This year’s Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition received a record 2700 entries by astrophotographers from 59 countries around the world. These astonishing pictures reveal fresh perspectives on astrophotography favourites alongside some of the great astronomical events of the last year.
We will showcase the winning images from all 11 categories over the next few days, but if you wish to see them all together on display, the Royal Observatory Greenwich has an exhibition open 18 September 2015 — 26 June 2016. Hours: 10.00–17.00, entry is free.
Opening a new era, NASA’s $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe is on its way to a close encounter with the sun, repeatedly flying through the star’s outer atmosphere to find out what heats up the corona and accelerates the solar wind
The 2016 transit of Mercury is upon us! With fine weather predicted across a large swathe of the British Isles, many will enjoy clear skies for at least some of this 7½-hour event. But if you don’t have a suitably equipped telescope, or are unable to attend any of the transit-viewing activities organised nationwide, you can still view the phenomenon online.
If you wish to see in detail how the eclipse will appear from where you live and the exact times that the key stages will occur, we’ve prepared this specially illustrated minute-by-minute timeline to how Friday’s big event will roll out over the British Isles.
