Duke Ophthalmic Photographer Ryan Imperio, CRA, OCT-C has been honored with the 2024 Astronomy Photographer of the Year Award. This prestigious award is presented by the Royal Museums Greenwich in London, United Kingdom and is the world's largest and most prestigious contest of its kind, with more than 3,500 submissions from 58 countries.
His award winning image, Distorted Shadows of the Moon's Surface Created by an Annular Eclipse, was captured during the 2023 Solar Eclipse. The photograph captures the ‘Baily’s beads’ phenomenon that occurs when bright shafts of sunlight peek through the Moon's uneven surface.
Ryan is a Digital Image Analyst in the Duke Advanced Research in SS/SDOCT Imaging (DARSI) Laboratory, where he takes photographs of the human eye and its structures for medical diagnosis and research. His interest in astrophotography was sparked by his patients.
“After being asked by several patients if I took photos outside of work, I decided to give it a try. Starting out just with a smartphone, I found taking pictures of nature quickly resonated with me,” says Ryan.
Read more about the contest and how Ryan captured his award winning image here,