11 Psychedelic Pictures Of Space That Won Awards This Year

The Royal Observatory Greenwich announced the winners and some impressive runners-up in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2014 competition.

Earth and Space category

1. "Aurora over a Glacier Lagoon", by James Woodend, UK (winner and overall winner)

James Woodend / The National Maritime Museum

2. "Venus-Lunar Occultation", by O Chul Kwon, South Korea

O Chul Kwon / The National Maritime Museum

3. "Moon Balloon", Patrick Cullis, USA

Patrick Cullis / The National Maritime Museum

"Poised on the brink of space, this astonishing shot shows the curvature of the Earth with the towering Rocky Mountains reduced to tiny wrinkles on the surface below." – Patrick Cullis

Deep Space category

4. "The Horsehead Nebula" by Bill Snyder (winner, left), and "At the Feet of Orion (NGC 1999) – Full Field", by Marco Lorenzi

Bill Snyder / The National Maritime Museum

Marco Lorenzi / The National Maritime Museum

5. "California vs Pleiades", by Rogelio Bernal Andreo, USA.

Rogelio Bernal Andreo / Via The National Maritime Museum

"Known since ancient times as the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades Cluster, to the right of the image, consists of around a thousand stars, which formed together about 100 million years ago." – Rogelio Bernal Andreo

6. "The Helix Nebula", by David Fitz-Henry, Australia

David Fitz-Henry / The National Maritime Museum

"Resembling a giant eye looking across 700 light years of space, the Helix Nebula is one of the closest planetary nebula to Earth." – David Fitz-Henry

7. "Veil Nebula Detail", by J.P. Metsävainio, Finland

http://J.P. Metsävainio / The National Maritime Museum

"The entire nebula currently covers an area of the sky about 36 times bigger than the full Moon, and is still expanding." – J.P. Metsävainio

Solar System category.

8. "Ripples in a Pond", Alexandra Hart, UK (winner)

Alexandra Hart / The National Maritime Museum

"The Sun’s boiling surface curves away beneath us in this evocative shot that conveys the scale and violence of our star. The region of solar activity on the left could engulf the Earth several times over with room to spare." – Alexandra Hart

People and Space category

9. "Hybrid Solar Eclipse 2", by Eugen Kamenew, Germany (winner)

Eugen Kamenew / The National Maritime Museum

"Sun and moon sink together behind a Kenyan savannah skyline, locked in an eclipse in which the moon is silhouetted against the sun’s bright disc." – Eugen Kamenew

10. "Lost Souls", by Julie Fletcher, Australia

Julie Fletcher / The National Maritime Museum

And the Sir Patrick Moore Prize for best newcomer goes to:

11. "Coastal Stairways", by Chris Murphy, New Zealand

Chris Murphy / The National Maritime Museum

"Rock formations in the Wairarapa district of New Zealand create a stark foreground and contrast to the dusty clouds dancing across the Milky Way." – Chris Murphy