Most astronomical photos 2015

Greenwich Observatory (UK) presented the shortlist of the best shots of the contest Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year. The contest is held for the seventh time this year a record number of photographers to participate in it: 2700 images from 60 countries. Winners are selected in eight categories ( "Aurora", "Sun", "Stars and nebulae," "Man and Space", and so on).

The accession of angels

to run away from a black bear, American photographer climbed on top of the mountain, and took this picture. The sky visible stars of the Milky Way and a bright meteor trail. White lights on the hillside (stratovolcano Mount Rainier, WA) - This flashlight is climbing.

Northern Lights (panorama)

The green lights of the northern lights dancing in the sky over a fjord Lyngen (Troms, Norway), indicating the shape of the Earth's magnetic field on the Norwegian Sea. Characteristic for such phenomena green occurs due to the interaction of particles in the upper atmosphere with the solar wind.

Comet C / 2014 Q2 (Lovejoy)

C / 2014 Q2 - it is the fifth comet discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Terry Lovejoy. In late 2014 and early 2015 it can be seen with binoculars (or even to the naked eye) in the Earth's sky. Blue-green comet associated with diatomic gas is burnt as it moves. Her tail is fragmented under the influence of the solar wind.

Calm before the storm

A rare spectacle of natural light show: the storm over the sea and the glittering stars of the Milky Way. The picture was taken at Lake Eyre in South Australia. The photographer had to use gradient filters (and turn it upside down) in order to balance the exposure to the different areas of the picture - so he was able to highlight the beauty of our galaxy.

The Great Nebula Eta Carinae

In the center of the nebula Eta Carinae, amid the dust and gas clouds is one of the biggest stars of the galaxy, also called Eta Carinae. It is about 100 times more massive, and a million times brighter than the sun.

Full moon over the Alps

The image was taken with the Superga hill near Turin (Italy) a few minutes before sunrise.

The heart of the lagoon

The Lagoon Nebula in the constellation of Sagittarius was opened Sicilian astronomer Giovanni Hodierna no later than 1654. Although it is at a distance of five thousand light-years from Earth, it is one of the few nebulae that you can see in the night sky with the naked eye (in northern latitudes).

The Moon and Antelao

The moon over the mountain Antelao (Dolomites, Italy). Snow-covered mountainside and the natural satellite of the Earth are very similar to each other, especially on the background of bright blue midday sky. Photographer compared the objects on your image with a snowball rolling down the hill.

IC443

IC443, or Medusa Nebula in the constellation of Gemini - a remnant of a supernova that exploded relatively recently: between 30 and 3,000 years ago.

Star trails

Star trails over the lake Green (California). These objects are very fond of Astro: they are obtained thanks to the slow-speed and rotation of the Earth around its axis.

Orion Nebula

Orion Nebula - one of the most famous and visible in the sky of the Earth deep-space objects. It is located in the Orion cloud, along with other favorites astrophotographers: Horsehead Nebula, and Barnard's Loop Nebula Running Man (left side of image). Pink and orange shades helices nebula creates hot hydrogen.

Hill Motind

Motind © Rune Engebo Hill Motind Norwegian photographer for their lives I must have seen a lot of the Northern Lights, but January 21, 2015 it opened the eyes of an unprecedented riot of colors. The oxygen atoms of the peaks of the island of Senja have given the green shades, and nitrogen - purple.

socket

rounded Rosette Nebula is located at the edge of a molecular cloud in the constellation Monoceros. Hot young stars in the center of the nebula surrounding them heated gas to approximately six million degrees Kelvin, which gave a powerful X-ray radiation. Photographer missed shots through narrow-band filters that give the output bright blue and orange colors.

Prominence

The reflected sky

Impressed by amateur astronomer if "bathed" in the stars, when the night sky is reflected on a thin layer of water covering the Uyuni (Bolivia) - the largest salt marsh in the world.

The edge of the Northern Lights

A rare sight - the aurora red color caused by the ionization of oxygen. Photographed about Yellowknife (Canada).

Helmet Thor

During the outlines nebula NGC 2359 was awarded the title of Thor Helmet. Unusual shape it must star Wolf-Rayet (hot giant on the verge of becoming nova), from which the wind blows interstellar matter.