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.

Shooting star by Tony Wu, US/Japan. Winner, underwater. The electrifying reproductive dance of a giant sea star. As the surrounding water filled with sperm and eggs from spawning sea stars, Wu faced several challenges. Stuck in a small, enclosed bay with only a macro lens for photographing small subjects, he backed up to squeeze the undulating sea star into his field of view. The dancing posture of spawning sea stars rising and swaying may help release eggs and sperm, or may help sweep the eggs and sperm into the currents where they fertilise together in the water. Kinko Bay, Japan. (Photo by Tony Wu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

A huge atlas moth, with a wingspan of more than 9in, photographed on an areca nut plantation in Sirsi, India. (Photo by Uday Hegde/Close Up Photographer of the Year)

Cha Huilan, a 40-year old Lisu woman, and her daughter leave Lazimi village with a zipline across the Nu River in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan province, China, March 24, 2018. Chinese mountain villagers, cut off from shops and churches by a raging river, use a zipline to cross its violent rapids and jagged rocks. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

Maja, a 40-year-old elephant, extends her trunk into a bakery as a customer buys a newspaper while Maja took a stroll through the neighborhood with her minders from a nearby circus on July 1, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A woman reacts as anti-government protesters place a dead body on a stretcher after violence erupted in the Independence Square in Kiev, in this February 20, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Kia Vue of St. Paul sports long nails at the Minnesota Hmong New Year celebration Saturday, November 29, 2014, at the Saint Paul RiverCentre in St. Paul, MN. The annual Minnesota Hmong New Year celebration will be held at the Saint Paul RiverCentre November 28–30. Hmong New Year has a deep cultural significance to the Hmong community. It is a celebration of accomplishments during the past year and a time to welcome a new beginning. (Photo by David Joles/Star Tribune)

Children play football in front of an abandoned train compartment next to a railway track in Dhaka, in this May 29, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Andrew Biraj/Reuters)