The picture was taken by Kuwaiti photographer Ali Alobaidly. (Courtesy: Ali Alobaidly)

Kuwaiti photographer Ali Alobaidly has beaten thousands of amateur and professional photographers from around the world to bag the 2026 Royal Observatory Greenwich’s ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year .

The image – The Quiet Predator – captures the Shark Nebula, which lies almost 650 light years away in the constellation Cepheus. The nebula is made of interstellar dust dense enough to block starlight with the blue-coloured areas in the image being “reflection nebulae” – clouds of interstellar dust that do not emit their own visible light but rather scatters and reflects light from nearby stars.

The image was taken in August 2025 with an Askar 140 APO telescope from the Jahra Governorate, Kuwait.

Sam Wen, founder and chief executive office of the astrophotography firm ZWO , says the image “is a stunning blend of technical excellence and artistic vision”.

“Showcasing the intricate structures of a rarely photographed…