Astronomy Photographer of the Year

Part of Eta Carina, a vast nebula or cloud of dust and gas from which a new generation of stars is condensing Photograph: Thomas Davis/Royal Observatory Greenwich

Trails were left by stars as the Earth rotated during this 40-minute exposure in Death Valley, California. The three distinct lines extending from the horizon on the left are stars in Orion’s Belt Photograph: Nikhil Shahi/Royal Observatory Greenwich

The Horsehead Nebula (centre) is a dark cloud of gas and dust in the constellation Orion. The gas, dust and other materials condense to form dense knots, which will eventually become stars and planets Photograph: Martin Pugh/Royal Observatory Greenwich

All the stars individually visible in this image are in our own Milky Way, while the galaxy Centaurus-A in the centre is millions of light years beyond. Centaurus-A has merged with another, smaller galaxy and the debris from this collision forms the rusty brown band of dust across its middle Photograph: Michael Sidonio/Royal Observatory Greenwich

The Northern Lights or aurora borealis. Auroras are caused when particles in the solar wind collide in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The planet's magnetic field funnels the particles down over the poles, giving rise to glowing curtains of coloured light Photograph: Karl Johnston/Royal Observatory Greenwich

The dark areas in this photograph of the moon are vast plains of solidified lava known as lunar seas (maria) because they were once believed to be filled with water Photograph: Michael O'Connell/Royal Observatory Greenwich

Venus, Jupiter and the moon rise at sunset over the Nepean river, New South Wales, Australia. Exposure time: two hours Photograph: Vincent Miu/Royal Observatory Greenwich

Comet Holmes, whose orbit lies between Mars and Jupiter, can be seen roughly every seven years. The nucleus of a comet is a 'dirty snowball' just a few kilometres across, surrounded by a tenuous cloud of glowing dust Photograph: Nick Howes/Royal Observatory Greenwich

Two 'blue-reflection nebulae' – clouds of dust that scatter the light of nearby stars. They are associated with young stars not more than a few million years old. A much older globular cluster of thousands of stars can be seen top right Photograph: Martin Pugh/Royal Observatory Greenwich

As the Earth spins during this 30-minute exposure the stars make trails around the sky’s south pole over Blue Mountains, Australia. The orange glow is caused by light pollution Photograph: Ted Dobosz/Royal Observatory Greenwich