Winners Announcement of 2024 Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition
Winners Announcement of 2024 Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition
Shape the unknown universe and share your experience.
2024 Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition concluded successfully.
We were very happy to received 687 pieces of works in total from the contest; through senior astrophotographers and judges serious selection, the winners went to 6 persons of 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes for DeepSky Category, and 3 persons of 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes for SolarSystem Category; and 5 talented outstanding awards for DeepSky category.
Senior astrophotographers were invited to be the judges for the contest, they are: Dr.Ron Brecher, Warren A. Keller, AstroBackyard (Trevor Jones) , Christoph Lichtblau, and Tommaso Massimo Stella.
Huge thanks to all judges who carefully judged each work!!!
It's our great honor to announce the result of the contest. Congratulations to all prize winners!!!
►Prize-winner for DeepSky Category
►The 1st. Prize - One Winner
DeepSky: No. 561 Scorpion(LBN 788 · LDN 1495) + 万亚光（Yaguang Wan） + China
Photo Number: 561
Category: Deep Sky Category
Photographer: 万亚光（Yaguang Wan）
Country: China
Photo Tittle and Target: Scorpion(LBN 788 · LDN 1495)
Photo Date and place: Daocheng County, Sichuan Province, China
Equipment used: Takahashi Epsilon 160；QHYCCD QHY600PH；Sky-Watcher EQ8
Data sheet: Ha: 99×600″(16h 30′) Blue: 60×300″(5h) Green: 60×300″(5h) Lum: 150×300″(12h 30′) Red: 60×300″(5h)
Description:
LBN 788 · LBN 793 · LDN 1495 is a dark cloud located in Taurus, actually next to the famous M45 Seven Fairy Star Cluster, but few people have noticed it. I accidentally discovered that this celestial body looks like a scorpion crossing the sky, and then composed and photographed it.
This image fully showcases the various forms of Taurus dark clouds. Through the use of a 500mm wide field focal length, I feel like it is a huge scorpion crossing the night sky. On his paws and tail, there are some Ha information, which I don't know how it was formed, resembling Ha in a galaxy. Processing method:Pixinsight，PS
Judges' Commentary
Warren Keller：
"Of all the many, well-processed dusty fields, this one stood out to me as just about perfect: not overstretched, beautiful colors and detail!"
Tommaso Stella:
"The dust has been removed from the sky background with mastery avoiding artifacts. The colors are perfect. Congratulations."
►The 2nd Prize Two Winners
The 2nd Prize Photo No. 172
DeepSky: No. 172 Wolf’s Cave Nebula Lbn528 Lbn532 + Gianni Lacroce + Italy
Photo Number: 172
Category: Deep Sky Category
Photographer: Gianni Lacroce
Country: Italy
photographed in 6 night between 31 July and 11 August (Isca Sullo Jonio, Italy)
Equipment used and the technical card
Telescope: Askar Fra 600 with reducer for f3.9
Camera: Zwo Asi 2600 duo Mount: Zwo Am5
Filters: Optolong L-qef, L-ultimate
Sgpro acquisition software
0° temperature with dark, flat and darkflat
Shots 228 x 300s + 156 x 300s
Processing: Pixinsight, Photoshop
Judges' Commentary
Warren Keller:
"Having processed this field of view myself, I was extremely impressed with how perfectly this interpretation was. The colors and detail are wonderful, and it’s not overstretched as so many processors are doing today, which doesn’t respect natural light and contrast of the image. Well done!"
Dr. Ron Brecher:
"This image shows wonderful detail and depth in a field that contains several different kinds of objects. It required careful processing to show everything well."
The 2nd Prize Photo No. 401
DeepSky: No. 401 龟鱼大战,LDN1228, LBN552 + 祝立群 + China
Photo Number：401
Category: Deep Sky Category
Photo Tittle and Target: 龟鱼大战,LDN1228, LBN552
Photographer: 祝立群
Country:China
拍摄器材：Celestron RASA11" V2, ZWO ASI6200MM Pro, ZWO ASI6200MC Pro, 10 Micron GM3000 HPS
拍摄参数：Lum: 148x180", OSC: 145x180",
Intergration: 14h39'
拍摄时间：2024/11/03-2024/11/25
拍摄地点：四川稻城
作品简述：位于仙王座的暗星云LDN1228和亮星云LBN552，形似一只乌龟和一条张开大嘴的鱼在战斗。
后期方式：在PixInsight中用WBPP做出各个通道的主亮场，裁切和GC，对RGBj进行SPCC校色，GHS拉伸后SXT去星，L通道BXT后SXT去星，GHS拉伸后加入到RGB中，做LHE曲线等调整，最后Screen贴回星点。
Judges' Commentary
Tommaso Stella：
"Absolutely perfect work. There are no traces of overprocessing, the star presence has been managed very well and the dust is contrasted without excessive denoise. Compliments"
Christoph Lichtblau:
"A stunning and impressive view on this not so often imaged region with beautiful dustclouds. Detail, colors and stars are amazing."
►The 3rd Prize Three Winners
The 3rd Prize Photo No. 012
DeepSky: No. 012 NGC 6559 + Patrick WINKLER + Austria
Photo Number：012
Category：Deep Sky Category
Photo Tittle and Target：NGC 6559
Name: Patrick WINKLER (Austria)
Equipment / Technical card: ASA RC400 f/8 ASA DDM 100 ZWO ASI 6200MM Pro LRGB 240 145 130 125 min.
Date: July 2024 in Namibia
NGC 6559 is an interstellar cloud of gas and dust located at a distance of around 5,000 light years in the constellation Sagittarius. NGC 6559 has a comparatively small diameter of only a few light years and is located close to the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8). Therefore it is often perceived as merely an "appendage" of the Lagoon Nebula, although it is no less interesting. It is home to emission, reflection and dark nebulae, which produce a very beautiful play of colors and make the region very varied.
Judges' Commentary
Dr. Ron Brecher:
"I enjoyed the deep colours in the darkest structures as well as the red, violet, brown, and blue tones in the nebulae. The stars look great too."
Christoph Lichtblau:
"A beautiful and fine work on this stunning object. The natural colors and processing makes this one a winner picture."
The 3rd Prize Photo No. 141
DeepSky: No. 141 Heart Nebula Widefield + Jeffrey Horne Drew Evans USA + USA
Photo Number: 141
Category: Deep Sky Category
Photo Tittle and Target: Heart Nebula Widefield
Your name and your country: Jeffrey Horne Drew Evans USA
Imaging title and target: Heart Nebula Widefield
Equipment used and the technical card
Imaging Telescope: TPO UltraWide 180 f/4.5
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Pro
Mount: ZWO AM5
Antlia 3nm Narrowband H-alpha 2": 1698×300″ (141h 30′) -10°C
Antlia 3nm Narrowband Sulfur II 2": 1079×480″ (143h 52′) -10°C
Chroma OIII 3nm Bandpass 2": 720×600″ (120h) -10°C
Integration: 405h 22′
Software: ASIAir, Pixinsight, Photoshop - Imaging date and place Taken over 57 nights from 8/17 - 10/30 Nashville, TN and Flagstaff, AZ
Briefly describe your photo story, digital processing methods employed (if any)
The Heart Nebula, widefield. This image contains so many interesting things...the birthplace of stars, the death of stars, and just about everything in between. Taken over the course of 57 nights, this was a team effort between my dear friend @Drew Evans and myself. Drew acquired the Oiii data from his Bortle 2 home observatory (NAZ Observatory), and I gathered the Hydrogen and Sulfur data from my Bortle 8-9 in Nashville, TN. Processing was done by yours truly. Processing this image was a real bear...with so much integration time and such a wild dynamic range, it was very difficult to get the bright and faint parts to both look presentable. It took a couple of weeks, but I'm happy with this one. We hope you enjoy this image as much as we enjoyed acquiring and processing it!
Judges' Commentary
Tommaso Stella:
"The very high number of hours of integration allowed them to highlight areas and details that were dynamically difficult to put together. Congratulations"
Christoph Lichtblau:
"This picture is full of life and awesome deepness with excellent colors and detail."
The 3rd Prize Photo No. 421
DeepSky: No. 421 SH2155 CAVE NEBULA + GIACOMO PRO' + Italy
Category：Deep Sky Category
Name and country: GIACOMO PRO' , Italy
Imaging title and target: SH2155 CAVE NEBULA
Equipment used and the technical card:
Light 121 x 300” filter: Optolong L-QEF
Camera: Asi 294 mc pro
Telescope: Sky-Watcher Quattro 200P + SW Coma corrector 1X
Guide camera: Asi 120 mini
Guide scope: 60 - 320 mm
Mount: Skywatcher Eq 6-r Pro
Imaging date and place: 29/5/2024 - Stigliano (MT) ITALY
Briefly describe your photo story, digital processing methods employed (if any):
Acquisition: Asiair Plus
Software: DSS - Pixinsight – Photoshop
Judges' Commentary
Warren Keller:
"I love the dark and dusty nature of this image! The colors and details are wonderful. Just a perfect approach to a very complex field of nebulosity!"
Dr. Ron Brecher:
"This image shows great detail in the bright nebulae and the dark structures contribute to the excellent definition throughout. I also liked the subtle changes in brightness and hues throughout the image."
►Talented Prize Five Winners
Talented Prize -- Photo No. 501
DeepSky: No.501 M42 in Narrow Band SHO with RGB Stars + 于楚弘(Chuhong Yu) + China
Photo Number: 501
Category: Deep Sky Category
Photo Tittle and Target: M42 in Narrow Band SHO with RGB Stars
Photographer: 于楚弘(Chuhong Yu)
Country: China
Photo Date and place ：2023 December to 2024 Feburary Daocheng, Sichuan, China(Self-own Equipment)
Equipment used: William Optics RC12 CEM120EC ZWO ASI6200MM Pro
Total 12hours 18 minutes
Ha=71×300″(5h 55′)OIII=16×180″+15×300″(2h 03′)SII=27×600″34×300″(2h 50′)R=30×60″(30′) G=30×60″(30′)B=30×60″(30′)
Description: LBN 788 · LBN 793 · LDN 1495 is a dark cloud located in Taurus, actually next to the famous M45 Seven Fairy Star Cluster, but few people have noticed it. I accidentally discovered that this celestial body looks like a scorpion crossing the sky, and then composed and photographed it.This image fully showcases the various forms of Taurus dark clouds. Through the use of a 500mm wide field focal length, I feel like it is a huge scorpion crossing the night sky. On his paws and tail, there are some Ha information, which I don't know how it was formed, resembling Ha in a galaxy.Processing method:Pixinsight，PS
Talented Prize -- Photo No. 495
DeepSky: No. 495 HFG1 | PK 136+05 "Breath of the Heavens" + Sviatoslav Lips + Russia
Photo Number：495
Category：Deep Sky Category
Name and country: Sviatoslav Lips — Russia
Photo Tittle and Target: HFG1 | PK 136+05 "Breath of the Heavens" Planetary Nebula Oleg Chekalin Astrotec Lab Laniakea 388 F/3.48 — Sky-Watcher EQ8 — ZWO ASI294MM Pro July-august 2024 — "Auriga" Private Observatory — Moscow Region, Russia
Adobe Photoshop · Christian Buil IRIS · Ivan Ionov FITStacker · Jens Dierks Fitswork4 · Russell Croman Astrophotography NoiseXTerminator · Russell Croman Astrophotography StarXTerminator · Siril Team Siril · The Astra Image Company Astra Image
Talented Prize -- Photo No. 483
DeepSky: No.483 M16&M17 老鹰星云与欧米茄星云/M16+M17 + 刘彦佐 Enzo Liu + China
Photo Number：483
Category：Deep Sky Category
姓名/国籍: 刘彦佐 Enzo Liu / 中国 Chinese
作品名称/拍摄目标: M16&M17 老鹰星云与欧米茄星云/M16+M17
拍摄器材/拍摄参数: Takahashi epsilon e-160ed ota+ZWO 6200MM+SkyWatcher AZ-EQ6/ Sii:Ha:Oiii=124:108:128 单张5分钟，共计曝光360张，合计30个小时
拍摄时间/拍摄地点: 2024/04/11-2024/06/30 中国四川稻城南方天文远程天文台
作品简述/后期方式/精彩故事:
在浩瀚无垠的宇宙中，散布着无数令人惊叹的天体景观，其中M16（Eagle Nebula，鹰状星云）和M17（Omega Nebula，又称Swan Nebula，天鹅星云）无疑是两颗璀璨的明珠，它们位于夏季银河中最丰富的区域之一——蛇夫座与人马座之间。
M16 - 鹰状星云： M16是一个复合型发射星云，距离地球约7000光年，是著名的恒星形成区。它最为人所知的是其内部的“创生之柱”（Pillars of Creation），这一由密集气体和尘埃组成的结构，在望远镜的镜头下显得尤为壮观。这些柱状结构实际上是新恒星诞生的地方，强烈的紫外线辐射从新生的恒星中释放出来，逐渐侵蚀着周围的物质，形成了我们所见的独特形态。当光穿越时空，M16展现了宇宙中生命诞生的壮丽景象，每一丝光亮都是时间长河中的一个瞬间。
M17 - Omega/天鹅星云： 紧邻M16的是M17，这个星云因其形状酷似希腊字母Ω而得名Omega星云，也因为外观像一只展开翅膀的天鹅而被称为天鹅星云。M17距离我们大约5500光年，同样是一个活跃的恒星形成区。星云内部充满了氢气，在年轻、炽热的O型星的强烈辐射作用下发光，呈现出绚丽的红色调。在您的照片中，M17的色彩斑斓与复杂的结构细节得以完美展现，揭示了星际物质如何在引力的作用下凝聚成新的恒星系统。 这两个星云不仅展示了宇宙的美丽与神秘，还让我们对恒星生命的循环有了更深刻的理解。每一次采集到几千年外的光，都是捕捉宇宙历史的一个片段，每一张照片都是连接人类与深空的一座桥梁。深空摄影让更多人被激发起探索星空的兴趣，并让我们对宇宙产生更多的敬畏之心。
Talented Prize -- Photo No. 490
DeepSky: No.490 M81&M82, the Cigar and Bode's Galaxy
Photo Number: 490
Category: Deep Sky Category
Photo Tittle and Target: M81&M82, the Cigar and Bode's Galaxy
Photographer: 李德谦(Barry Li), 梁伟棠（Weitang Liang）, 刘彦佐 (Enzo Liu) , 于楚弘(Chuhong Yu), 张思宇(Siyu Zhang)
Country: China
Photo Date and place ：2024 Feb to March,Guyuan, Hebei, China(Self-own Equipment)2024 Feb to April,Daocheng, Sichuan, China(Self-own Equipment)
Equipment used：C14HD, GSO RC10, William Optics RC10, RC12 iOptron CEM120EC · Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6 PRO · Sky-Watcher EQ8-R Pro · Software Bisque Paramount MX+ GEM Moravian Instruments C3-61000EC Pro · ZWO ASI2600MM Pro · ZWO ASI6200MM Pro
Data sheet: Total Integration：280h 50′ Lum=738×300″+161×600″=88h 20min Red=369×300″+56×600″=40h 5min Green=325×300″+43×600″=34h 15min Blue=334×300″+43×600″=35h Ha=152×300″+421×600″=82h 50min
Description:
M81 is one of the brightest galaxies in the night sky. It is located 11.6 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major and has an apparent magnitude of 6.9. Through a pair of binoculars, the galaxy appears as a faint patch of light in the same field of view as M82.A small telescope will resolve M81's core.
M82 or the Cigar galaxy, shines brightly at infrared wavelengths and is remarkable for its star formation activity. The Cigar galaxy experiences gravitational interactions with its galactic neighbor, M81, causing it to have an extraordinarily high rate of star formation — a starburst. Around the galaxy’s center, young stars are being born 10 times faster than they are inside our entire Milky Way galaxy. Radiation and energetic particles from these newborn stars carve into the surrounding gas, and the resulting galactic wind compresses enough gas to make millions of more stars. The rapid rate of star formation in this galaxy eventually will be self-limiting. When star formation becomes too vigorous, it will consume or destroy the material needed to make more stars. The starburst will then subside, probably in a few tens of millions of years. Each of us contributed more than 35hrs of raw data ( before selection) About 50% of NB Ha data was collect under 60% or high moon phase, with relatively low SNR on each single frame.After gathering all the data the squad taken, preprocess and integation was performed by Yu with WBPP on PI, and AstroPixelProcessor (abbr. APP), respectively.To accommodate these sets of data with very different FOV and resolution without leaving obvious defect on Master files (such as dark or noisy region on the edge of overlapping area, or unblacnced background brightness) while maximizing the FOV taken by WORC12+6200MMP was really a hard one. Yu has tried his best repair those defects using any method he found, including NSG, DBE, MSGC, etc., while the result was not satisfying. After few attempts, he achieved to find a way integrating all these data without leaving any defects.
Talented Prize -- Photo No. 407
DeepSky: No.407The Cave Nebula in Rich Detail + Steve Leonard + Canada
Photo Number：407
Category：Deep Sky Category
Your name and your country: Steve Leonard, Canada
Imaging title and target: The Cave Nebula in Rich Detail
Equipment used and the technical card:
Astro Tech AT115EDT 4.5" triplet refractor at F5.6, EQ6-R mount, NINA, ASI 1600MM Pro camera, Chroma SHO filters, processed in Pixinsight, Integration: 10 hr. HA, 13 hr. OIII, 6 hr. SII, Bortle 8/9.
Imaging date and place: Markham, Ontario, Canada, July 21, 22, 23, 31, Aug. 1, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17.
Briefly describe your photo story, digital processing methods employed:
The Cave Nebula (Sh2-155) is a diffuse emission nebula in the constellation Cepheus, about 2400 light years from Earth. This image was captured with narrowband filters from the city and processed with a blend between the SHO and Forax palettes to bring out a diversity of colour. This relatively faint emission nebula features a dynamic range of bright emission regions and dark tendrils of dust and is known to be an active star forming region.
►Prize-winner for SolarSystem Category
►The 1st Prize One Winner
SolarSystem: Photo No. 58 Fireball in the Sky + Mehmet Ergün +Germany
Photo Number: 58
Category: SolarSystem
Your name and your country: Mehmet Ergün / Germany
Imaging title and target: Fireball in the Sky
Equipment used and the technical card: Hardware: Lunt LS60 + DS60, RST-135, IMX178 mono
Software: Sharpcap, Registax, Photoshop - Imaging date and place: 20/April/2024 Germany
Judges' Commentary
Tommaso Massimo Stella:
The solar disk and the phenomena of our star have been rendered with noteworthy resolution and dynamic care. Congratulations
Warren Keller:
A contest winning photo should be a jaw-dropper, and this one certainly fits the bill. It’s just an incredible feast for the eyes with all of the detail and the color and processing is perfect!
►The 2nd Prize One Winner
SolarSystem: Photo No. 86 The 2024 Total Solar Eclipseb + Jonathan Hill + USA
Photo Number：86
Category：SolarSystem Jonathan Hill, USA
The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse
Capture Date: 4/8/2024
Capture Location: Corning, Arkansas, USA
Technical info:
Captured with: Primary: Nikon 300mm f/2.8 + Nikon D850 (1ev x 5) + Celestron AVX
Secondary: Nikon 800mm f/5.6 + Nikon D850 (2ev x 5) + iOptron CEM70 5 exposure bracketed sequence for each camera at the exposure spacing above using a plug in intervalometer.
Processed with: PixInsight (calibration, debayer, stacking) MATLAB (using my own written scripts/software to register, linear HDR blend, stretch, and enhance) Photoshop (final touches and color enhancements)
Additional info here: https://www.astrobin.com/u1ubj3/
Story Summary:
To capture this image, my family and I completely changed travel plans 2 days before the eclipse from East Texas to North East Arkansas. Arkansas ended up being one of the best spots for clear skies, so I'm thankful we switched plans. We carried over 400 lbs of equipment out to a field beside a small community church to shoot, including 3 tracking mounts, 5 cameras, 5 lenses, 5 tripods and a whole slew of other accessories (filters, intervalometers, etc). I set up all the equipment and configured all the imaging sequences with a countdown to start shooting immediately at totality. I was so caught up in witnessing totality that I forgot to remove the filters until 3 minutes into the 4 minute totality. It was an absolutely stunning experience visually and photographically and I came away with over 700 images of totality spread across the camera systems. Processing the images has been over a year in the making. With the help of some extremely intelligent individuals (all of which I can now call my friends), Francois Ayello, Colin Legg, Deepanshu Aurora, David Ackerman, and Ludo, we were able to write our own processing codes to process the images (image registration by phase correlation, linear HDR blending, image stretching, and adaptive structural enhancement). The results of this eclipse adventure are nothing short of a dream come true and I'm incredibly grateful for the friends who helped me along the way and for the opportunity to witness and capture such a monumental event.
Full story: https://jdhastro.wixsite.com/eclipse2024
Judges' Commentary
Warren A. Keller:
"Simply one of the finest eclipse photos I’ve ever seen! The details of the corona are incredible, and the moon is also tastefully processed!"
Dr. Ron Brecher:
"This is one of the finest photos I have seen of the total solar eclipse of 2024. The photo looks very dynamic and even reveals the stars during totality. The turbulent detail in the corona makes it look dynamic and three-dimensional."
►The 3rd Prize One Winner
SolarSystem: Photo No. 08 Solar protuberance + LELU Thomas + FRANCE
Photo Number：08
Category：SolarSystem
Your name and your country : LELU Thomas - FRANCE
Imaging title and target : Solar protuberance
Equipment used and the technical card : Sky-Watcher Evostar 72ED with coma correcteur and QUARK Chromosphere model (ERF filter 1.25’’). ZWO ASI174MM for camera imaginng with tilt ring (to suppress Newton ring phenomena).
All equipement on the Paramount MyT mount.
Imaging date and place : Sunday, September 1, 2024 in my garden
Briefly describe your photo story, digital processing methods employed :
Using Firecapture software, I took 3,000 images with 2ms exposure time at around 80 frames per second on this portion of our star, showing this magnificent protuberance the size of several times planet Earth. I then selected the best 1% of images using Autostakkert software, and performed histogram enhancement using ImPGG. I perform two rises to obtain two images. One image with the protuberances but the sun's surface overexposed. And the other image, the surface of the sun without seeing the protuberances. These two images are then added to Photoshop with a “darken” blend mode, so that the two images can be superimposed and colorized. Then a few tweaks to the diagram and sky background to achieve this result. - Your submission image quantities : 2/3 Second image submitted for the competition (the only one in the solar category).
Judges' Commentary
Tommaso Massimo Stella:
"Very nice dynamic contrast between the prominences and the solar disk. The sensation of brightness and warmth make the image very suggestive. Congratulations"
Christoph Lichtblau:
"Awesome view on this active area of the sun with very nice and soft processing and colors."
Congrats again, Dear all winners!
Thank all of you to join us, thank you for excellent works, thank you for coming! The prizes will be dispatched very soon ~
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