PHOTOS: Astronomy Photographer of the Year winners

A British photographer is named Astronomy Photographer of the Year.

James Woodend wins the title over a thousand other amateur and professional photographers from around the globe.

The judges say they were mesmerized by Woodend's photo of a vivid green aurora dancing across the Icelandic night sky and reflected symmetrically in the glacial Jkulsarlon lagoon of Vatnajkull National Park.

Woodend's winning shot of the Northern Lights is the first time a picture of the auroras has won the Astronomy Photographer of the Year prize.

Other photos drawing praise from the judges include:

• A breath-taking view of the Earth taken from the brink of space (87,000 feet above the ground), with the help of a high altitude balloon launched from Boulder, Colorado by Patrick Cullis (USA)

• The snaking swirls of super heated gas on the boiling surface of the Sun captured by Alexandra Hart (UK)

• A figure silhouetted against the backdrop of a Kenyan Savannah skyline and a rarely seen hybrid solar eclipse, taken by Eugen Kamenew (Germany)

• A stark yet opulent portrayal of the rock formations of the Wairarapa district in New Zealand, contrasting with the dusty clouds dancing across the Milky Way photographed by Chris Murphy (New Zealand)

Astronomy Photographer of the Year is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich and BBC Sky at Night Magazine. This is the 6th year for the competition. The competition received a record +2500 entries from 51 countries.

For information about entering next year's competition visit www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto.

Scroll through the gallery above to see all the stunning photos from the contest.