Chap Him Wong
Chap Him Wong

You Need to See These Award-Winning Space Photos

Your Instagram image of the latest solar eclipse ain't got nothing on these award-winning space photos. But then again, you're probably not a professional photographer with professional equipment, so rest easy.

The winners of the Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards were recently announced, and for those who don't keep track of the Royal Observatory of Greenwich's annual happenings, this is a contest put on by an English observatory in which a panel of distinguished judges evaluate astronomy photography of amateur and professional photographers from around the globe. Winners take home $3,780 in prize money (£2,500), and are displayed in an exhibition. Take our word for it: it's prestigious.

This year's overall winner was a Frenchman by the name of Luc Jamet, whose image of a total eclipse beat out 2,700 applicants. That's a real total eclipse of the competition. Because puns are funny sometimes.

Though Jamet claimed the top prize, winners were also chosen in 11 additional categories and they're all pretty spectacular. Take a look.

Luc Jamet 

Overall Winner and Skyscapes Winner

Luc Jamet (France) with Eclipse Totality over Sassendalen

David Tolliday

Best Newcomer

David Tolliday (UK) with Orion DT

Sebastian Voltmer

Robotic Space

Sebastian Voltmer (Germany) with Comet C/2013 A1 alongside Mars

András Papp

Our Moon 

András Papp (Hungary) with Full Face of our Moon

Jamen Percy 

Aurorae

Jamen Percy (Australia) with Silk Skies

George Martin

Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year

George Martin (UK – aged 15) with A Celestial Visitor

Lefteris Velissaratos 

Planets, Comets and Asteroids

Lefteris Velissaratos (Greece) with The Arrow Missed the Heart

Paolo Porcellana

Our Sun

Paolo Porcellana (Italy) with Huge Prominence Lift-Off

Ignacio Diaz Bobillo

Stars and Nebulae

Ignacio Diaz Bobillo (Argentina) with The Magnificent Omega Centauri

Michael van Doorn 

Galaxies

Michael van Doorn (Netherlands) with M33 Core

Chap Him Wong 

People and Space

Chap Him Wong (Hong Kong) with Sunset Peak Star Trail

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Kara King is a News Writer at Thrillist and wants to go to space to meet the Coneheads. Send news tips to news@thrillist.com and follow her at @karatillie.