The Northern lights made an appearance just after midnight on Wednesday over Sycamore Gap in Northumberland, North East England on September 13, 2023, with the aurora pillars visible. (Photo by Ian Sproat/Picture Exclusive)

M42 Subtle V1 cropped. One of the most well-known astronomical objects in our universe is the Orion Nebula and this image depicts the wider region of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that is its home. This complex also includes another popular target for astrophotographers, the Horsehead Nebula, as well as Barnard’s Loop and the Running Man Nebula, which can be seen to the left of this photograph. (Photo by Patrick Gilliland)

Anissa Barbato from New York looks out over the city as she takes pictures from the Edge, the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere on September 2, 2020 as it reopened to the public in New York. Rising 1,131 feet in the air from the heart of Hudson Yards it offers 360-degree views of New York Citys iconic skyline from the 100th floor outdoor viewing. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)

The Villarrica volcano shows signs of activity, as seen from Pucon, some 800 kilometers south of Santiago, on November 21, 2022. Villarrica volcano is among the most active in South America. (Photo by Mario Quilodran/AFP Photo)

A woman yawns as she sits outside a hospital on a cold winter morning in Srinagar January 3, 2019. (Photo by Danish Ismail/Reuters)

Festival goer with phallus logo t-shirt during the Kanamara Matsuri Steel Phallus Festival at Kawasaki, Japan on April 2, 2017. The Kanamara Matsuri or Festival of the Steel Phallus is held on the first Sunday of April at the Kanayama shrine. The shrine celebrates a legend of a steel pen*s and was frequented by prostitutes who wished to pray for protection from sexually transmitted diseases. Visitors now wish for easy delivery, marriage and matrimonial harmony. Because of the large steel phallus the unusual festival has become a tourist attraction attracting many overseas visitors and is used to raise money for HIV charities. Phallus shaped candy, carved vegetables, decorations, and a big parade are all part of the festival. (Photo by DELETREE/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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.

The Milky Way galaxy is seen in the sky above the International Car Forest of the Last Church in Goldfield, Nevada on July 18, 2020. The roadside attraction, created in 2002 by Mark Rippie, has over 36 automobiles including cars, trucks, vans and buses that have been balanced on their ends or stacked on top one of another. (Photo by David Becker/AFP Photo)