Audrey Tautou poses at a photo call during The 66th Annual Cannes Film Festival at at Palais des Festivals on May 14, 2013 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Valery Hache/AFP Photo)

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.

Activists protest against the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI on the eve of his arrival on September 21,2011 in Berlin, Germany. A variety of groups, including the poltically left-wing as well as gay and lesbian rights advocates, partook in the demonstration. The Pope is scheduled to visit Germany from September 22–25. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Demonstrators confront riot police during clashes in central Brussels November 6, 2014. Tens of thousands of public and private sector workers, employees and trade union members demonstrated over austerity measures to be taken by the new Belgian government. (Photo by Francois Lenoir/Reuters)

Protester Lauren Digioia wears police tape during an Occupy Wall Street protest in Union Square on March 19, 2012 in New York City. Protesters affiliated with the movement are gathering in Union Square today following 73 arrests at a six-month anniversary rally at Zuccotti Park over the weekend. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Iranian worshippers chant slogans during a protest after their Friday prayer, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad on September 14, 2012. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/Associated Press)

Turks stand in a silent protest in Kugulu Park in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. After weeks of sometimes-violent confrontation with police, Turkish protesters have found a new form of resistance: standing still and silent. The banner with an image of Turkey's founder Kemal Ataturk reads: “Which crazy person thinks they can put me in chains”. (Photo by Burhan Ozbilic/AP Photoi)