Amateur astronomer Bill Snyder has been involved with astrophotography since 2007. Photo: The Cygnus Wall is in the southern area of NGC7000 also known as the North America Nebula. It is approximately 1800 light years from Earth, and is in the constellation Cygnus. The Wall is an energized shock front and contains the most concentrated star formations in the nebula. The size of the North America Nebula is about 4 full moons. (Photo and caption by Bill Snyder)

This strange coral-looking specimen is actually a mushroom. The photo, “Beautiful Destroyer”, was taken in the Panamanian tropical rainforest where the mushroom produces nitrogen, an element vital to soil health. (Photo by Sarah A. Batterman)

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.

Young Icelandic mares graze on a meadow in Wehrheim near Frankfurt, Germany, on a foggy Tuesday, September 26, 2023. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

American singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, American rapper Lizzo and models Bella and Gigi Hadid had a bit of fun inside the gala on May 2, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Lizzo/Instagram)

Demonstrators react during a rally in support of legal and safe abortion and to mark the International Safe Abortion Day in Bogota, Colombia on September 28, 2021. (Photo by Luisa Gonzalez/Reuters)

“The Space Launch System, or SLS, is a Shuttle-Derived heavy launch vehicle being designed by NASA, following the cancellation of the Constellation Program, to replace the Space Shuttle after its retirement. The NASA Authorization Act of 2010 envisions the transformation of the Ares I and Ares V vehicle designs into a single launch vehicle usable for both crew and cargo. It is to be upgraded over time with more powerful versions. The proposed SLS is visually similar to the legacy Saturn V booster and in particular the proposed, two-stage, Saturn INT-20”. – Wikipedia

Photo: In this illustration provided by NASA, the design for a new space rocket system, the Space Launch System, is seen. NASA's new rocket design will reportedly cost about $35 billion and be ready to for test launch in 2017. According to NASA, the rocket will be used to carry Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle as well as cargo and science experiments to earth's orbit, as a backup for the space station and possibly destinations beyond that. (Illustration by NASA via Getty Images)

Dancers perform during the Shirasagi-no Mai, or White Heron Dance, at the Sensoji Temple on April 09, 2023 in Tokyo, Japan. The parade, which originated in the 8th-12th century in Kyoto, was revived in 1968 to celebrate Tokyo's 100th Anniversary and to wish for peace. The dance is now held twice a year, in April and November, at the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, one of Tokyo's most popular tourist destinations for foreign visitors. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)