An area shark, ‘royal’ auroras and a ‘Venusian pearl’: See the winners of the 2026 ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest

An image of a distant, shark-shaped cloud of fuel in house has earned the highest prize in a Royal Observatory Greenwich contest for beginner house photographers.

Dubbed “The Quiet Predator,” the picture by skywatcher Ali Alobaidly exhibits off the Shark Nebula (LDN 1235), which is roughly 650 light-years from Earth within the constellation Cepheus. (For perspective, the closest star system to our planet is barely about 4 light-years away.) The gorgeous picture was chosen as the general winner of the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s 18th ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest, whose honorees had been introduced Thursday (Sept. 17).

Alobaidly took the prize-winning picture from the Jahra governorate in Kuwait over two days in August 2025, utilizing an Askar 140 APO telescope, a Sky-Watcher EQ8-R mount and a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro digicam.

“The juxtaposition of an oceanic predator, prowling the skies above the Kuwaiti desert, is something I find deeply poetic, and it is what first drew me to this remarkable region of the sky,” Alobaidly stated in an announcement. “To me, it represents perfectly my love for both the universe, and the deserts of my ancestors.”

Alobaidly’s work, in addition to 10 ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year class winners, might be on show on the National Maritime Museum in London beginning Friday (Sept. 18). Alobaidly obtained a prize of 10,000 British kilos (about $13,300), whereas class winners and runners-up obtained numerous smaller money prizes.

Below are a number of of the person class winners, together with their breathtaking pictures.

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(Image credit score: © Radoslav Sviretsov)

Aurorae: “The Crown,” by Radoslav Sviretsov (Bulgaria). This picture was captured throughout a powerful northern lights display at a small church between Keflavík and Reykjavík, Iceland. The statement noted that the location is “far from light pollution ‪—‬ a place where the sky remains dark and truly alive.”

(Image credit: © Petr Horalek)

Our Moon: “Venusian Pearl on the Moon,” by Petr Horalek (Czechia). This image was taken on Sept. 19, 2025, when the moon passed in front of Venus from the perspective of select locations on Earth. “The most beautiful moment was when Venus had just started to disappear behind the crescent. It looked like a bright pearl on the lunar limb,” the observatory judges stated. (Horalek is no newcomer to astrophotography, and Live Science has featured several of his incredible images before.)

(Image credit: © Miguel Claro)

Our Sun: “Active Region 4122,” by Miguel Claro (Portugal). Claro, a frequent contributor to Space.com, a sister web site of Live Science, used a brand new dual-band telescope to seize the solar’s photosphere, or seen floor layer. Claro’s work exhibits convection cells, that are superheated fuel or plasma areas on the solar, in addition to vibrant spots between these areas.

(Image credit score: © Max Inwood)

People and Space: “A Message from the Ancients,” by Max Inwood (Aotearoa/New Zealand). Inwood showcased petroglyphs (historic rock artwork) in California’s desert in his prize-winning picture. The petroglyph within the picture is believed to indicate the 13 full moons Earth normally witnesses every year.

(Image credit score: © Tom Williams)

Planets, Comets & Asteroids: “Saturnian Equinox,” by Tom Williams (U.Ok.). Saturn’s rings seem edge-on from the attitude of Earth on this 2025 picture exhibiting a uncommon occasion throughout the planet’s near-30-year circuit of the solar. Williams’ picture shows “the start of local spring in the planet’s southern hemisphere,” observatory representatives acknowledged.

(Image credit score: © Stefano Pellegrini)

Skyscapes: “Botswana Star Trail,” by Stefano Pellegrini (Italy). This picture was captured in Botswana in a location known as Nxai Pan, which has giant baobab timber. “Pellegrini played with the exposure and saturation, resulting in this almost psychedelic image,” observatory representatives stated.

(Image credit score: © 智鹏 严and Xinran Li)

Galaxies: “NGC 4753: A Symphony of Dust Lanes in Virgo,” by © 智鹏 严and Xinran Li (China). This picture, taken in Chile, showcases NGC 4753, a galaxy roughly 60 million light-years from our planet, within the constellation Virgo. The picture highlights a “striking network of dust lanes swirling around its luminous core,” observatory representatives defined.

To see the complete listing of winners and the judges’ statements, go to the contest website.

Editor’s notice: This article was up to date on Sept. 18 at 9:30 a.m. ET. An earlier model mistakenly known as the constellation Cepheus ‘the whale’. In reality, Cetus is ‘the whale’ constellation.