Best pictures in the field of astronomy in 2013

• Best photos of astronomy in 2013

The results of the competition for the best photography in the field of astronomy "Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2013". Let's take a look at the winners and their pictures of deep space.

Nomination "Our Solar System"

The applicant. The sequence shows the annular eclipse of the Rings. Ring of Fire - this is one of the most unusual astronomical phenomena. "Ring of Fire" - a rare phenomenon. On average, for 100 years it happens 237 solar eclipses, and only 14 of them - the ring-shaped. Learn more in the "ring of fire in Australia."

2 nd place. Each of these dark spots on the sun on the size of our Earth.

The winner. The solar corona.

Nomination "deep space"

The applicant. Galaxy M81 and M82 in the constellation Ursa Major.

The Contender. Barred spiral galaxy (type SBc) NGC 253 in the constellation Sculptor. Located at a distance of about 8 million light-years from Earth. In 1999, the space telescope "Chandra" X-ray found an unusual concentration of X-ray sources near the center of NGC 253. Four of these sources, tens of thousands of times more massive than the Sun, is 3 thousand light-years from the galaxy's core. These black holes are shifted under the influence of gravity to the center of the galaxy, can be united in a single supermassive black hole in the future.

The Contender. Globular cluster Omega Centauri. It is located at a distance of 18,300 light-years away.

2 nd place. Colorful Rho Ophiuchi cloud about - a binary star in the constellation Ophiuchus. The red supergiant Antares - one of the brightest stars in the night sky - lights up yellow and red clouds on the upper left corner of the image. Rho Ophiuchi lies at the center of the blue nebula on the right. The distant globular cluster M4 visible just under the Antares.

The winner. These structures appear to be unchanging and eternal in human terms, but their life is fleeting across the universe. In just a few thousand years of hard radiation from the stars in the nebula will change the appearance of the structure beyond recognition.

Nomination "Young astronomer photographer"

The applicant. Moon.

2 nd place. Goodbye Sun, Hello Moon.

The winner. Milky Way Galaxy. The galaxy, which contains Earth, the solar system and all the individual stars that are visible to the naked eye. It refers to a barred spiral galaxies. Galaxy diameter is about 30 thou- sand parsec (about 100 000 light years, 1 quintillion kilometers) at an estimated average thickness of about 1000 light years. The galaxy contains, at the lowest estimate, about 200 billion stars.

Nomination "People and space"

2nd place. The man and the Milky Way.

The winner. Silhouettes on the background of the rising moon.

The nomination "Best Debut"

Winner. Passage of Venus across the solar disk.

Category "Robotic Telescope"

Winner. Open cluster, the Trapezium.

Nomination "Earth and Space"

The applicant. Perseid meteor shower, which appears annually in August from the constellation Perseus. Formed by passing through the Earth's plume of dust particles released comet Swift-Tuttle. The smallest particle size of a grain of sand, burned in the atmosphere, forming a star rain.

The Contender. Quad lunar halo over Spain. Sometimes falling ice crystals converted atmosphere in huge lens and around the sun or the moon can be observed and iridescent rainbow halo. The brightest object in the sky at the top of the image - is the moon. Moon light refracts incident hexagonal ice crystals forms around the moon and round a 22-degree halo.

2 nd place. Green energy. Northern Lights in Norway. See also the article "Northern Lights in North America."

1st place and overall winner of all photos of the contest in astronomy "Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2013". A guiding light to the stars.