Overview
- Ali Alobaidly's image 'The Quiet Predator,' which won the contest on Thursday, received the £10,000 overall prize in the Royal Observatory Greenwich's 18th ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year.
- The photograph captures the Shark Nebula (LDN 1235), about 650 light-years away in the constellation Cepheus, showing dark dust lanes and blue reflection-nebula regions that scatter starlight.
- Alobaidly took the shot from Jahra Governorate, Kuwait over two nights in August 2025 using an Askar 140 APO telescope, a Sky-Watcher EQ8-R mount and a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera.
- The curated set of winners, including Radoslav Sviretsov's aurora 'The Crown' and Petr Horalek's 'Venusian Pearl on the Moon,' will go on public display at the National Maritime Museum starting Friday, Sept. 18.
- Now in its 18th year and run with ZWO and BBC Sky at Night Magazine, the competition prizes technical skill, global participation and images that support public outreach and can have scientific value.