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.

Indonesian activists covered with sludge from the mud volcano hold a protest during five year anniversary of the Sidoarjo mud eruption on May 29, 2011 in the subdistrict of Porong in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

A crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous), also known as the forest fox, wood fox, or maikong, is seen in the wild in the municipality of Guasca, some 50 km from Bogota, on May 16, 2020. (Photo by Diana Sánchez/AFP Photo)

MiG-15 jet fighters are pictured in Kucova Air Base in Kucova, Albania on October 3, 2018. Albania retired its 224 Soviet- and Chinese-made MiGs in 2005, and since 2009 NATO neighbors Italy and Greece monitor its airspace. That led to economic decline in and around Kucova, which was called “Stalin City” during the era of Communist rule. (Photo by Florion Goga/Reuters)

Picture dated March 28th 2022 shows a Typhoon training over Lincolnshire as it prepares for this years airshows. The Typhoon jet took part in a number of air shows across the UK last year. Out of season it is used for operational sorties. (Photo by Claire Hartley/Bav Media)

Hikers walk to reach the top of Naqba Rum area in South Sinai, Egypt, November 20, 2015. Bedouins in the "Sinai is Safe" group guided more than 100 hikers over a 25 km (15 mile) trek over the trails of the White Canyon and the Closed Canyon. The NGO aims to challenge mainstream perceptions of the area by encouraging Nile Valley residents to explore the untamed wilderness with the Bedouin tribes. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)

The Prince Albert Cairn, built in 1862 by Queen Victoria, is surrounded by snow and ice, near Balmoral, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Friday November 22, 2024. (Photo by Jane Barlow/PA Wire via AP Photo)