The Best Astronomy Photos of 2016

  • The rusty red swirls of the circular, iron sculpture, Seven Magic Points, in Brattebergan, Norway, mirror the rippling aurora above.
    Rune Johan Engebø
    1 of 10
  • New stars are formed in the undulating clouds of M8, also commonly referred to as the Lagoon Nebula, situated some 5,000 light years from our planet.
    Ivan Eder
    2 of 10
  • A mesmerizing lunar halo forms around our natural satellite, the Moon, in the night sky above Norway. The halo, also known as a moon ring or winter halo, is an optical phenomenon created when moonlight is refracted in numerous ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.
    Tommy Richardsen
    3 of 10
  • Comet Lovejoy soars through the night sky in a green haze with an ion tail in its wake. The image shows Lovejoy appearing to lose its tail on Jan. 21, 2015.
    Michael Jäeger
    4 of 10
  • During the seldom-seen alignment of the five planets in Feb. 2016, Venus, Mercury and the Milky Way rose an hour before sunrise, and appear to be fleeing its early glow, overlooking Turrimeta Beach, Australia.
    Ivan Slade
    5 of 10
  • The dramatic moment that our star, the Sun, appears to be cloaked in darkness by the Moon during the total solar eclipse in Indonesia on March 9, 2016.
    Melanie Thorne
    6 of 10
  • The Perseid Meteor Shower shoots across the sky in the early hours of Aug. 13, 2015, appearing to cascade from Mount Shasta in Calif., USA. The composite image features roughly 65 meteors captured by the photographer between 12:30am and 4:30am.
    Brad Goldpaint
    7 of 10
  • A Royal Spoonbill sits atop of a branch, basking in the glow of the nearly full moon in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand.
    Andrew Caldwell
    8 of 10
  • Ancient petroglyphs are lit up by the glittering stars of the night sky in the Eastern Sierras in Calif.
    Brandon Yoshizawa
    9 of 10
  • Taken from Sefton Bivouac, the oldest hut in Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, star trails spiral over the majestic mountains of the park and the seemingly peaceful village below.
    Lee Cook
    10 of 10
By Marisa Gertz
July 28, 2016 2:17 PM EDT

The winner of the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year won’t be announced until September 15th, so for now, feast your eyes upon 10 of the over 130 spectacular images deemed worthy enough to be placed on the competition’s shortlist.

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 itself is a historic site, the home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian, first opened in 1675.

While only one entrant will be crowned photographer of the year, there are many other categories to star in, from a special category for those under 16 to the “Sir Patrick Moore” prize for those who have only taken up the craft in the last year. There’s also a category for robotic scope images, which are images that have been taken by computer controlled telescopes that can be accessed by the public through the internet.

After the winners are announced, an exhibition of the images will be on view from September 17th to August 7th at the Royal Observatory Greenwich museum.

Contact us at letters@time.com.

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