Judging for this year's Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year Awards 2015 will take place next week.
With more entries than ever, it will be far from an easy task.
This year's competition has seen over 2,700 entries from over 60 countries across the globe.
It is the awards seventh year, and it has been newly expanded to cover the full breadth of what astronomy photography can offer.
The task of picking a winner will fall to the competition's nine judges.
For impressionist Jon Culshaw and photographer Ed Robinson it will be their first time facing the challenge.
The competition winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on 17 September 2015, and will then be showcased at a free exhibition that will be on display at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
Assiniboine Dreams - Paul Zizka, Taken in the Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia, the photographer spent most of his night on the Niblet taking in the breath-taking view.
Ghost of Eta - Rakibul Syed, NGC3324 or Gabriela Misteral Nebula shown on the right is more known to resemble a face and was named after the Nobel prize winner. However, to the photograph it resembles a Ghost guarding the nearby more popular Eta Carina nebula, leading to the title ‘Ghost of Eta’.
Glacier Aurora II - Paul Zizka, Lining up all the ingredients for a glacier ice night shoot at the Athasbasca Glacier, in Jasper National Park was exciting enough for the photographer, but when the sky filled with aurora it was all the more exciting. The aurora showed a wide array of colours and shapes over the Canadian Rockies and lasted several hours, making a dream come true for the photographer.
IC2177 – The Seagull Nebula - Bob Franke, A four-panel mosaic depicting the Seagull Nebula. The name Seagull Nebula is sometimes applied by amateur astronomers, although it more accurately includes the neighbouring regions of star clusters, dust clouds and reflection nebulae. This latter region includes the open clusters NGC 2335 and NGC 2343 and the reflection nebula NGC 2327
Irresistible - Andrew Whyte, Taken at the Dark Sky site of the Brecon Beacons, the image shows the Sgwd yr Eira Waterfall in the National Park gleaming under the night sky. The photographer was able to position his camera on one side of the river, cross behind the waterfall and trigger the camera from the other side of the river using only his phone meaning he could use just the right amount of light to gently illuminate the landscape.
Lunar Eclipse setting over Convict Lake - Jeff Sullivan, The landscape around Convict Lake was well lit by the moonlight as the Lunar eclipse started when the photographer took the image. He then captured the moon at roughly 8 minute intervals thereafter and merged the sequential images into the original exposure using StarStaX. A second camera was used to test exposure so the main camera could be adjusted as the moon dimmed.
Skogafoss, Iceland – 360 Degree Panorama - Vincent Brady, On the night of October 27th 2014, the aurorae flowed through the sky like cold river at the bottom of the mighty Skogafoss. In a shallow spot, the photographer placed his 4 cameras with fisheye rigs to shoot a panorama time-lapse for several hours.
On Top - Tommaso Maiocchi, Taken on the 14th April 2014; the day of the lunar eclipse, in Canyonlands National Park. The moon rose as the sun set, and at the time the image was taken, the moon was just above one of the Buttes in the park.
Quiver trees and Shooting Star - Ivan van Niekirk, The Milky Way shines over quiver trees at Bet-El Farm in the Northern Cape of South Africa. The photographer used diffused LED lights to illuminate the trees rivalling the glow from the star above.
The ‘Tower’ and the Milky Way - Rónán McLaughlin, In Malin Head, Co. Donegal, the Milky Way illuminates the sky above a tall derelict building known locally as "The Tower" that was built in 1805 by the Admiralty, and later used as a Lloyds Signal Station.
Full Moonrise Composite - Steve Knight, Taken from just outside Port de Pollenca in Majorca, the photographer set the camera to take images 2 seconds apart to create a timelapse. He then selected 6 images taken 140 seconds apart and stacked them using StarStax to get the effect of the moons just touching. The colour change in the rising moon illustrates a beautiful display of atmospheric Rayleigh scattering.
The Magic Mountain - Alexa Kershaw, A breathtaking display of the aurora in the remote fishing village of Grundarfjörður, on Iceland's west coast taken at 3am in the morning.
Total Solar Eclipse Faroe Islands March 20 2015-4 - Rebecca & Remy Hoehener, A sequence of the total Solar Eclipse on 20th March 2015. The image is a composite intended to visualize how the eclipse progresses over two hours and was taken as part of a 2 hour photo session to capture the total solar eclipse in the Faroe Islands – one of the only two populated locations to experience totality.
Venus and Mars in conjunction with Moon below Feb 20 2015 - Martin Campbell, Looking at the western evening sky on February 20th 2015, the photographer was aware that dazzling Venus and the red planet Mars had been locked in a celestial embrace over the previous few nights. When a young crescent Moon muscled in on the planetary dance it provided him with a compelling photographic opportunity.
The Stars Among Us - Terence Kong, Taken in Kirkjufell, Iceland, the photographer was worried that on his first stargazing session in Iceland he would not have the best view of the night sky. With patience and a little luck after a couple of hours the storm clouds drifted away and revealed the sea of stars behind and took a self-portrait to document his experience.
Westerhever at Night - Tom Davidson, Light rays emitted by the light house streaking across the night sky are captured by a long exposure (20s). One of the glasses in the lighthouse creates a red beam, contrasting with the southern part of the Milky Way visible on the left of the photograph.
Ezzy Pearson is the Features Editor of BBC Sky at Night Magazine. Her first book about the history of robotic planetary landers is out now from The History Press.
The Stars Among Us - Terence Kong, Taken in Kirkjufell, Iceland, the photographer was worried that on his first stargazing session in Iceland he would not have the best view of the night sky. With patience and a little luck after a couple of hours the storm clouds drifted away and revealed the sea of stars behind and took a self-portrait to document his experience.
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