of the Royal Observatory Greenwich's Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2019

Incredible lunar eclipse photo wins Astronomy Photographer of the Year
(Image credit: László Francsics)

Hungarian photographer László Francsics has won the Royal Observatory Greenwich's title of Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2019 and the top prize of £10,000 with his jaw-dropping photo of the 35 phases of January's lunar eclipse. 

Fracsics's image astounded the judges, with judge Ed Robinson saying, "For a single multiple-exposure image to capture this even with such positional precision, creative innovation and beauty is nothing short of masterful. The colors of our atmosphere projected onto the Moon's disc during the eclipse are not only artistically pleasing, but also offer an understanding of such events that can reveal aspects of our own, thin, yet essential part of our atmosphere."

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Other winning images include a photo of the Rosette Nebula, taken by Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year winner Davy dan der Hoeven. Aged just 11, he built the equipment required for the photo with his father and together they captured images of the Rosette Nebula over three nights in November using different filters. 

Davy van der Hoeven, aged 11, captured this image of the Rosette Nebula with his father

Davy van der Hoeven, aged 11, captured this image of the Rosette Nebula with his father (Image credit: Davy van der Hoeven)

The Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with Insight Investment and BBC Sky at Night magazine. In its eleventh year, the competition received a record number of over 4,600 entries from 90 countries around the world. 

The images from this years competition, including the winners, runners-up and highly commended of each category and 68 shortlisted photos, will appear in the major special exhibition 'Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. This will open to the public from 13 September. 

You'll also be able to purchase the competition's official book by Collin's for £25, available exclusively at Royal Museums Greenwich shops and online from 13 September and on sale across all bookstores from 7 November. 

If you'd like to throw your hat in the ring for the 2020 competition, visit the Royal Observatory Greenwich's website for more information. 

In the meantime, discover a selection of the winning images below…

This image of withered poplar trees was taken in the Mongolian region of Ejina by Wang Zheng. It was taken on a Canon EOS 5D MkIV with a 20mm f/2 lens at ISO 6400 with a 10sec exposure.

This image of withered poplar trees was taken in the Mongolian region of Ejina by Wang Zheng. It was taken on a Canon EOS 5D MkIV with a 20mm f/2 lens at ISO 6400 with a 10sec exposure. (Image credit: Wang Zheng)

László Francsics captured the near infrared colors of Saturn using a combination of red and infrared planetary filters. He used a T1 ASA 1000mm Ritchey-Chretien reflecting telescope at f/16, Baader R, IR 685, IR 742, Alt-Azimuth fork mouth, ASI 174mm camera, R-IR composite, multiple stacked exposure. 

László Francsics captured the near infrared colors of Saturn using a combination of red and infrared planetary filters. He used a T1 ASA 1000mm Ritchey-Chretien reflecting telescope at f/16, Baader R, IR 685, IR 742, Alt-Azimuth fork mouth, ASI 174mm camera, R-IR composite, multiple stacked exposure.  (Image credit: László Francsics)

This is a deep imager of the peculiar, elliptical galaxy NGC 3923. The galaxy features myriad concentric shells as a result of past mergers with other nearby galaxies. Photographer Rolf Wahl Olsen captured this with a homebuilt 12.5" Serrurier Truss Newtonian telescope at f/4, Losmandy G-11 mount, QSI 683wsg-8 camera, L-RGB composite, 41 hours 38 minutes total exposure.

This is a deep imager of the peculiar, elliptical galaxy NGC 3923. The galaxy features myriad concentric shells as a result of past mergers with other nearby galaxies. Photographer Rolf Wahl Olsen captured this with a homebuilt 12.5" Serrurier Truss Newtonian telescope at f/4, Losmandy G-11 mount, QSI 683wsg-8 camera, L-RGB composite, 41 hours 38 minutes total exposure. (Image credit: Rolf Wahl Olsen)

This photo depicts the photographer Ben Bush and his dog Floyd, surrounded by Mars, Saturn and the galactic core of the Milky Way galaxy. This was shot with a Nikon D810, 24mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 4000, 10sec exposure. 

This photo depicts the photographer Ben Bush and his dog Floyd, surrounded by Mars, Saturn and the galactic core of the Milky Way galaxy. This was shot with a Nikon D810, 24mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 4000, 10sec exposure.  (Image credit: Ben Bush)

Ignacio Diaz Bobillo captured this image of two nebula complexes, far apart from one another. It was captured with a Astro-Physics 167mm apochromatic refractor telescope at f/7.2, Astrodon SII, H-alpha and OIII 3mm filters, Astro-Physics 1100GTO mount, Apogee Atlas U16M cameras, narrowband, SII-Ha-OIII composite, 16-hour total exposure.

Ignacio Diaz Bobillo captured this image of two nebula complexes, far apart from one another. It was captured with a Astro-Physics 167mm apochromatic refractor telescope at f/7.2, Astrodon SII, H-alpha and OIII 3mm filters, Astro-Physics 1100GTO mount, Apogee Atlas U16M cameras, narrowband, SII-Ha-OIII composite, 16-hour total exposure. (Image credit: Ignacio Diaz Bobillo)

Nicholai Brügger hiked in the snow to the top of the mountain Offersøykammen in Norway to capture the aurora over the Lofoten Islands. He used a Nikon D600 camera with a 15mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 2000 and 12 x 13sec exposures.

Nicholai Brügger hiked in the snow to the top of the mountain Offersøykammen in Norway to capture the aurora over the Lofoten Islands. He used a Nikon D600 camera with a 15mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 2000 and 12 x 13sec exposures. (Image credit: Nicolai Brügger)

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Louise Carey
Louise Carey

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and  Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.