Thousands of photographers from around the world entered the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition Stunning images capture numerous astronomical phenomenon, including eclipse of the sun and meteor showers Mark Gee from Australia won the top prize for his photograph of the Milky Way over the Cape Palliser, New Zealand Collection will be exhibited at the Royal Observatorys Astronomy Centre in Greenwich from today

By Lizzie Edmonds

PUBLISHED: 06:53 EST, 19 September 2013 | UPDATED: 09:54 EST, 19 September 2013

986 shares

41

View comments

From a remarkable meteor shower to stunning pictures of the swirling gases and galaxies in deep space, these are just a few of the phenomenal images entered into this year's Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.

Over a thousand amateur and professional photographers from around the world entered the competition, but Australian Mark Gee won the top prize for his beautiful image of the sky over the southern hemisphere, decorated with a number of astronomical highlights.

The shot shows central regions of the Milky Way Galaxy - over 26,000 light years away - appearing as a tangle of dust and stars, lit up by a lighthouse on the Cape Palliser, New Zealand, shining out to sea.

Winning shot: Mark Gee's image of the Milky Way came first in the Earth and Space Category as well as being voted overall winner

More here:

Astronomy Photographer of the Year winners are stellar array of images