Photographers from China up for top awards

The competition's judges include well known British comedian and amateur astronomer Jon Culshaw, art editor of the BBC's The Sky at Night magazine Steve Marsh, and other experts from the worlds of art and astronomy.

Seven Chinese photographers impressed the judging panel with their captures of the moon, a meteor shower, the Northern Lights, and the Milky Way galaxy.

The shortlist includes one image each from Bai Yifan, Zheng Wang, Zhang Xiuquan, Angel Yu, Li Yiming, and Tang Zhengye, and two shots from Yang Sutie.

Five of the Chinese entries depict the Northern Lights. Yang, Yu, Zhang and Zheng all visited Iceland over the winter to capture the natural light display. Iceland is one of the best places in the world to see the phenomenon, which occurs when solar winds disturb the Earth's magnetosphere.

Zhang travelled with his family to Jokulsarlon on the country's southern coast in late 2018 to capture his entry Polar, and said he screamed with joy when the lights put on a particularly impressive show.

Bai stood on a natural rock bridge Albany in Australia to capture an expansive image of the Milky Way, while Tang's shot of a meteor shower was taken at Keluke Lake in Qinghai Province, China.