By admin 
Four miles from the Eiffel Tower, a photographer captured the full moon’s path over a pink Paris skyline. In China, another photographer snapped a night sky of falling stars.
Read more Tracking measles cases in the United States
These are just two of the submissions short-listed in the 18th annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Organized by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, the competition drew nearly 4,000 submissions from 769 photographers in 66 countries. Entries include photographs of auroras, galaxies and landscapes of Earth’s moon.
The Milky Way’s black hole is eerily quiet. Scientists have now found evidence of its missing wind
Some images are impressive from a technical standpoint, said Greg Brown, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory and a judge for the competition.
Finalist Tom Williams, he noted, highlights several views of Mars within a year, all in a single composite image titled “Mars in 2025.”
Finalist Rafael Schmall photographed “The Savannah Tree” from Hungary, capturing a solar prominence — or a dense plasma cloud — erupting in the shape of an acacia tree from the surface of the sun.
“It’s a very stunning, very striking image,” Brown said, adding that it gives the viewer a “feeling of motion and movement of the active nature of the sun.”
New image of the Crystal Ball Nebula captures the ‘spectacular’ throes of a dying star
Brown described the competition as a “weird mix” of innovative, technical imagery and science.
Read more US measles cases reach 35-year high, for second record-breaking year in a row
“It’s an art competition just as much as it is anything else,” Brown said. “The beauty of the images, the wonderful array of colors and compositions, can be appreciated regardless of your understanding of what it is exactly that you’re looking at.”
Judges will choose winners in nine categories as well as award two special prizes and select one overall winner.
“It doesn’t usually take a whole lot of debate for the judges to come to a decision about what image it is,” Brown said. “There’ll always be something about it that makes it stand out.”
New Artemis II moon image includes part of the moon never before observed by human eyes
The Astronomy Photographer of the Year will receive 10,000 pounds (about $13,300), while each category winner will be awarded 1,500 pounds (about $2,000). Runners-up and highly commended entrants will receive smaller monetary prizes.
The winning images will be announced September 17. They will be displayed in an exhibition at London’s National Maritime Museum, alongside a selection of other short-listed images.
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.