9 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Entries That Will Leave You Breathless

Whether you dream of the day you might be able to visit something in space or just can't marvel enough at what the universe holds, prepare to feat your eyes on some of the entries for this year's Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.

This year's photos are already proving to be just as impressive as those in 2016. The contest started on Feb. 27 and anyone can enter till 12 p.m. UK time on April 7. You can submit up to 10 photos in nine different categories: Aurorae; Skyscapes; People and Space; Our Sun; Our Moon; Planets, Comets, and Asteroids; Stars and Nebulae; Galaxies; and Young Competition. In addition to the grand prize of winning £10,000, there are two special prize winners.

All winners will have their photos shown in an exhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich starting Sept. 16, 2017 and will receive £1,500. Check out some of the entries for this year's competition, along with the original captions and titles from the photographers.

01
M31 Andromeda Galaxy, M32 and M110 Galaxies (Encinas y Estrellas, Spain)
Kayron Mercieca

M31 Andromeda Galaxy, M32 and M110 Galaxies (Encinas y Estrellas, Spain)

"The iconic M31 Andromeda Galaxy, and its companion M32 and M110 galaxies, are pictured here in exquisite detail, strongly highlighting the active star formation regions of M31 along its entire spiral structure. To achieve this level of fidelity, the Hydrogen-Alpha emission line was used to enhance the red channel. The image is an HDR image, bringing out the faintest spiral structures as much as the intense galactic core. This image is a 4-panel mosaic comprising 76 hours of total exposure time. 1 and 10 minute exposures were captured throughout in order to produce the HDR result, with a 3nm Hydrogen-Alpha narrowband filter used with 15 minute exposures to bring out the active star formation regions."

02
Aurora Australis (Apollo Bay, Australia)
Russell Wiltshire

Aurora Australis (Apollo Bay, Australia)

"A spectacular Aurora Australis as seen from the Southern coastline of mainland Australia. Colorful beams, including a rare blue light, dance across the horizon and reflect from the calm seas of Bass Strait. The aurora was generated when a high speed solar wind from a coronal hole impacted the Earth's magnetic field on the 1st of March 2017. A single 25-second exposure, edited in Adobe Lightroom."

03
Field of Dreams (Harwich, MA, United States)
Chris Cook

Field of Dreams (Harwich, MA, United States)

"My 8-year old son gazes up at the starry summer Milky Way filled sky from his little league baseball field in Harwich, Massachusetts, USA. Maybe he was dreaming of being a pro baseball player or maybe an astronaut? One of the most important responsibilities in being a parent is to help keep your child's dreams alive — this is his 'Field of Dreams.'"

04
M33 — The Triangulum Galaxy (Animas, NM, United States)
rmg.co.uk

M33 — The Triangulum Galaxy (Animas, NM, United States)

"M33 is a spiral galaxy about 3 million light years away in the constellation Triangulum, from which it gets its name. It is also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy. It is the third largest member of the local group behind the Milky Way and Andromeda."

05
Aurora Lighthouse Northumberland (Bamburgh, United Kingdom)
Owen Humphreys

Aurora Lighthouse Northumberland (Bamburgh, United Kingdom)

"This image was taken at Bamburgh Lighthouse, I waited for 7 hours in the cold on the Northumberland coast, and the aurora was incredible to watch even though it was a short lived display. The Lighthouse looking like it has a shocked face really made this image for me and made the long wait worth it."

06
Kirkjufell Aurora (Grundarfjördur, Iceland)
Joe Burdett

Kirkjufell Aurora (Grundarfjördur, Iceland)

"In 2016 we got married in Iceland, having got engaged there in 2013. A few nights before our big day we witnessed the most amazing Aurora display we have ever seen. This has been an ambition of mine as a photographer since I got my first DSLR in 2014."

07
Grey Heron under the Noctilucent Clouds (Hove, Denmark)
Adrien Mauduit

Grey Heron under the Noctilucent Clouds (Hove, Denmark)

"As I was shooting a slow-developing noctilucent cloud display on June 12th 2016 on the calm shores of Sejerobugt bay in north-west Sjaelland Denmark, I received the company of a grey heron foraging for fish and crustaceans in the still and shallow waters of the beach. The sun stayed in the nautical twilight zone for several hours and gave birth to bright noctilucent clouds right above the bay reflecting nicely onto the Baltic, allowing me to spot the heron. It got challenging to capture the bird, as it was constantly moving, but fortunately for me, herons like lying still in wait for some precious seconds, so I took my chances and got the shot!"

08
Supermoon Over the Acropolis (Athens, Greece)
Alexandros Maragos

Supermoon Over the Acropolis (Athens, Greece)

"The biggest and brightest supermoon of the century rises over the Parthenon at the Acropolis of Athens, Greece on Nov 14, 2016. A composite image made of two different exposures of the same scene — one with a properly exposed moon and the other with a properly exposed Parthenon. After blending the two images together, I kept the moon slightly overexposed and the Parthenon slightly underexposed for a more realistic outcome."

09
Ancient Stardust (Lozari, France)
Gianni Krattli

Ancient Stardust (Lozari, France)

"In early summer there's a spectacle to watch on Corsica. The Milky Way is visible in all its glory in the Mediterranean night sky. In this picture our galaxy stretches across the night sky above the Genoese tower of Lozari — a coastal defence constructed by the Republic of Genoa between 1530 and 1620 to stem the attacks by Barbary pirates. This night was like a movie; when we planned to leave our house at 01:00 three horses were blocking the road in front of the entrance gate and the neighbour had to catch them before we could leave Afterwards we were the only ones on the street until a wild rabbit crossed the street and forced us to a hard stop."