INSIGHT ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2017 ANNOUNCES
COMPETITION DATES AND WELCOMES REBECCA ROTH OF NASA TO THE JUDGING
PANEL
22 February 2017: The Royal Observatory Greenwich, in association with Insight Investment and BBC
Sky at Night Magazine, announces the dates for the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017
competition – its annual global search for the most beautiful and spectacular visions of the cosmos,
whether they are striking pictures of vast galaxies millions of light years away, or dramatic images of the
night sky much closer to home.
Now in its ninth year, the hugely popular competition will open to entrants on Monday 27 February giving
them a chance of taking home the grand prize of £10,000. Entrants will have until Friday 7 April to enter
up to ten images into the various categories of the competition via www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto.
The competition also welcomes Rebecca Roth of NASA to the judging panel. Based in Washington D.C.
Rebecca is a photographer, photo editor and social media specialist, currently working as the Image
Coordinator and Social Media Specialist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Rebecca has worked at
NASA for nearly 8 years and is charged with sharing amazing images of our universe with the media and
with the public through channels such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Prior to working at NASA,
Rebecca worked as a photojournalist and photo editor for outlets including National Geographic
Television & Film, Roll Call Newspaper, and USA Weekend Magazine. Of her latest role as a judge for the
Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017, Rebecca has said, “At NASA Goddard, we build
spacecraft and instruments, and invent new technology to study the Earth, the sun, our solar system, and
the universe – a favorite part of my job is sharing images of these spacecraft and the images they produce
with the public. This will be an exciting and unique opportunity to see the spectacular images of space
captured by the public themselves and discovering their photographic interpretations of the night sky and
beyond.”
Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017 has nine main categories:
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Skyscapes: Landscape and cityscape images of twilight and the night sky featuring the Milky
Way, star trails, meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, constellation rises, halos and noctilucent
clouds alongside elements of earthly scenery.
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Aurorae: Photographs featuring auroral activity.
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People and Space: Photographs of the night sky including people or a human interest element.
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Our Sun: Solar images including solar eclipses and transits.
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Our Moon: Lunar images including lunar eclipses and occultation of planets.
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Planets, Comets and Asteroids: Everything else in our solar system, including planets and
their satellites, comets, asteroids and other forms of zodiacal debris.
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Stars and Nebulae: Deep space objects within the Milky Way galaxy, including stars, star
clusters, supernova remnants, nebulae and other intergalactic phenomena.
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Galaxies: Deep space objects beyond the Milky Way galaxy, including galaxies, galaxy clusters,
and stellar associations.
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Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year: Pictures taken by budding astronomers
under the age of 16 years old.
There are also two special prizes: The Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer is awarded to the best
photo by an amateur astrophotographer who has taken up the hobby in the last year and who has not
entered an image into the competition before, and Robotic Scope, acknowledges the best photo taken
using one of the increasing number of computer-controlled telescopes at prime observing sites around the
world which can be accessed over the internet by members of the public.
Entries to the competition must be submitted by 7 April 2017, and the winning images will be showcased
in the annual free exhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich from 14 September 2017.
Photographers can enter online by visiting www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto and each entrant may submit up to
ten images to the competition.
NOTES TO EDITORS

The winners of Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2017 will be announced at an award
ceremony at the Royal Observatory on 14 September 2017. The winning photographs will be
exhibited in the Astronomy Centre from 16 September 2017. Entry to the exhibition is free.

The overall winner will receive £10,000. Winners of all categories including the Young Astronomy
Photographer of the Year will receive £1,500. There are also prizes for runners-up (£500) and
highly commended (£250) entries. The Special Prize winners will receive £750. All of the winning
entries will receive a one year subscription to BBC Sky at Night Magazine. The full list of rules
for photographers are available at http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/astronomy-photographercompetition/adult-rules
and
http://www.rmg.co.uk/discover/astronomy-photographercompetition/young-rules

The Royal Observatory Greenwich is home of Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian
and one of the most important historic scientific sites in the world. Since its founding in 1675,
Greenwich has been at the centre of the measurement of time and space. Today the Observatory
galleries and Peter Harrison Planetarium help unravel the extraordinary phenomena of time,
space and astronomy.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich is part of Royal Museums Greenwich which also
incorporates the National Maritime Museum, the 17th-century Queen’s House and Cutty Sark.
Royal Museums Greenwich works to illustrate for everyone the importance of the sea, ships, time
and the stars and their relationship with people. This unique collection of attractions, which form
a key part of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site, welcomes over two million
British and international visitors a year and is also a major centre of education and research. For
more information visit www.rmg.co.uk.

About Insight Investment
Insight Investment is a leading asset manager focused on designing investment solutions to meet
its clients’ needs. Founded in 2002, Insight’s partnership approach has delivered both investment
performance and impressive growth in assets under management. Insight manages £523bn
($646bn) across liability-driven investment, fixed income & currency, global multi-asset and
absolute return, global farmland and specialist equities 1. The value of investments and any
income from them will fluctuate and is not guaranteed (this may be partly due to exchange rate
fluctuations). Investors may not get back the full amount invested. Past performance is not a
guide to future performance.
www.insightinvestment.com
As at 31 December 2016. Assets under management (AUM) are represented by the value of cash securities and other
economic exposure managed for clients. Reflects the AUM of Insight, the corporate brand for certain companies operated
by Insight Investment Management Limited (IIML). Insight includes, among others, Insight Investment Management
(Global) Limited (IIMG), Pareto Investment Management Limited (PIML), Cutwater Asset Management Corp. (CAMC),
Cutwater Investor Services Corp. (CISC) and Insight North America LLC (INA), each of which provides asset management
services. CISC and CAMC are owned by BNY Mellon and operated by Insight.
1

BBC Sky at Night Magazine is Britain's best-selling astronomy title, with a combined print
and digital circulation of 24,000 a month. skyatnightmagazine.com has 34,000 unique users a
month and reaches more than 37,000 social media followers through Facebook and Twitter. The
magazine is available on Apple Newsstand, Apple News, Google Play and Zinio as well as in print,
and is media partner of the annual Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run
by the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
With writing from the world’s leading astronomers and writers, BBC Sky at Night Magazine
complements one of the world's longest running TV programmes, The Sky at Night, and features
regular articles from its presenters Chris Lintott, Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Pete Lawrence, plus
in-depth equipment reviews and stargazing advice. BBC Sky at Night Magazine is published by
Immediate Media Co under licence from BBC Worldwide.

The Royal Observatory, in partnership with Collins, will be publishing Astronomy
Photographer Of The Year, Collection 6. The official publication for the Insight Astronomy
Photographer of the Year competition will showcase over 120 breathtaking images of space and
the night sky, including all 2017 winning and shortlisted images. Photographs will be
accompanied by full details including photographer’s information, location where photographs
were taken, technical specifications and judge’s comments.
Last years’ prize winning images are still available to buy: Astronomy Photographer Of The
Year, Collection 5/ RRP £25.00 / Hardback / Published 3 November 2016 / Royal Museums
Greenwich online shop
For further information or to request review copies please contact: Alice Crespi/
[email protected] / DL: 0208 305 4252
-endsMedia interviews:
The Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Modern Astronomy team is dedicated to the public understanding of
science and its experts are available to give radio and TV interviews on astronomy - at the historic
Observatory site or in the studio.
The Observatory offers a short notice service to media stations looking for comment/ interviews on any
aspect of modern astronomy - discussing new discoveries and space missions, telling people what to look
for in this month's night sky, or talking about old favourites like black holes, is there life beyond Earth and
the origins of the universe.
For studio quality and interviews at short notice an ISDN line is available.
For further information, images please contact:
Rhianon Davies, Royal Observatory Greenwich Press Office
Tel: 020 8312 6545/6789/6790 | 07983 512 841 or email: [email protected]