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.

Thousands gather to rally for marriage equality ahead of a national postal survey on September 10, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. The High Court handed down its decision on Thursday to allow the government's proposed postal ballot survey to go ahead. Ballots with the question “Should the law be changed to allow same-sеx couples to marry?” will be sent to households across Australia on September 12. (Photo by Jonny Weeks/The Guardian)

An Egyptian man shows off his motorcycle skills, following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Cairo, Egypt on July 17, 2020. (Photo by Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)

Beautiful, strange and occasionally alarming pictures from the shortlist for this year’s Wellcome image awards – which celebrate the very best in science photography and imaging – from an x-ray of a bat to a micrograph of a kidney stone. The exhibition opens on 12 March at three science centres and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Photo: Scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of an Arabidopsis thaliana flower, also commonly known as thale cress. Some of the anthers are open, revealing pollen grains ready for dispersal. Arabidopsis was the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced and is widely used as a model organism in molecular and plant biology. Horizontal width of image is 1200 microns. Magnification 100x. (Photo by Stefan Eberhard/Wellcome Images)

Yala national park, Sri Lanka. Category: Action. “The daylight was fading and I was scanning the bush for a leopard. Then, I saw this garden lizard and a common bronzeback snake in the road. When the snake struck, the lizard performed amazing acrobatics to avoid it. The snake didn’t enjoy the extra attention from the crowd of jeeps. The distraction gave the lizard the chance to live another day”. (Photo by Sajith Buddikha Withanage/National Geographic Traveller UK)

A man dressed as Mr. Destructoid checks his mobile phone while gamers play a game at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3, in Los Angeles, June 10, 2014. REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn

Relatives of the Afghan Army soldiers, who are trapped in Obde district of Herat while fighting against Taliban militants, protest to demand the government evacuate the injured soldiers, in Herat, Afghanistan, 17 June 2021. Afghan authorities said they are in the process to arrange the evacuation of Army soldiers from the restive district soon. There has been a particularly bloody spike in violence in the country in recent weeks, following the start of the withdrawal of US troops from the country, a process due to be complete by September 11. (Photo by Jalil Rezayee/EPA/EFE)

Sea of clouds is seen after a rainfall at the Huangshan Mountain scenic spot on April 10, 2019 in Huangshan, Anhui Province of China. (Photo by Fang Lihua/Qianlong.com/VCG via Getty Images)