The winners of the 2025 ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year Award have been revealed, showcasing a spectacular selection of night sky images that reveal the majesty of ancient galaxies, nebulas, stellar cities and of course, Earth’s moon.
Astrophotographers from across the globe submitted over 5,800 entries in the various categories for the 17th annual competition hosted by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in conjunction with astronomy camera manufacturer ZWO. The results of the contest, as judged by an international panel of experts, were announced in a livestreamed ceremony on Sept. 11.
The overall winner — a spectacular portrait of the Andromeda Galaxy by photographers Weitang Liang, Qi Yang and Chuhong Yu — is set to be displayed in a special exhibit at the National Maritime Museum in the U.K. from Sept. 12, along with the victors of each category.
“Once again, ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year offers up some of the best astrophotography in the world,” said Dr. Ed Bloomer, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory who acted as one of the judges for the 2025 competition. “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!”
Read on to see the winners from each category of the 17th annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year Award, including a spectacular example of orbital astrophotography courtesy of NASA astronaut Don Pettit.
Auroras — Crown of Light by Kavan Chay
Photographer Kavan Chay took this spectacular image of a red, green and yellow aurora dancing through the starry sky above Tumbledown Bay in New Zealand on May 10, 2024 during a category G5 geomagnetic storm. The foreground and aurora were captured over the course of separate nights using a Nikon Z 7 astro-modified camera.
Our moon — The Trace of Refraction by Marcella Giulia Pace
Marcella Giulia Pace captured the light of the moon as it was…
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