Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2012 winners – in pictures

The winner of the Earth and space category, taken in Nagano, Japan. Orion, Taurus and the Pleiades are the backdrop to an eerie frozen landscape
Photograph: Masahiro Miyasaka

Runner-up in the Earth and space category. The aurora borealis traces the shifting patterns of the Earth's magnetic field, creating a spectacular midwinter show in Nordland Fylke, Norway
Photograph: Arild Heitmann

Runner-up in the people and space special prize. Steven Christenson came across two hikers lost in the wilderness of Yosemite one evening in July 2011. He captured this image of the tiny figures in a small bubble of torchlight
Photograph: Steven Christenson

Runner-up in the young astronomy photographer category. Several high-resolution images of the Moon in the daytime sky are knitted together to form a colourful mosaic
Photograph: Laurent V Joli-Co

Runner-up in the deep space category. Vast supernova remnant Simeis 147, which consists of the expanding debris of a massive star that exploded around 40,000 years ago. It is nicknamed the spaghetti nebula Photograph: Rogelio Bernal And

Highly commended entry in the Earth and space category. The Milky Way arches over a mirror-like lake on the island of Reunion. Luc Perrot waited two years before all the conditions were favourable for this photograph Photograph: Luc Perrot

Highly commended in the our solar system category. Perhaps the biggest astronomical event of 2012 was the transit of Venus, which took place in June Photograph: Paul Haese

Overall competition winner and winner of the deep space category. This image of the Whirlpool galaxy combines fine detail in the spiral arms with the faint tails of light that show its small companion galaxy being slowly torn apart by the gravity of its neighbour Photograph: Martin Pugh