An Amazing Image of a Comet Humans Might Never See Again

This majestic image is the winner of the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.

First place went to an image so remarkable it almost doesn’t look real. Austrian photographer Gerald Rhemann captured the image of Comet Leonard and its radiant tail on Christmas Day, 2021, from Namibia, an article from Live Science reveals.

Rhemann’s photograph offers a heavenly view of the gas cloud involving the comet being swept away by solar wind as the comet makes its way through the central Solar System.

Comet Leonard’s majestic tail

Only discovered in January of 2021, Rhemann captured his picture a month prior to Comet Leonard’s discovery. The photographer prepared his equipment as the comet was making its closest pass by of our Planet.

“This award is one of the highlights of my astrophotography work,” Rhemann revealed in a statement. “All the effort that went into making this image a success was worth it.”

As it came closer to our Planet, charged particles from its tail began to interact with the solar wind, giving the comet a supernatural radiance. Luckily, Rhemann chose to take his excellent photograph before Comet Leonard began to travel away. According to astronomers, the comet’s trajectory implies it will journey far into interstellar space and will likely never return.

There wasn’t just one competitor

Other amazing entries and winners of different categories include an image titled “Andromeda Galaxy: The Neighbor.” A snap of our closest neighbor galaxy, captured by 14-year-olds Yang Hanwen and Zhou Zezhen of China. They won the Young Photographer category.

Meanwhile, Martin Lewis from the U.K. won the Moon category with a photograph highlighting shadows falling across a big crater, Plato, on the moon’s surface.

Another exciting image is the work of American photographer Andrew McCarthy, which won the People and Space entry. His photograph presents the silhouette of the International Space Station (ISS) against the Sea of Tranquility, the site of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Indian photographer Soumyadeep Mukherjee was aworded the Sun category for his picture labeled “A Year in the Sun,” which shows how sunspots– cooler zones on the sun’s surface– drift throughout the year.

The Royal Museums Greenwich’s contest website reveals a complete gallery of all the winners and runners-up. The images are well worth a look. For those interested in seeing the images in person, they are currently on display at the National Maritime Museum in London.

Originally published by: Interesting Engineering