--- title: Snapshots of the Heavens: Amazing Astronomy Photos description: The Royal Observatory culled through over 800 entries from astronomers and astro-photographers around the world to release its compilation of the best astronomy photos of 2012. Astronomy Photographer of the Year is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Sky at Night Magazine. The competition drew a wide array of subjects captured by amateur and professional photographers from around the globe. canonical: https://time.com/3620976/best-astronomy-photos-2012/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-05T23:06:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:06:47.647Z article:section: Science og:title: Snapshots of the Heavens: Amazing Astronomy Photos og:description: The Royal Observatory culled through over 800 entries from astronomers and astro-photographers around the world to release its compilation of the best astronomy photos of 2012. Astronomy Photographer of the Year is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Sky at Night Magazine. The competition drew a wide array of subjects captured by amateur and professional photographers from around the globe. og:url: https://time.com/3620976/best-astronomy-photos-2012/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcc379843b0a3b95/69876d120b72e3271a6dc65d/1green-world-c2a9-arild-heitmann1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The aurora borealis traces the shifting patterns of the Earth's magnetic field, creating a spectacular midwinter show in Nordland Fylke, Norway. The green light in this image comes from oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere, which have been energized by su og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Snapshots of the Heavens: Amazing Astronomy Photos twitter:description: The Royal Observatory culled through over 800 entries from astronomers and astro-photographers around the world to release its compilation of the best astronomy photos of 2012. Astronomy Photographer of the Year is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Sky at Night Magazine. The competition drew a wide array of subjects captured by amateur and professional photographers from around the globe. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbcc379843b0a3b95/69876d120b72e3271a6dc65d/1green-world-c2a9-arild-heitmann1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Snapshots of the Heavens: Amazing Astronomy Photos by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 5, 2014 11:06 PM UTC  The aurora borealis traces the shifting patterns of the Earth's magnetic field, creating a spectacular midwinter show in Nordland Fylke, Norway. The green light in this image comes from oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere, which have been energized by subatomic particles from the solar wind. The aurora borealis traces the shifting patterns of the Earth's magnetic field, creating a spectacular midwinter show in Nordland Fylke, Norway. The green light in this image comes from oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere, which have been energized by subatomic particles from the solar wind.Arild Heitmann by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Dec 5, 2014 11:06 PM UTC The Royal Observatory has culled through over 800 entries from astronomers and astro-photographers around the world to release its compilation of the best [astronomy photos of 2012](http://www.rmg.co.uk/visit/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/). The contest is run by [Royal Observatory Greenwich](http://www.rmg.co.uk/) and [_Sky at Night Magazine_](http://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/)_._ Should you have plans to be in London, an exhibition featuring the work is on display at the Royal Observatory Greenwich Planetarium throughout October 2012 in [“The Universe Exposed: photographing the cosmos.”](http://www.rmg.co.uk/visit/events/the-universe-exposed)  The aurora borealis traces the shifting patterns of the Earth's magnetic field, creating a spectacular midwinter show in Nordland Fylke, Norway. The green light in this image comes from oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere, which have been energized by subatomic particles from the solar wind. Arild Heitmann  Part of the Veil Nebula, the Witch's Broom is the glowing debris from a supernova explosion. It's what's left over after the violent death of a massive star. Although the supernova occurred several thousand years ago, the gaseous debris is still expanding outwards, producing this vast cloud-like structure. Robert Franke  Dark mountain peaks frame two distinct lightscapes - the distant glow of towns and villages, and the majestic star fields of The Milky Way. Making the most of an August night, the photographer got this shot after trekking out to the Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. Tunc Tezel  Galileo's Planetary Puzzle Has Finally Been Solved Laurent Laveder  The Elephant's Trunk seems to uncoil from the dusty nebula on the right of the image, its tip curled around a cavity carved out by the radiation produced by young stars. Capturing a deep sky object like this takes skill and painstaking attention to detail and is a great achievement for a newcomer to astrophotography. Lóránd Fényes  This long-exposure image contrasts the regular arcs of star trails with the chaotic swarming of fireflies - celestial, natural and manmade light are captured in a single photograph. Michael A. Rosinski  The photographer came across two hikers lost in the wilderness of Yosemite late one evening in July 2011\. He captured this image of the tiny figures in a small bubble of torchlight set within a vast, pitch black forest beneath the immense dome of the sky. It highlights the wonder, beauty and awe of astronomy. Steven Christenson  A beautifully sharp and artfully framed detail of the Moon. The terminator which separates the daytime and night-time parts of the Moon is aligned with the bottom edge of the photograph. The Sun's light shines at a low angle onto the surface of the Moon just above this line, showing the contrast between smooth maria and rugged crater rims to the best advantage. Jacob Marchio  Earth and space are evenly weighted in this wonderfully framed image of a Californian landscape beneath the Milky Way. The young photographer has chosen a view of an ancient bristlecone pine which is over 4,000 years old, and whose sloping trunk and gnarled branches provide perfect counterpoint to the edge-on view of the starry disc and knotted structure of our galaxy. Thomas Sullivan  Taken in Nagano, Japan, this image shows Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades as the backdrop to an eerie frozen landscape. Though the stars appear to gleam with a cold, frosty light, bright blue stars like the Pleiades can be as hot as 30,000 degrees Celsius. Masahiro Miyasaka ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3620976/best-astronomy-photos-2012/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3620976/best-astronomy-photos-2012/"},"headline":"Snapshots of the Heavens: Amazing Astronomy Photos","datePublished":"2014-12-05T23:06:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:47.647Z","description":"The Royal Observatory culled through over 800 entries from astronomers and astro-photographers around the world to release its compilation of the best astronomy photos of 2012. Astronomy Photographer of the Year is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and Sky at Night Magazine. 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