Discover the incredible astrophotographs of the year!

The grand prizewinner, all categories combined, is the American photographer Ryan Imperio. He created a photographic composition from a series of 30 images of the Sun that he took in Texas on the occasion of an annular eclipse on October 14, 2023.

Ryan's goal was to photograph “Baily's beads,” a phenomenon that occurs when light rays pierce through the moon's irregular surface. To achieve this feat, he used a clever camera setup with clockwork precision. He took dozens of photographs and used special processing to create his image.

Red Northern Lights Captured by Larryn Rae

In the Northern Lights category, we can salute the work of photographer Larryn Rae who won first place. His photograph was taken in New Zealand and shows a red glow that is much rarer to observe and photograph than green. The bright red colors are produced at high altitudes when charged particles from solar flares and coronal mass ejections interact with oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere.