Ryan Imperio has been named the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year for a photograph that captures the progression of Baily’s beads during the 2023 annular eclipse.
Baily’s beads are formed when sunlight shines through the valleys and craters of the Moon’s surface, and are only briefly visible when an eclipse is beginning or ending.
Kerry-Ann Lecky Hepburn, one of the judges and a meteorologist, said the winning image was an “impressive dissection of the fleeting few seconds” when Baily’s beads can be seen.
“This image left me captivated and amazed,” she added.
Mr Imperio, who won £10,000 for winning the competition overall, said he “never expected to be selected” and was “both thrilled and honoured” with the award.
For the 2024 competition there were over 3,500 entries from 58 countries.
Mr Imperio’s entry was also among the winners selected for the Our Sun category of the competition.
The Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year award was won by Daniel Borsari for his image “NGC NGC 1499, A Dusty California”.
This image features the California Nebula – also known as NGC 1499 – an emission nebula in the constellation of Perseus.
The image was created by taking lots of pictures of the nebula and combining them into one.
It’s located about 1,000 light years from Earth and it’s visible thanks to the ionization of gases by the blue giant star Persei.
Neal White, a prize judge and an artist, said Mr Borsari’s image showed “the future of astronomy photography being fearlessly, and openly, taken forward by a new generation”.
