Snapper's lucky night-time shot is a winner

A photograph taken by 27-year-old Andrew Steele while staying at his parents' house near Newport in June this year has been selected to appear in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year book.

It was shortlisted in the Earth and Space category in the competition, organised by the Royal Observatory Greenwich, in association with Sky at Night Magazine.

The image captures a brightly coloured 'moon dog' or paraselene, which are atmospheric phenomenon caused by ice crystals splitting moonlight up into a rainbow of colours.

Mr Steele, who now lives in London, said he only had a few seconds to capture the shimmering image, despite having the wrong type of lens on his camera at the time.

"I just went outside to take a photograph of the mist outside in the fields.

"As I was there, this moon dog just appeared," he said.

He said he considered running inside to changes lenses on his camera, but decided against it.

Mr Steele said: "Luckily I decided instead to take five shots side-by-side.

"By the time I had done that, it was gone.

"I was at the right place at the right time and a lot of photography is down to that."

The Astronomy Photographer of the Year book features more than 150 breathtaking images of space and the night sky taken by photographers across the world.

Another of Mr Steele's images, a dramatic picture of a red moon rising over Oxford taken in 2011, is also included in the book, which was published last month.

Mr Steele, an aspiring scientist who has recently completed his PhD, said his love of photography dates back to his childhood, when his grandad gave him a camera for his 11th birthday.

While he no longer lives in Shropshire, he said he was thrilled to have been able to capture the image of the moon dog close to place where he grew up.

"A lot of it was down to luck, but it was quite exciting to see it.

"My heart is still in Shropshire as it is a really beautiful county," he said.