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.

A woman looks out of a dusty window after boarding a bus to be transported to see the casket of Nelson Mandela at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday December 11, 2013. On Thursday, December 5, 2013, Mandela died at the age of 95. (Photo by Markus Schreiber/AP Photo)

LOCOG Chair and former Olympian Lord Sebastian Coe holds a prototype design of the new golden Olympic Torch during its unveiling at St Pancras Station on June 8, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Maj. Matt O'Donnell of Glenelg, MD shields himself from rotor wash as Ospreys carrying the delegation of U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta leaves on March 14, 2012 at Forward Operating Base Shukvani, Afghanistan. Panetta is also scheduled to meet with President Karzai during his two-day visit to Afghanistan. The trip comes as the Taliban has vowed revenge following this past weekend's killing spree by a U.S. soldier who is accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan. Most of those killed were children and women. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A demonstrator takes part during a rally against Chile's government on the second anniversary of the protests and riots that rocked the capital in 2019, in Santiago, Chile, October 18, 2021. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)

A man drinks a Frucola as a policeman chases demonstrators during a protest against Chile's government in Santiago, Chile on December 4, 2019. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

The Forth Bridge is engulfed by mist on one of the coldest days of the year, on December 12, 2022, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Ken Jack/Getty Images)

An image of a Fennec fox painted on a tree hole by Wang Yue is seen in Shijiazhuang, on March 13, 2013. Wang Yue, a senior at Dalian Industry University, uses her paintbrush to turn ugly tree holes into lovely views in Shijiazhuang, capital city of Hebei Province, China. Wang and her companions call the tree-hole paintings “meitu”, which means “beautiful journey”. The paintings on the trees have brightened the city during the dull, grey winter. (Photo by Pillar Lee/Reuters)

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