"Phoenix" Aurora spreads its wings on abandoned military power stations in Russia.

The majestic bird-shaped aurora spreads its wings over a destroyed military hydropower station, which is two hours' drive from Murmansk, Russia. Copyright Alexander Stepanenko) shines with spectacular aurora against the background of stars in the Russian night sky, resembling a giant firebird, with its wings stretched out on an abandoned military power station.

Farther away from the earth, it illuminates the gas cloud around a collapsing star, and the distant spiral nebula core forms the shape of a huge sphere, reminiscent of the eye of Thrawn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

These impressive images were included in the shortlist of the "Annual Competition of Astronomical Photographers with Insight into Investment" organized by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England. In a statement, delegates said that photographers from all over the world submitted more than 4,600 works. From these works, only more than 30 photos were selected for final consideration. [See more incredible astronomical photos in the competition]

Photographers from 90 countries aim their cameras at distant objects in the universe: from the radiant aurora to distant star nurseries. The judges will select winners in nine categories: sky landscape, aurora, people and space, sun, our moon, planets, comets and asteroids; Stars and nebulae; Galaxy; And/kloc-young astronomical photographers aged 0/6 and below. Two special projects -KDSP, KDSP, KDSP and KDSP- will also be awarded.

In this mosaic of nine photos, Orion Nebula and Horsehead Nebula are surrounded by emission nebulae called Barnard Ring. Portuguese photographer Miguel Claro said in a statement that the famous photos on the shortlist include an amazing photo of the moon made up of four panels, each of which consists of 30 photos. Claro captured the pockmarked face on the moon with amazing details, revealed the subtle color change of its gray surface, and hinted at the chemical composition of the lunar surface that is usually invisible to the naked eye. Another amazing photo taken in Iran shows the brightest part of the Milky Way hidden at the top of Damavand Mountain. At an altitude of 18403 feet (5609 meters), it is the highest mountain in the Middle East and the highest volcano in Asia. According to the statement, the winner of "KD SPE" KDSPS competition will be announced at the award ceremony held in maritime museum, England on September 65, 438+02. Starting from September 13, the pictures that won the highest prize will be displayed in an exhibition in the museum.

Amazing astronomy: Victorian sky, northern lights, dazzling pictures in the night sky, rainbow photo album: multiple colors of the sun was first published in life science magazine.