The
Royal Observatory, Greenwich, in association with
Sky at Night Magazine, launches its
2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition today – kicking off its annual global search for the most beautiful and spectacular visions of the cosmos, whether they are striking pictures of vast galaxies millions of light years away, or dramatic images of the night sky taken much closer to home.
Entries to the competition must be submitted by midday on 29 June 2012 and the winning images will be showcased in the annual free exhibition at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich from 21 September 2012 to February 2013. Last year the competition, which was first launched in 2009, attracted a record number of entries with over 700 spectacular images submitted from around the world. The competition also saw its first UK overall winner, as amateur astronomer
Damian Peach scooped the top prize for his incredibly detailed shot of Jupiter along with two of its 64 known moons, Io and Ganymede, showing the surface of the gas giant streaked with colourful bands and dotted with huge oval storms. Sir Patrick Moore, who is one of the competition judges, was impressed by the quality of entries describing Damian’s shot as a
‘very worthy winner against extremely strong competition’.
Other
winning photos from 2011 included: the rich star fields of the Milky Way stretching across a tropical skyline of palm trees by
Tunç Tezel (Turkey); the spectacular aftermath of a supernova explosion showing the bright red and blue wispy remnants of the dead star by
Marco Lorenzi (Italy); and American newcomer
Harley Grady’s image of Zodiacal Light reaching into the sky above a barn in Texas. The
Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year accolade was won by 15-year-old Jathin Premjith from India who impressed the judges with his skilfully executed image of the coppery-red Moon taken during a lunar eclipse.
Dr Marek Kukula, Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and judge in the competition said:
‘Astronomy is becoming increasingly popular with the public which is reflected in the big rise in entries we saw in 2011. Every year the competition has brought new surprises, I love the fact that we receive entries from people all around the world and from complete beginners as well as seasoned experts. All the judges are excited about what we’re going to see this time around.’
The competition is powered by the photo-sharing website
Flickr. Photographers can enter online by visiting
http://www.rmg.co.uk/astrophoto and each entrant may submit up to five images to the competition.
Competition judge and Sky at Night Magazine Editor, Chris Bramley, said
‘The standard of astro images in 2011 was breathtaking. With once-in-a-lifetime events like the last transit of Venus for 105 years occurring this year, I’m eagerly anticipating the judging of 2012’s entries.’
Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2012 has four main categories:
- Earth and Space – Photographs that include landscape, people and other earth-related things alongside an astronomical subject ranging from the stars, the Moon or near-Earth phenomena such as the aurora.
- Our Solar System – Imagery which captures the Sun and its family of planets, moons, asteroids and comets.
- Deep Space – Pictures that capture anything beyond the Solar System, including stars, nebulae and galaxies.
- Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year – Pictures taken by budding astronomers under the age of 16 years old.
There are also three special prizes:
People and Space recognises the best photo featuring people in the shot;
Best Newcomer is awarded to the best photo by an amateur astrophotographer who has taken up the hobby in the last year and who has not entered an image into the competition before; and
Robotic Scope, which was a new prize introduced in 2011, is awarded for the best photo taken using one of the increasing number of computer-controlled telescopes at prime observing sites around the world which can be accessed over the internet by members of the public.
Competition Information
Filckr Group