Photographers have been pulling out all the stops to capture the beauty of the cosmos in a competition organised in association with Greenwich’s Royal Observatory.

More than 2,700 photographs have been submitted from 60 countries in this year’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition which is run by the Observatory with Insight Investment and BBC Sky at Night magazine.

The snappers are competing in nine categories, with an extra two special prizes up for grabs and the overall winner taking home £2,500.

The winning images will be showcased at an annual free exhibition at the Royal Observatory from September 18.

Go to rmg.co.uk/astrophoto for more information.

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Full Moonrise Composite -® Steve Knight

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Ghost of Eta -® Rakibul Syed

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Deep Dumbbell Nebula (c) Fabian Neyer & Robert P+Âlzl 

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Assiniboine Dreams -® Paul Zizka

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Glacier Aurora II -® Paul Zizka

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IC2177 - The Seagull Nebula (c) Bob Franke

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Irresistible -®Andrew Whyte

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Lunar Eclipse setting over Convict Lake -® Jeff Sullivan

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On Top -® Tommaso Maiocchi

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Quiver Trees and Shooting Star -® Ivan van Niekirk

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Skogafoss, Iceland - 360 Degree Panorama -® Vincent Brady

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The Magic Mountain -® Alexa Kershaw

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The Stars Among Us -® Terence Kong

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The 'Tower' and the Milky Way -® R+¦n+ín McLaughlin

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Venus and Mars in conjunction with Moon below Feb 20 2015 -® Martin Campbell

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Westerhever at Night -® Tom Davidson