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Astrophotography is one thing we can’t get enough of here on Universe Today and some of the best amateur astronomy images can be found at the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Interested in entering? There’s just over a month to go until the Royal Observatory in Greenwich’s annual contest closes. If you have taken some astrophotos this year, why not enter? You’ll need to submit any entries by 13 July, 2011 for a chance of winning what has become a prestigious award for amateur astronomers.
The prizes include a top prize of £1,500 and pride of place in the exhibition of photos which opens at the ROG in September. I was fortunate to be on hand for the award ceremony in 2010, and it was a wonderful event. Each entrant can submit up to five images to the competition and some truly breathtaking photos can already be seen on the official Flickr page for the competition.
There are four main categories you can enter: Earth & Space, Our Solar System, Deep Space and Young Astronomy Photographer of The Year. And this year there are also three special awards – one for newcomers, another for shots that creatively capture people and space, and a third for images that have been taken by robotic/remote telescopes and that have been processed by you.
Photographers can enter online by visiting www.nmm.ac.uk/astrophoto, where full competition rules and some top tips on photographing everything from star trails to deep space objects are also available.
The panel of judges includes Sir Patrick Moore and the ROG’s Public Astronomer Dr. Marek Kukula. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on the 8 September, and an exhibition of the winning images will open to the public at the Royal Observatory the following day.
Good luck, and we hope to be posting YOUR winning image here on Universe Today!
You can follow Universe Today senior editor Nancy Atkinson on Twitter: @Nancy_A. Follow Universe Today for the latest space and astronomy news on Twitter @universetoday and on Facebook.