Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition

Today I did something different with my lunchtime and checked out the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition at Liverpool’s World Museum which is actually only a short walk from where I work. Open since May and running till 1 September the exhibition features dozens of images from The Royal Observatory Greenwich's competition which has been running for ten years now with a prize of £10,000 for the overall winner. The exhibition shows the winners, runners up and several commended entries in each of the ten categories. Judging from what I saw today the standard is incredibly high with dazzling photographs that display incredible detail or camera skills. 

 

In a darkened display area with ambient music pulsing and surging around you there are nearly a hundred photographs each in illuminated glass cases. There’s also some short films on screens in which some of the photographers speak about their work while every photo has a write up about how it was taken. The 10 categories include Aurorae -featuring the northern and southern lights, Galaxies, The Moon, the Sun, Planets, comets and Asteroids. The very effective People and Space section was the most intriguing somehow matching starscapes with urban locations. You can buy all the photos and more in a lavish book but the best way to see them is at this exhibition.

I've included two of my favourites which happen to be on the museum website here but the best way to see them is at the exhibition.

Above is Keeper of the Light by James Stone. Below is Me Versus the Galaxy by Mark McNeill.

For more information about the exhibition and the musuem go to their website