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 Siege of Sidney Street, popularly known as the “Battle of Stepney”, was a notorious gunfight in London's East End on the 2nd of January 1911. Preceded by the Houndsditch Murders, it ended with the deaths of two members of a supposedly politically-motivated gang of burglars supposedly led by Peter Piatkow, a.k.a. “Peter the Painter”, and sparked a major political row over the involvement of the then Home Secretary, Winston Churchill”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Scots Guards and police on duty during the “Siege of Sidney Street” in east London. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). 3rd January 1911

Young Ian Archibald ponders the consequences of a complex critical study of beauty contestants during the Miss TV Times finals in London. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images). 30 July 1971

The silhouette of a woman is reflected in a puddle as she crosses a square in front of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg on March, 17, 2019. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)

These girls are all smiles as they celebrate surviving A-level results day in Birmingham, England on August 15, 2019. The A Level is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom. (Photo by SnapperSK/SnapperMS)

A couple sit on the terrase of a cafe in Istanbul as seagulls fly over them on September 10, 2019. (Photo by Ozan Kose/AFP Photo)

A woman struggles to drink homemade alcohol poured from the mouth of an idol of “Swet Bhairab” during the annual Indra Jatra festival to worship Indra, Kumari and other deities and to mark the end of monsoon season in Kathmandu, Nepal on September 15, 2019. (Photo by Monika Deupala/Reuters)

Vinaya Vijay, right, and Vijay Parthasarathy wade through water at Badwater Basin, Thursday, February 22, 2024, in Death Valley National Park, Calif. The basin, normally a salt flat, has filled from rain over the past few months. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)