A boy plays with a toy plane on the eve of a solar eclipse, in La Higuera, Coquimbo Region, in the Atacama desert about 580 km north of Santiago, on July 1, 2019. A total solar eclipse will be visible from small parts of Chile and Argentina on July 2. (Photo by Martin Bernetti/AFP Photo)

(L-R) American singers Gwen Stefani of No Doubt and Olivia Rodrigo perform at the Coachella Stage during the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Club on April 13, 2024 in Indio, California. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for No Doubt)

LADANIVA, representing Armenia, performs “Jako” during the Grand Final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, in Malmo, Sweden, on May 11, 2024. (Photo by Leonhard Foeger/Reuters)

Dancers pose for a photo as they prepare during Festival Cilung or “Love the Environment” Festival, where boats made from recycled materials, mostly plastic bottles, sail on the Ciliwung River, one of the most polluted rivers in the world, to raise public awareness about river pollution, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on September 28, 2025. (Photo by Willy Kurniawan/Reuters)

Model Georgia Salpa attends the UK Premiere of “A Good Day To Die Hard” at Empire Leicester Square on February 7, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by UK Press)

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.

“Elat’ma, the Ryazan Oblast region of Russia. This small town is only 300 kilometers (186 miles) from modern Moscow but remains 60 years in the past, dominated by the spirit of socialism. The air of the communist ‘50s can be seen in the town’s architecture, celebrations and other occurrences. But neither its beauty nor its ties to a socialist past brought photographer Anastasia Rudenko to this village. Elat’ma is unique in that it functions as a town for mentally disabled people”. – Michelle Cohan via CNN. (Photo by Anastasia Rudenko)

Caoimhe Cooburn-Gray poses for a picture on St. Patrick's day in Dublin, Ireland March 17, 2016. Saint Patrick's Day is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of shamrocks, as well as green or orange attire. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)