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 monkey drinks water from a tap on a hot afternoon in Jammu, the winter capital Kashmir, India, 17 May 2016. Temperatures of around 42 degrees Celsius were forecast in the region. According to the news reports the Indian government decided to divert water by its river interlinking plans from rivers like Brahmaputra and the Ganges towards those rivers facing the drought likesituation . Many Indian states have been affected by drought and have been hit hard by water scarcity. (Photo by Jaipal Singh/EPA)

An injured man is carried atop an Iraqi special forces armored vehicle during fighting against Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

Residents with faces covered in ash ride on a motorcycle as Mount Sinabung volcano erupts, in Sukandebi village in Karo Regency, Indonesia's North Sumatra province, Indonesia June 13, 2015, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. (Photo by Rony Muharrman/Reuters/Antara Foto)

In a simpler time all a child or an adult needed to enjoy the outdoors was a ball and a stick. Or maybe an old tire tied to a high branch to fashion a swing. And the only instruction given to children was to “be home before dark”. Now there are iPads and computers and television screens and shrinking safe public spaces. But despite the distractions and limitations of space, these images show the charm of kicking a ball or skipping rope endures. Sometimes with modifications as a nod to changing times. Here: in this Saturday, June 20, 2015 photo, a boy runs while playing with a motorcycle wheel in Samugari, Ayacucho, Peru. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP Photo)

Girls ride an improvised motorbike public transport along with bicycles they received from their school under a government scheme in Malancha, South 24 Pargana district, India, Wednesday, October 20, 2021. (Photo by Bikas Das/AP Photo)

A woman is arrested during a mass gathering protest organised by the group called “UK Freedom Movement”, in Hyde Park in London as the country is in lockdown to help stop the spread of coronavirus, Saturday, May 16, 2020. The group claims that the coronavirus lockdown is illegal. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)

A security officer looks at a scanning screen for checking passengers' temperature at the Istanbul Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 9, 2020. Technology and innovation will top the precautions of Turkey's biggest airport Istanbul Airport against the COVID-19 in the post-pandemic era, according to the management of the airport. The management on June 9 presented their final preparations and measures taken against coronavirus while Turkish airline companies are preparing to resume their international operations the next day. (Photo by Yasin Akgul/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images)