AMERICAN Tom Lowe has beaten hundreds of amateur and professional photographers from around the globe to win the title of Astronomy Photographer of the Year.

As well as securing the £1000 top prize, his image takes pride of place in this year's exhibition of winning photographs showing at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich until February.

Lowe’s winning shot, Blazing Bristlecone, depicts the star-riddled Milky Way arching over an ancient pine tree in the Sierra Nevada.

Competition judge and public astronomer at the observatory Dr Marek Kukula said: “This beautiful picture perfectly combines the awe-inspiring vista of the night sky with life here on Earth.

"The bristlecone pines may be old but they are babies compared to the starlight shining behind them, some of which began its journey towards us almost 30,000 years ago.”

Winners of the other categories, include a striking vision of a total solar eclipse snapped by Anthony Ayiomamitis from Greece, a highly detailed panorama of a section of the constellation of Orion, including the three famous stars of the belt, the Horsehead Nebula and the Orion Nebula taken by Rogelio Bernal Andreo from the USA and British newcomer Ken Mackintosh’s image of the Whirlpool galaxy slowly devouring its smaller neighbour.

Dhruv Arvind Paranjpye, aged 14, from India, won the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year accolade and left the judges impressed with his expertly executed image of a solar eclipse.

Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition. Royal Observatory, Greenwich. Until February 27. For more information, visit nmm.ac.uk