Taliban security forces ride horses along the Qargha Lake on the outskirts of Kabul on May 11, 2023. (Photo by Wakil Kohsar/AFP Photo)

The Royal Observatory just announced its Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2013 winners. Australian photographer Mark Gee was chosen among a thousand amateur and professional photographers around the globe to win the top title. His work is part of an exhibition of the winning photographers, which opened on Sept. 19 at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. The Royal Observatory shared with us the winners and notable mentions of the competition. Their descriptions of the prizewinners can be found below the images.

An aerial view shows the 11/19 pit and twin slag heaps at the former coal mine site in Loos-en-Gohelle, northern France, November 1, 2015. Loos-en-Gohelle, a town of 7000 inhabitants in the North of France, marked by the closure of coal mines in 1970, has demonstrated a successful transition from coal to a green economy. (Photo by Pascal Rossignol/Reuters)

Brazilian fashion modell Gisele Bundchen on March 9, 2023 teases for Brazilian footwear brand Arezzo's Winter 2023 campaign. The newly-divorced 42-year-old transforms into a blonde bombshell in these striking images to promote the sassy collection by creative director Giovanni Bianco. (Photo by Arezzo/The Mega Agency)

A child with his body and face painted prepares to attend the sacred Ngerebeg ritual at the Tegallalang village in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia, 03 April 2024. The sacred Ngerebeg ritual takes place every six months and it is mainly aimed at driving all evil spirits out of the villages. During the ritual, the participants paint their bodies in various colors and patterns to join the procession across the village. (Photo by Made Nagi/EPA/EFE)

A Saudi trader wears a mask as he monitors stock information at the Saudi stock market in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on August 25, 2020. (Photo by Ahmed Yosri/Reuters)

Starlings gather on power lines at dusk, Friday, October 21, 2022, in Overland Park, Kan. (Photo by Charlie Riedel/AP Photo)

Engineer Mikhail Venin works on an antenna for the Express AM8 new generation geostationary telecommunications heavy satellite at the large-sized transformed mechanical systems centre of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems company in the Siberian town of Zheleznogorsk April 2, 2014. The Express AM6 is a new generation satellite providing services including Russian governmental and presidential mobile communication, digital television and broadcasting, according to the Reshetnev company representatives. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)