A photo of a huge plasma arc next to the Andromeda Galaxy has won this year’s prestigious photography prize.

A team of amateur astronomers led by Marcel Drechsler, Xavier Strottner and Yann Sainty captured the surprising discovery.

Scientists are now investigating the newly discovered giant cloud of gas.

It could be the largest such structure in the nearby environment in the Universe.

Judge and astrophotographer László Francsics said the image was as spectacular as it was valuable.

“It not only presents Andromeda in a new way, but also raises the quality of astrophotography to a higher level,” he said.

The Royal Observatory Greenwich in London, which runs the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, also awarded two 14-year-old boys from China the Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year prize. […]

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