Stunning Shark Nebula Image Wins 2025 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Contest
- An astrophotographer in Kuwait has won the top prize in the Royal Observatory Greenwich's 18th ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest for capturing a distant, shark-shaped cloud...
- Alobaidly captured the prize-winning composition over two nights in August 2025 from the Jahra governorate in Kuwait.
- The juxtaposition of an oceanic predator, prowling the skies above the Kuwaiti desert, is something I find deeply poetic, and it is what first drew me to this...
An astrophotographer in Kuwait has won the top prize in the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s 18th ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest for capturing a distant, shark-shaped cloud of gas in deep space. Skywatcher Ali Alobaidly claimed the overall award for “The Quiet Predator,” an image of the Shark Nebula, also cataloged as LDN 1235, according to competition announcements released on September 17, 2025. The nebula sits roughly 650 light-years away from Earth within the constellation Cepheus, which is often referred to as the Whale. For scale, the closest stellar system to Earth lies approximately 4 light-years away.
Equipment Used and Photographer Perspective
Alobaidly captured the prize-winning composition over two nights in August 2025 from the Jahra governorate in Kuwait. Equipment used for the shot included an Askar 140 APO telescope, a Sky-Watcher EQ8-R mount, and a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera. The photographer found deep meaning in framing the cosmic object above his home region, according to a statement from the observatory.
The juxtaposition of an oceanic predator, prowling the skies above the Kuwaiti desert, is something I find deeply poetic, and it is what first drew me to this remarkable region of the sky. To me, it represents perfectly my love for both the universe, and the deserts of my ancestors.
Ali Alobaidly Alobaidly received a cash prize of 10,000 British pounds, equivalent to about $13,300. His winning image alongside ten category-winning photographs goes on display at the National Maritime Museum in London starting September 18, 2025.
Global Category Winners and Notable Entries
Judges awarded prizes across multiple categories highlighting different facets of night-sky and solar system photography. Radoslav Sviretsov of Bulgaria won the Aurorae category with an image titled “The Crown,” which captured a vibrant northern lights display over a remote church situated between Keflavík and Reykjavík in Iceland. In the Our Moon category, Petr Horalek of Czechia secured recognition for “Venusian Pearl on the Moon.” Captured on September 19, 2025, the picture shows the exact moment the moon passed in front of Venus from Earth’s perspective.
The most beautiful moment was when Venus had just started to disappear behind the crescent. It looked like a bright pearl on the lunar limb.
The image reveals superheated gas or plasma regions known as convection cells alongside bright spots between them.
Ancient Art and Planetary Alignment
Max Inwood of Aotearoa/New Zealand won the People and Space category for “A Message from the Ancients,” which documents rock art in a California desert that is believed to represent the 13 full moons visible from Earth in a typical year. Tom Williams of the United Kingdom earned the Planets, Comets and Asteroids prize with “Saturnian Equinox.” The 2025 image shows Saturn’s rings edge-on from Earth during a rare celestial event tied to the planet’s nearly 30-year orbit around the sun, marking the beginning of local spring in the southern hemisphere. Stefano Pellegrini of Italy won the Skyscapes category with “Botswana Star Trail,” captured near large baobab trees in Nxai Pan, Botswana. Meanwhile, 智鹏 严 and Xinran Li of China claimed the Galaxies category with “NGC 4753: A Symphony of Dust Lanes in Virgo,” showing a galaxy located approximately 60 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo with distinct dust lanes swirling around its luminous core.
