In pictures: The beauty of the skies
- Published
A photo of a Royal Spoonbill basking in the glow of the almost full Moon is one of the shortlisted images in the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 competition. The picture was made by Andrew Caldwell in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand.
Now in its eighth year, the contest received more than 4,500 entries from amateurs and professional photographers from more than 80 countries. This shot of vivid green Northern Lights was captured by Jan R Olsen in Olderdalen, Norway.
The competition, which is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with Insight Investment and BBC Sky at Night Magazine, selects winners in nine categories including Skyscapes, Galaxies and Aurorae, and two special prizes. Michael Jaeger took this image of Comet Lovejoy.
Frozen Giant by Nicholas Roemmelt shows the Milky Way above the Cimon della Pella in the heart of the Dolomites mountain range in north eastern Italy.
Ivan Eder made this image of the M8 Lagoon Nebula which is situated approximately 5,000 light years from our planet.
The Moon illuminates the night sky over Paraty Bay, Brazil, in Rafael Defavari's shortlisted photo.
The shadow of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, is projected by the rising sun over the volcano, Hualalai, as the Moon glows in the sky in Sean Goebel's photo.
Pickering's Triangle is the subject of Bob Frankel's shortlisted shot. Located in the Veil Nebula, it is one of the main visual elements of a supernova remnant.
A searing solar prominence extends outwards from the surface of the Sun in an image by Eric Toops.
The winning images will be announced on 15 September 2016. This picture is called Northern Lights over Jokulsarlon, Iceland, by Giles Rocholl