Winners Announcement of 2022 Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition

source:Optolong popularity:4840Release Time:2023-01-15

Winners Announcement of 2022 Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition    

--- Shape the unknown universe and share your experience ---

 

 

2022 Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition came to a conclusion.

The contest received 670 pieces of works in total; through senior astrophotographers' careful 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 3 talented outstanding award for both category.

Senior astrophotographers are invited to be the judges for the contest, they are: Warren A. Keller, Dr. Ron Brecher, Luca Fornaciari, Trevor Jones (AstroBackyard), and Tommaso Massimo Stella.

We would like to thank all judges who judges each work carfully.

It's our great honor to announce the result of the contest.Congratulations everyone!!!

 

 

Prize-winner for DeepSky Category 

 

 

 

The 1st. Prize -- Photo No. 044

044 DeepSky+NGC1333+Alvaro Ibañez Perez+Spain

Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106EDX (f/5)
Mount: Takahashi EM400 Temma2
Camera: Atik 16200 mono
Filters: Astrodon Gen2 LRGB I-Series 50,8mm + IDAS LPS
Filter Wheel: SX USB Filter Wheel 5x50,8mm
Guider: Lunático EZG-60 + SXLodestar
Flat panel: RB Focus eXcalibur
Powerbox: RB Focus Balinor Pro
Focus: RoboFocus
Adquisition: NINA
Processing: PixInsight Core + Photoshop
L: 90x600s bin1, RGB: 30x300s bin2 each channel (total 22h 30min of
total exposure) 
Place: Las Inviernas, Yela and Navas de Estena, Spain (November 2021 –January 2022) 
This photo was captured during 4 nights

 

 

 

 

 

The 2nd Prize -- Photo No.193

DeepSky+The Ghost of Cassiopeia - IC63+Robert Eder+Austria

Imaging telescope: 2x Sky-Watcher 130/650 PDS Newton on a Dual Rig
Mount: Sky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro
Imaging camera: ASI 2600MC Pro, Canon 600D modified and cooled
Filter: OPTOLONG L-eNhance, Astronomik L-2 UV-IR Block Clip-Filter
Integration time: 14,5 h
 
Date: Oct 30 2022
Location: Hohe Wand, Austria
 
The processing was made with Astro Pixel Processor and Photoshop with
the help of StarXTerminator and NoiseXTerminator. It's a mix of RGBHOO.
The Dual Band is from the ASI2600MC with the L-eNhance Filter and the
RGB(OSC) is from the Canon600Dac.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2nd Prize -- Photo No.160

DeepSky+Large Magellanic cloud NGC2070 The Tarantula Nebula+Nick Axaris+Australia

Equipment used and the technical card

Optolong L-Extreme Filter 2 inch

Guidance and acquisition ZWO ASIAIR Pro

Camera: ZWO ASI 294MCpro, Guide camera ZWO 120mm mini

Telescope: TS-Optics Photoline 130 APO f7

Riccardi 0.75 reducer

Imaging date and place

Melbourne Australia September -October 2022

One of my favourite targets which we are blessed with in our southern skies. The actual nebula is in the Large Magellanic cloud not even in our Galaxy. It would encompass quite a large part of the sky if it were closer.

Over 20 hours of data taken over several nights when we did have some clear sky.
Combination of 180, 300 and 600 second subs then combined in Astropixel processor.
RGB and Ha extracted and used as a luminance layer.

Astropixel and Photoshop were used to combine and process the image. 

I used a fake Sulphur layer by extracting the L-Extreme rgb as a mono extraction to give the image a more hubblesque quality

 

 

 

 

 

The 3rd Prize -- Photo No. 240

深空组+龙虾钳星云 sh2-157+王辰+中国

龙虾钳星云:拍摄目标:sh2-157
                 拍摄器材:Skyrover102apo pro;QHY268M;Optolong RGB+3nmSHO;Ioptron cem120
                 拍摄参数:S:900s*82;H:900s*82;O:900s*82;R:300s*12;G:300s*12;B:300s*12
                 拍摄时间:2022年10月
                 拍摄地点:中国河北张家口
                 后期方式:ps&pi多张叠加处理,hdr

 

 

 

 

 

The 3rd Prize -- Photo No. 276

DeepSky+WR134+Jason Dain+Canada

Category of competition: Deep Sky

Your name and your country: Jason Dain, Canada

Imaging title and target:  WR134 and surrounding area

Equipment used and the technical card:

Integration time: 27 hrs Hydrogen, Oxygen and RGB stars (narrowband gain 200, broadband gain 120)
Telescope: Skywatcher Esprit 120 ED APO
Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI 294MM Pro
Guiding: Starfield 50mm guide scope with ZWO ASI290MM guide camera
Filter: Optolong Ha, Oiii (7/6.5nm) and RGB filters
Mount: Skywatcher EQ6R-Pro
Calibration: Flats and flat darks
Hardware Control: ASIAIR Pro, Pegasus Power Box, ZWO EAF and EFW
Processing: The selected images were pre-processed and processed using Pixinsight.

Imaging date and place: Stillwater Lake, NS, Canada - July 26, 2022 (final night of imaging)

Briefly describe your photo story, digital processing methods employed (if any):

This image of WR134 is the first from my new Skywatcher Esprit 120 telescope.  I spent 27 hours capturing data and almost that many processing the image to get it the way I wanted.  I have had a couple of telescopes with a similar focal length to the Esprit 120 but none have met my expectations for quality or results.  I'm happy to say that this scope is a keeper and that I'm super happy with the results so far.  



 

 

 

 

 

The 3rd Prize -- Photo No. 165

DeepSky+LDN 1251 - Rotten Fish Nebula+Stefano Attalienti+Italy

Category Deep Sky
Photographers Stefano Attalienti from Taranto Italy

Target in the Photos

LDN 1251 - Rotten Fish Nebula
VIGGIANELLO - ITALY - 26 August 2022
Light 33x600s -5° No Filter
15 DARK 15 FLAT 11 DARK FLAT
OTA Tecnosky 130OWL + Primalucelab Sestosenso 2
CAMERA Omegon veTEC 571 C Color
MOUNT IOptron CEM120
Pegasus Astro Pocket Powerbox Advance
Software Pixinsight + SGP + PHD2 + Photoshop 22

 

 

 

 

 

Talented Prize -- Photo No. 087

DeepSky+Sh2-86+Carlos Uriarte+Spain

Sh2-86:
Category: DeepSky Category
Name: Carlos Uriarte Castillo
Country: Spain
Imaging title and target: " Colums of active dust" Sh2-86
Equipment used:
Telescope: Takahashi FSQ106 ED
CCD: Atik 460ex mono
Filters:HAOIIISII
Mount: Paramount ME
Focus Lunatico Limpet
Data captured:
Ha: 60 x 900"
OIII 60 x 900"
SII 60 x 900"
Total 45h exp time
Date:
Captured: 24 august'21 to 20 november'21
Processed: August 2022
Location: Ager remotely, Spain

This is one of my most complex photographs that I have taken so far. It is the HII-rich molecular complex in which we can observe small protostellar groups (Bok Globules) and other elements that make up this beautiful structure of the Vulpecula constellation.
The capture could be carried out slowly, different nights to be able to complete enough signal to obtain a good result without excessive noise.
The palette that I have chosen is something "different" from the usual SHO, because I have added warm tones to it to strengthen this active region.
And it is that associated with the gas, we find a beautiful cluster of young stars cataloged as NGC6823

 

 

 

 

 

Talented Prize -- Photo No. 323

DeepSky+The Pleiades+Yoshiaki Oshima+Japan

Work title : The Pleiades 
Below is attached information
Category of competition : Deep sky
Your name and your country : Yoshiaki Oshima / Japan
Imaging title and target : The Pleiades / M45
Equipment used and the technical card :
    Imaging Telescope : Takahashi Epsilon160ED
    Imaging Camera : ZWO ASI6200MC
    Mounts : Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ6GT
    Filter : none
    Total Exposure Time : 120'(24X300", 24X15")
    Control and Image capture software : MaxIm DL
    Processing software : Pleiade PixInsight / Adobe Photoshop
    Guiding Telescopes : SVBONY SV165
    Guiding camera : ZWO ASI120MM-mini
    Guiding software : PHD2
Imaging date and place : 12 November 2021 / Asagiri in Japan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prize-winner for SolarSystem Category 

 

 

 

The 1st Prize -- Photo No. 010

SolarSystem+Sun+Markus Wiedmann+Germany
This image was taken from Essingen in southern germany from my backyard on the 16.06.2022
Telescope used: Lunt 60mm B1200
Camera used: ZWO ASI 533MC
Mount used: Skywatcher EQ6-R 
Other Equipment: 2x Barlow Lens
 
Frames taken: 
Used best 50 frames of the video taken with the 533MC
 
Image was stacked with Autostakkert and further processed with ImPPG, color was than applied with Adobe Photoshop
Never expected the 533MC to be such a good fit for the Lunt 60mm, the camera performed amazing even in the colour version. 

 

 

 

 

The 2nd Prize -- No. 050

Solarsystem+A stellar orange - the Sun+Andre van der Hoeven+Netherlands

Category: SolarSystem
Name + country: André van der Hoeven - The Netherlands
Name: A stellar orange - the Sun
Equipment:
Lunt 60Tha - ASI174mm / 2,5x powermate
30s @ 105fps

Date: 14-07-2022 - Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, The Netherlands

This image was made during a very clear summer day when one of the largest prominences on the solar surface since a long time was visible. I was lucky to shoot it right at the time before it was crossing over the limb. The view, also visually, was marvellous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 3rd Prize -- Photo No. 060

太阳系组+行星之美+陈苏辉+中国

参赛类目:太阳系组
姓名:陈苏辉
国籍:中国
作品名称:行星之美
拍摄目标:火星、木星、土星、天王星
拍摄的器材:星特朗C14施卡+asi462mc+ADC+ES2X
拍摄参数:火星(曝光10ms,增益140,60s叠加30%X5组),
                 木星(曝光10ms,增益215,60s叠加25%X6组),
                 土星(曝光15ms,增益325,60s叠加20%X8组),
              天王星(曝光40ms,增益400,240s叠加30%)
拍摄时间:2022年10月2日
拍摄地点:江苏省南通市
作品简述:10月2日算得上今年以来长三角地区天气非常极品的一夜了,当晚按顺序依次拍摄了土星、木星、天王星、火星,难得的是,除了22点到23点间有些波动,视宁度基本上整晚都保持在一个绝佳的状态,因此目标细节表现的都非常好。
后期方式:拍摄软件ASICap;后期软件:使用AS3叠加视频优秀帧为一张图片,使用RS6对图片进行锐化,使用WinJUPOS对多张图片修自转并叠加为一张照片(仅限火星、土星和木星),使用PS拉反差和调色。

 

 

 

 

 

Talented Prize -- Photo No. 086

Solar System + Plato and Vallis Alpes + Carlos + Spain

Category of competition: Solar System

- Your name and your country: Carlos (@Blueastrophotography)

- Imaging title and target: Plato and Vallis Alpes in mineral colors

- Equipment used and the technical card: Celestron 11 XLT, Zwo ASI 224mc, barlow 1.7x, ADC, Baader Uv/Ir

- Imaging date and place: 2022-04-10, Tarragona, Spain

- Briefly describe your photo story, digital processing methods employed (if any): For this close-up I took a different approach. I decided to oversaturate the colors presents on the image to better show the difference in minerals on the Moon. This way I could show a rather different view of this common spot on our satellite. However, not all the beauty of this image comes from applying this technic but because the great level of detail I was able to get in Plato′s crater and Vallis Alpes Rille.

 

 

 

Congrats again, Dear all. 

The contest is over! Thank all of you to join us, thank you for excellent works, thank you for coming! See you in the next Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition .

Oh, wait, about the Prizes~