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.

This breathtaking view from the world's tallest building shows a thick blanket of smoggy fog smother Dubai. The mist almost completely covers the huge sculptures which dominate the skyline. And the spectacular view from the Burj Khalifa – standing at a staggering 828 metres tall – shows the city engulfed by the thick fog. And the smoggy fog reaches heights of up to 400 metres as it rises above the impressive skyscrapers in Dubai. (Photo by Bjoern Lauen/Solent News/SIPA Press)

This bat gives a cheeky smile as he gobbles down his food at Singapore Zoo, on September 10, 2013. (Photo by Benny Iskander/HotSpot Media)

A man holds his umbrella during snowfall on the Areopagitou pedestrian street beneath the Acropolis hill during snowfall in Athens, Greece, January 10, 2017. (Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters)

An alligator named Muja is seen in its enclosure in Belgrade's Zoo, Serbia, August 14, 2018. Muja is officially the oldest American alligator in the world living in captivity. He was brought to Belgrade from Germany in 1937, a year after the opening of the Zoo. Muja survived three bombings of Belgrade, the Second World War and all hardships the Zoo went through. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

M42 Subtle V1 cropped. One of the most well-known astronomical objects in our universe is the Orion Nebula and this image depicts the wider region of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that is its home. This complex also includes another popular target for astrophotographers, the Horsehead Nebula, as well as Barnard’s Loop and the Running Man Nebula, which can be seen to the left of this photograph. (Photo by Patrick Gilliland)

A view of St Thomas Becket church during the morning frost, in Fairfield, Kent, England, Thursday, January 6, 2022, following freezing overnight temperatures. (Photo by Gareth Fuller/PA Wire via AP Photo)