The Winners of the Best Astronomy Photos of 2016
Chinese photographer Yu Jun has been named the winner of 2016’s Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year for his image entitled “Bailey’s Beads”, taking home a £10,000 prize.
Jun’s out-of-the-ordinary composite, taken during a total solar eclipse over Indonesia, was an impressive technical feat in addition to being visually fascinating. Competition judge and Royal Observatory Public Astronomer, Dr Marek Kukula called it “a tremendous achievement that pushes the boundaries of what modern astrophotography can achieve.”
“There were so many fantastic images this year,” said fellow judge and BBC Sky at Night Magazine’s Editor Chris Bramley. “The winning entries, and indeed the whole field, show that the entrants’ technical abilities and creative eye have never been sharper. They capture the quiet, majestic beauty of the night sky above a world that’s increasingly frenetic and light-polluted.”
This is the eighth year the Royal Observatory Greenwich has hosted the photography competition, which has received over 4,500 entries this year from both amateur and professional astronomical photographers from around the world. The observatory, the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian, first opened in 1675.
The images will be on view from September 17th to June 28th at the Royal Observatory Greenwich museum.
