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.

China’s new tallest building has received unexpected publicity thanks to Russian free climbers Vadim Makhorov and Vitaly Raskalov. The pair took two hours to climb 650 metres up the unfinished Shanghai Tower. They did not use safety equipment on their ascent to the top of a crane attached to the tower, from where they took these extraordinary pictures of Shanghai. Photo: Vitaly Raskalov's feet dangle from the top of the Shanghai Tower, high above the Shanghai World Financial Centre. (Photo by Vitaly Raskalov/Caters News Agency)

The buildings of the banking district are seen through thousands of rain drops on a glass railing in central Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, January 11, 2017. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Palestinian protesters take cover amid clashes with Israeli security forces during a raid in the old city of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, on May 9, 2023. The Israeli army said its troops had entered Nablus in the northern West Bank, with residents telling AFP they heard explosions during the raid. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics treated 145 injuries in Nablus, the majority from tear gas inhalation while a dozen people were shot with live fire. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP Photo)

The winners of the Historic Photographer of the Year Awards 2020 from triphistoric.com celebrate the places and cultural sites around the world that offer a window to the history that exists all around us. This year, restricted by Covid, photographers were called on to scour their photographic archive to share their imagery of those places that dominate our past. Here: The Brighton Palace Pier. (Photo by Michael Marsh/Historic Photographer of the Year 2020)

A brilliant sunset makes for a fun silhouette picture by jumping between sand bars at Shi Shi Beach on the Olympic Peninsula Friday July 17, 2015. (Photo by Bettina Hansen/The Seattle Times)

Cars slowly move along a bridge in traffic jam in central Moscow, Russia on December 11, 2018. (Photo by Yuri Kadobnov/AFP Photo)

A general view shows smoke and volcanic ashes billowing from volcano Cotopaxi in Pedregal, Ecuador, late 07 October 2015. (Photo by Jose Jacome/EPA)