The winner of this year's International Earth and Sky Photo Contest goes to Eric Nathan, who lives in South Africa and the UK.

The contest was organized by international program 'The World at Night' (TWAN) in collaboration with outreach and education group of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and Global Astronomy Month. The snapshots were judged in two categories, 'Beauty of The Night Sky' and 'Against The Lights'.

The overall winner Nathan won the first prize in Against the Lights category for image 'Star Trails Above Table Mountain'. The photo, which was June 2014 from South Africa shows trails of stars above South Africa's Table Mountain.

The first prize in Beauty of the Night Sky category has been won to Lyubov Trifonova from Russia. He captured picture, 'The Enchanted Forest' in December 2014, which displayed the Moon and the northern lights (aurora borealis). The lights lit up the snow-covered forest in Murmansk, northwestern Russia.

The goal of the contest was to raise awareness about light pollution, which drowns our view of planets, stars, and galaxies in the night sky.

The annual contest began in 2007 and really took off in 2009 when The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the International Astronomical Union designated TWAN as a Special Project of the International Year of Astronomy.

The second place winner in the Beauty category was Brad Goldpaint of the United States. He won the prize for his photo 'Moonlit Darklings', which was taken in July 2014. The moonlight strikes Mt Rainier in Washington, northwestern USA, as the Milky Way drifts across the night sky.