[imagesource: Kush Chandaria]

The image above is one of the photos shortlisted in The Royal Observatory Greenwich’s 13th Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

And extraordinarily, it is real.

Other shortlisted photographers, from 4 500 entries and 75 countries, captured sights from across our solar system, galaxy, and the wider universe, reports the BBC:

The judges include Art Editor of BBC Sky at Night Magazine Steve Marsh, and comedian and keen amateur astronomer Jon Culshaw, alongside other experts from the worlds of art and astronomy.

Let’s delve into some of the spectacular celestial scenes that have been shortlisted:

Image: Damian Peach

In this image, Saturn displays a wealth of details across the globe and ring system.

The famous polar hexagon can be seen around the pole at the bottom, while many other belts and zones are seen across the planet.

Image: Daning Kai

This image shows star trails over Lujiazui city in Pudong District, China, and you can even distinguish the Belt of Orion.

The photographer captured this photo on a very clear autumn night.

Image: Bernard Miller

NGC 3981 is a spiral galaxy about 65 million light years away in the constellation Crater.

Its windswept look is due to its outer arms being stripped away by an interaction with another galaxy.

Image: Larryn Rae

This is a panorama of the aurora borealis in Iceland and is made up of 20 images.

The photographer came across an estuary that reflected the sky perfectly on a freezing winter’s night.

He captured the panorama first, and then took a shot of himself out on the ice.

Image: Stefan Lierbermann

The image depicts a mesmerising panorama of the Milky Way over lavender fields in Valensole, France.

The colour tones and the lines of the fields are truly amazing, even though the light pollution is clearly visible over the whole area.

Image: Yovin Yahathugoda

This is one of the photographer’s favourite images and it remarkably depicts how interstellar winds and forces have created this perfect cosmic bubble in outer space.

The star responsible for creating the bubble is the bright star near the centre of the nebula and is categorised as a Wolf-Rayet star.

The National Maritime Museum will showcase the winning images in an exhibition from September 18.

Speaking of epic space photography, you can also see what photo NASA’s Hubble Telescope took on your birthday.

[source:bbc]