The winners of the annual ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition have been announced, delivering a spectacular collection of celestial images that capture the beauty and mystery of our universe. From breathtaking shots of distant nebulae to vibrant aurora displays, these award-winning photographs demonstrate the incredible artistry and technical skill of astrophotographers from around the world.

The overall winners of this year's competition are Chinese photographers Qi Yang and Chuhong Yu, who took the top prize for their exceptional image of the Andromeda Galaxy's core. Working alongside Weitang Liang, the team captured unprecedented detail of the galaxy's central region using a long focal-length telescope at Nerpio. Their photograph showcases the intricate structure of the galaxy's core and surrounding stellar population with remarkable clarity.

"Not to show it all—this is one of the greatest virtues of this photo," said László Francsics, an astrophotographer and competition judge. "The Andromeda Galaxy has been photographed in so many different ways and so many times with telescopes that it is hard to imagine a new photo would ever add to what we've already seen. But this does just that, an unusual dynamic composition with unprecedented detail that doesn't obscure the overall scene."

The competition, run by the UK's Royal Observatory Greenwich, attracted high-quality submissions from respected astrophotographers worldwide across eight different categories. Among the standout winners was Tom Rae from New Zealand, whose image "The Ridge" won the Skyscapes category. This massive panoramic photograph represents the largest panorama Rae has ever captured, with the full resolution image containing over a billion pixels from 62 stitched-together images. The photograph beautifully captures twin glacial rivers with the Milky Way core positioned to the left, along with the famous Southern Cross and other stellar markers high in the center sky.

In the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year category, Italian photographer Daniele Borsari earned recognition for his bold artistic choice to photograph various nebulae in black and white. His winning image, "Orion, the Horsehead and the Flame in H-alpha," was captured using an H-alpha filter to create a monochrome composition highlighting emission nebulae. The image features the iconic Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33), the Flame Nebula (NGC 2024), and the famous Orion Nebula (M42), showcasing regions where new stars are actively forming.

Several other category winners demonstrated the diverse range of astronomical photography being practiced today. James Sinclair from the United States won the Our Sun category with his dynamic capture of the sun's chromosphere, the most picturesque part of our star composed of hydrogen and helium plasma manipulated by intense magnetic fields. The chromosphere changes not just day by day but second by second, which explains why solar astrophotographers become obsessed with capturing its ever-changing beauty.

Aurora photography was spectacularly represented by Kavan Chay from New Zealand, whose image "Crown of Light" captured the intense aurora activity during a G5 geomagnetic storm in May. The photograph shows red aurora at an intensity level the photographer had never previously experienced, demonstrating the extreme nature of this rare geomagnetic event.

The competition also recognized creative collaborations and innovative approaches to astronomical imaging. The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer went to Chinese photographers Yurui Gong and Xizhen Ruan for their serendipitous capture titled "Encounter Across Light Years." Originally planning only to photograph the Andromeda Galaxy, they discovered upon retrieving their camera the next morning that they had captured a brilliant Perseid meteor fireball appearing to graze the galaxy—a fortunate accident that resulted in a stunning composition.

Tom Williams from the UK earned multiple recognitions, winning the People & Space category with his "ISS Lunar Flyby" image showing the International Space Station making a close pass of the Moon. The dramatic result shows the station's solar arrays backlit by the rising Sun, with white radiators illuminated by earthshine rather than direct sunlight. Williams also received runner-up recognition in other categories, demonstrating his versatility as an astrophotographer.

The Stars & Nebulae category winner came from a German collaboration called Distant Luminosity, composed of Julian Zoller, Jan Beckmann, Lukas Eisert, and Wolfgang Hummel. Their ultra-deep exposure of M13, the Great Hercules Cluster, revealed incredible detail in this prominent globular cluster located about 22,200 light-years from Earth. The team's goal was to capture the deepest possible image of the cluster, and they were surprised to detect even integrated flux nebulae clouds in their final composition.

One of the most creative entries came from Leonardo Di Maggio in the UK, who won the Annie Maunder Open Category with his conceptual piece "Fourth Dimension." This innovative work combines gravitational lensing data from the James Webb Space Telescope with a photograph Di Maggio took of the inside of a meteorite. The meteorite's geometric patterns, formed through extremely slow cooling of metal alloys over millions of years, create an almost architectural appearance that mirrors the star diffraction spikes seen in JWST imagery.

Comet photography was beautifully represented by Dan Bartlett from the United States, whose image "Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks Taking a Final Bow" won the Planets, Comets & Asteroids category. The photograph captures the comet reacting visibly to intensified solar winds associated with the current solar maximum, creating spectacular tail dynamics and colorful hues expelled by its nuclear coma.

"Once again, ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year offers up some of the best astrophotography in the world," said Dr. Ed Bloomer, Royal Observatory Greenwich Astronomer and Judge. "This year, I believe we're particularly strong on images which ask the observer to really think about what they're looking at and investigate just how the astrophotographer has achieved those particular results—this proved true for the judges as well!"

The competition also recognized several highly commended and runner-up images that showcase the breadth of talent in the astrophotography community. These include spectacular aurora captures over iconic locations like Mono Lake in California, detailed planetary imaging showing Jupiter with its moons Europa and Callisto, and innovative star trail photography captured from moving ships.

The Astronomy Photographer of the Year book, featuring all winning and shortlisted images, will be published on September 25, 2025, and is currently available for pre-order. This annual publication serves as a comprehensive showcase of the world's finest astrophotography, inspiring both amateur and professional photographers to continue pushing the boundaries of what's possible in capturing the cosmos.