JAKARTA – The photo of a rare comet that will never be seen from Earth again won a prestigious photographic award. The image shows part of Comet Leonard’s tail cut off and blown away by the solar wind.
The comet appeared briefly and is visible from Earth in 2021, but has now left our Solar System.
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London’s Royal Observatory Greenwich, which organizes the astronomical photography contest, called the images “jaw-dropping”.
The event also honored two 14-year-olds in Sichuan, China, in the Young Astronomical Photographer of the Year category.
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The images will be on display in an exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in London starting Saturday.
“Comets look different by the hour, it’s a very surprising thing,” said award-winning photographer Gerald Rhemann, from Vienna, Austria.
The image was taken on Christmas Day 2021 from an observatory in Namibia. Rhemann had no idea that the comet’s tail would drop, leaving a trail of glittering dust behind.
“I love taking pictures – this is the pinnacle of my photographic career,” he said.
Astronomer Dr Ed Bloomer, who was one of the judges of the competition, said the image was one of the best photographs of a comet in history.
“Perfect astrophotography is a blend of science and art. Not only is it technically sophisticated and projects the viewer into a deep dark space, it is also visually engaging and exciting,” said Dr. Hannah Lyons, assistant curator of the art at the Royal Museums Greenwich the BBC.
Meanwhile, to get the winning image, Yang Hanwen and Zhou Zezhen, both 14, teamed up to photograph the Andromeda Galaxy, one of the Milky Way’s closest and largest neighbors.
The image shows the incredible colors of the galaxies near our galaxy.
“I think this photo shows how beautiful our closest neighbors are,” said Yang Hanwen.
The Young Astronomical Photographer of the Year category is awarded to people under the age of 16.
Dr Lyons said he was “amazed” by the quality of the young photographer, “making the most extraordinary images”.
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