The Paper's reporter Qian Chengxi
On 16 September 2021, at 6.30pm UK Time (BST), the online awards ceremony for the Astrophotographer of the Year Contest hosted by the Royal Greenwich Observatory took place. The overall winner of the astrophotographer of the year was won by Dong Shuchang, a young astrophotographer from China, with the "Golden Ring", a photograph of an annular solar eclipse taken in the Ali region of Tibet. The judges praised the fascinating work for the perfect combination of the scientific, artistic and technical ingenuity of astrophotography.
Dong Shuchang's award-winning work "Golden Ring"
Dong Shuchang took this rare, fleeting photograph in Ali, Tibet, when the sun, moon and earth were docking. When an annular eclipse occurs, the moon moves in front of the sun but appears smaller than our stars, resulting in a bright halo.
"The weather in this place is sunny all year round, but before the annular eclipse, I saw that the sky was full of dark clouds," Dong Shuchang recalled, "we waited anxiously, and we were lucky, within a minute of the annular eclipse, the sunlight penetrated the clouds, and then the sun entered the clouds, and we were so lucky!" ”
In this competition, astrophotographers from China shined and achieved outstanding results. The winner of the galaxy group is Wu Zhong, whose work is called "Galaxy Ring", which was photographed by him over a period of two years spanning three regions of the northern and southern hemispheres.
Wu Zhong's award-winning work "Galaxy Ring"
The winner of the Best Newcomer Award is Wang Zhipu, who is only 15 years old, and his winning work is a "family portrait" of the solar system. The judges said, "I love this concept of fresh, gentle play around the solar system. It's a meaningful, technically accomplished work. ”
Wang Zhipu's award-winning work "Family Portrait"
Other winners of this astrophotography contest include:
Aurora Award
Dmitrii Rybalka, Russia "Dance of the Aurora"
Dance of the Aurora
Our Moon Award
Nicolas Lefaudeux, France, goes beyond the limbs
People & Space Award
Deepal Ratnayaka, England "Blockade"
blockade
Planet, Comet and Asteroid Awards
Frank Kuszaj, USA "A Colored Quadrant Meteor"
A colored quadrant meteor
Skyscape Award
Jeffrey Lovelace "Moonlight Dunes"
Moonlight Dunes
Stars and Nebula Awards
Terry Hancock, UK "California Dream 'NGC 1499"
California Dream 'NGC 1499
All winning and shortlisted entries will be open to the public at the National Maritime Museum from 18 September, please check the National Maritime Museum website for details.
Editor-in-Charge: Ying Xu