Royal Observatory Names 2026 Astronomy Photo Winners — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Royal Observatory Greenwich organized the 2026 Astronomy Photographer of the Year, drawing entries from across the globe spanning solar system close-ups to deep-sky nebulae.
- Ali Alobaidly of Kuwait won overall with The Quiet Predator, a 28-hour-plus exposure of the Shark nebula in Cepheus, 650 light years from Earth, revealing blue-glowing stars embedded in dense cosmic dust.
- Kfir Simon of Israel took the runner-up spot with Beyond the Wormhole, centered on the Helix nebula in Aquarius (also ~650 light years away), where distant background galaxies shine through the gas cloud left by a dying star.
- Petr Horalek in the Czech Republic won the Our Moon category with Venusian Pearl on the Moon, a daytime capture of Venus being occulted by the crescent moon.
- Peter Ward of Australia earned the Our Sun runner-up for Anatomy of the Chromosphere, a composite image layering hydrogen (red) and calcium (lilac) wavelengths to expose the sun's chromosphere.
- Julien DeWinter and Landon Boehm, shooting from Texas, were highly commended for an October 2025 image of Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon) at near-sun approach (101 million km from Earth), showing twin plumes of dust and plasma.
- Stefano Pellegrini won the Skyscapes category with Botswana Star Trail, stitching 340 thirty-second exposures of star motion above baobab trees; the winning images will be exhibited at London's National Maritime Museum from 18 September.
Why it matters: The annual Royal Observatory competition remains one of the few venues where amateur astrophotographers gain museum-level exhibition, and this year's winners show the geographic reach of the field — Kuwait, Israel, the Czech Republic, Australia, Texas, and Botswana are all represented. The exhibition's 18 September opening at the National Maritime Museum will be the first chance for the public to see the prints in person after months of remote imaging, including Alobaidly's 28-hour exposure commitment.
Ask SkimNews
