The winners of the competition for the best photography in the field of astronomy in 2016

• The winners of the competition for the best photography in the field of astronomy in 2016

Competition for the best photography in the field of astronomy Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 - the biggest international competition of its kind.

Photos of the winners. Some pictures were taken within 4 years.

The winner in the category of "Northern Lights". It happened during a total solar eclipse in Svalbard.

The challenger in the "Northern Lights" category. ISO 3200, shutter speed 3 seconds.

The winner in the category "People and space". The slums of Hong Kong and star tracks. It is very difficult in this town to shoot a starry sky. F8, ISO400, shutter speed 10 sec.

The challenger in the category "People and space". Man on the Moon, Spain. F6.2, ISO1250, shutter speed 1/320 sec.

The challenger in the category "People and space". The father tells his son about the stars, Kenya. F2.8, ISO4000, shutter speed 30 sec.

The challenger in the category "People and space". The father tells his son about the stars, Kenya. F2.8, ISO4000, shutter speed 30 sec.

The applicant in the category of "Heavenly landscape." Noctilucent clouds at a height of 80-85 km. F3.5, ISO2000, shutter speed 16 sec.

The applicant in the category of "Heavenly landscape." Meteor Rain. F1.4, ISO12800, multiple frames of 8 seconds.

The winner in the category "Our Moon". The lunar surface. Luggage ZWO ASI 120 mm.

The challenger in the category "Our Moon". The full moon in Mexico. F6.3, ISO800, shutter speed 1/80 sec.

The winner in the category of "Stars and nebulae." "Rainbow Star". Photo: Sirius flashes different colors of the rainbow - the result of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere.

The applicant in the category of "Stars and nebulae." Molecular cloud in Perseus. This type of interstellar cloud whose density and size to allow it to form molecules, typically hydrogen.

The applicant in the category of "Stars and nebulae." Part of the constellation of Sagittarius, Scutum, and Ophiuchus the Serpent. This image was shot as much as 4, the total exposure time of 110 hours, 57 of which were filmed in 2015 year.

The winner in the category "Planets, comets and asteroids." Saturn.

The challenger in the category "Planets, comets and asteroids." The king of the planets - Jupiter.

The winner in the category of "Galaxy". Spiral galaxy M94 in the constellation Canes Venatici, is located about 16 million light-years from Earth.

The applicant in the category of "Galaxy". Small Magellanic Cloud.

The applicant in the category of "Galaxy". Picture clusters of galaxies (Abell S0636). The total exposure time - 152 hours.

The winner in the category "Newcomer". Large Magellanic Cloud. Dwarf galaxy located at a distance of about 50 kpc from our galaxy. The total exposure time - 1, 5 hour.

The winner in the category of "young astronomer." Moon.

The winner in the category of "young astronomer." Moon.

The challenger in the category "Our Sun". Prominence in the sun.

The challenger in the category "Our Sun". Solar eclipse in Indonesia.

The winner in the category "Our Sun" and the main winner of the competition for the best photography in the field of Astronomy 2016 (Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016). Baily's Beads - a sequence of bright spots along the lunar limb, arising when the solar disk is almost completely obscured by the moon, but still looked through. Clearly visible only with binoculars or a telescope. The phenomenon was named after British astronomer Francis Bailey who first described it in 1836.