ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2025, hosted by Royal Observatory Greenwich and BBC Sky at Night Magazine, has just released its shortlist of remarkable images to this year’s competition (previously). For its 17th edition, jurors selected 30 photos from more than 5,580 entries, submitted from all over the world, that highlight the incredible formations and phenomena of the Solar System.
In the Eastern New District of Xinxing County, Guangdong, China, PengFei Chou captured the Sun during a solar prominence, with a plasma eruption that extended more than 310,000 miles into space. The image comprises 20 stacked data sets to illuminate the entire process, as if caught in slow-motion.
Along with distant nebulae, comets, and eclipses, photographers also captured cosmic drama framed by terrestrial landscapes. Benjamin Barakat chronicles stars making circles in the sky as the Earth appears to spin around a dragon tree in Firmihin Forest, Hidaybu District, Yemen. And Jim Hildreth documented a glowing arc of the Milky Way as it swept over Moonscape Overlook in Wayne County, Utah.
Winners in 10 categories, including an overall winner, will be announced on September 11. An exhibition then opens the following day at the National Maritime Museum. Peruse all of the shortlisted photographs and plan your visit on the Royal Museums Greenwich website.
