Australian nabbed the award from in Greenwich for the second time. Pugh, who previously won the award in 2009, snatched it up this time for his shot of M51, better known as the . The two-armed spiral cluster of stars sits 31 million light years away from earth and can be seen in the constellation “The Hunting Dogs.”
“T
photographer has made the most of exceptionally good atmospheric conditions to
capture an astonishing range of detail in his image of this iconic galaxy; the
beautiful spiral structure, dark lanes of dust, and the way the pink clouds of
hydrogen really stand out,” said Dr. Mare Kukula, the Royal
Observatory Public Astronomer. “It’s a remarkable achievement by an amateur
astronomer; one of the best images of M51 that I’ve seen.”
The offers another photo of M51 and an explanation of the galaxy's anatomy: the yellow center is clusters of older stars, the bright blue dots are clusters of younger stars, the brown streaks are giant dust clouds, and the pink puffs are pockets of hydrogen gas. The yolk-colored circle above the Whirlpool Galaxy is the not-so-poetically named NGC 5195 galaxy. Despite its somewhat bland appearance, that NGC 5195 is sending powerful waves of energy into its spiral neighbor that enhance the color and shape of those whirling arms.
is currently showing more photos and .
—Joe Spring