STARGAZING snappers have just over a month now until the Royal Observatory's annual Astronomy Photographer of The Year competition closes.

Budding astro-photographers need to submit their pictures by July 13 to be in with a chance of winning the prestigious award which includes a top prize of £1,500 and pride of place in the exhibition of photos which opens at the Greenwich observatory in September.

Each entrant can submit up to five images to the competition.

A panel of judges, including Sir Patrick Moore and the observatory’s own public astronomer Dr Marek Kukula, will select winners from four categories - Earth and Space, Our Solar System, Deep Space and Young Astronomy Photographer of The Year.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on September 8 and an exhibition of the winning images will open to the public at the Royal Observatory the following day.

Those searching for inspiration might want to try and catch a glimpse of this month’s lunar eclipse which takes place next Wednesday (June 15) and provides a great chance to capture some final images ahead of the deadline.

It’s an especially good opportunity for newcomers to astro-photography to have a go at taking pictures without specialist equipment; the competition includes a special prize for best newcomer, awarded to an amateur who has taken up the hobby in the last year and who has not entered the competition before.

Photographers can enter online by visiting nmm.ac.uk/astrophoto, where full competition rules and some top tips on photographing everything from star trails to deep space objects are also available.