2024 Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition
2024 Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition
Preface
Explore the magical of the universe, take pictures of celestial bodies in deepspace, and share your wonderful stories and works of deep-sky astrophotography with friends from all over the world will be a cool thing.
Wishing you clear skies, the 6th Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition 2024 is going to be held from 22nd October to 10th December 2024.
♦ The competition is open to all astrophotography enthusiasts at home and abroad.
The Theme of the Competition
Shape the unknown universe and share your experience.
Submitted Dates
22nd October 2024 till 10th December 2024
Entry Categories
There are two categories in this competition. Participants must indicate the category of their work in the details of submission.
DeepSky Category: It means astronomical deep sky photography works of celestial bodies, which including star clusters, galaxies, nebulae, etc.
SolarSystem Category: Solar objects such as Planets, Moon, Sun, Comet, eclipse, object transits and other celestial objects in the solar system;
Prize Level of the Categories
DeepSky Category
| Level | Prize Category | Winners Number | Prizes |
| 1 | The 1st Prize | One winner to be selected |
❶$2,000 *1 ❷Optolong L-Para Filter *1 ❸Certificate of Awards & Honors *1 |
| 2 | The 2nd Prize | Two winners to be selected |
❶$1000 *1 ❷Optolong L-Para Filter *1 ❸Certificate of Awards & Honors *1 |
| 3 | The 3rd. Prize | Three winners to be selected |
❶$300 *1 ❷Optolong L-Para Filter *1 ❸Certificate of Awards & Honors *1 |
| 4 | Talented Prize | Five winners to be selected |
❶Optolong L-Para Filter *1 ❷Certificate of Awards & Honors *1 |
*The first, the second and the third prizes shall not be repeated by default. If the different works from a photographer win any of the first, second and third prizes, the higher prize shall be deemed as a valid prize;
*The Talented Prize award and the first, the second and the third prizes are not allowed to be shared;
*The prizes offered as final, and cannot be exchanged for a cash;
SolarSystem Category
| Level | Prize Category | Winners Number | Prizes |
| 1 | The 1st Prize | One winner to be selected |
❶$1,000 *1 ❷Optolong Planetary Filters kit（UV/IR Cut, R, G, B, IR685） *1 ❸Certificate of Awards & Honors *1 |
| 2 | The 2nd Prize | One winner to be selected |
❶$500*1 ❷Optolong Planetary Filters kit（UV/IR Cut, R, G, B, IR685） *1 ❸Certificate of Awards & Honors *1 |
| 3 | The 3rd. Prize | One winner to be selected |
❶$100 *1 ❷Optolong Planetary Filters kit（UV/IR Cut, R, G, B, IR685）*1 ❸Certificate of Awards & Honors *1 |
*The first, the second and the third prizes shall not be repeated by default. If the different works from a photographer win any of the first, second and third prizes, the higher prize shall be deemed as a valid prize;
*The prizes offered as final, and cannot be exchanged for a cash;
Conditions of Entry
♦ The submission images are required what haven’t won in the last Optolong Deep-Sky Astrophotography Competition;
♦ The copyright for submitted works must belong to the participants, and they must use their own photography equipment. The use of paid PROFESSIONAL remote lease imaging services is not permitted;
Photos taken with commercial remote observatories that use direct purchase time or data (such as iTelescope or Chilean observatories) are not eligible for the competition. Photos taken with self-built remote observatories can be submitted. Data from professional observatories or research institutions (such as ESO, Subaru, or HST) cannot be used to construct competition entries.
※Note: Entries taken by mobile phones are not accepted for this competition.
♦ The cameras used to take the image can be either monochrome (with or without filter wheel) or One Shot colour. The camera types can include:
1) Dedicated astronomy camera
2) Modified DSLR
3) Original DSLR
4) Mirrorless camera
5) Video camera
♦ Entry Categories
DeepSky Category: It means astronomical deep sky photography works of celestial bodies, which including star clusters, galaxies, nebulae, etc.
SolarSystem Category: Solar objects such as Planets, Moon, Sun, Comet, eclipse, object transits and other celestial objects in the solar system;
♦ Entrants may use either telescopes or camera lenses to capture their image as long as the object of interest is clearly identifiable;
♦ Entries must be submitted in electronic format (JPG, PNG); Up to 3 entries per participant (total number of submissions);
♦ Maximum size of images are 10MB;
♦ Submission Methods and Details
1. Mode 1 by Excel Registration Form
1>Please send the works by excel sheet at email: [email protected]
Works and Registration Form (excel) naming format: Entry Category + Photo Name + Author's Name + Nationality.
Due to the limited capacity of the mailbox, please use the function of "super-large attachment" or "file transfer station" to send larger pictures!
Note: The registration form and the submission form must be an excel sheet.
2>Please download the Registration Form and fill in the information about your work carefully, honestly and accurately.
2. Mode 2 by Email
Images can be submitted as ATTACHMENT by email to [email protected] with the following information:
Headline should name as: Entry Category + Photo Name + Author's Name+ Nationality
E-mail content should include the following information:
- Category of competition
- Your name and your country
- Imaging title and target
- Equipment used and the technical card
- Imaging date and place
- Briefly describe your photo story, digital processing methods employed (if any)
- Your submission image quantities
Either submission methods will be okay.
♦ Each entrant may register a maximum of three pieces of photographs spread across any of the categories; No submission may be awarded more than one prize.
♦ Kindly label your name and shooting date in the lower left corner of the entry, and ensure that the font is clearly visible when the image is enlarged to 100%.
♦ Filters may be used in capturing the image, including LRGB, SHO filters, etc.;
♦ Stacked and panoramic images are permitted;
♦ There is no restriction on when and where the image was taken; however the judges gives priority to the most recent works;
♦ The decisions of the judge will be final and no correspondence will be entered into;
♦ Copyright will remain with the photographers. Optolong reserves the right to use the images for non-commercial purposes with acknowledgement to the photographer;
♦ By submitting an image to this competition you agree that the image is an original piece of work taken for the purpose of this competition and does not infringe anyone else copyright;
♦ Please do not submit your image to the competition if you do not wish to grant these rights to Optolong Optics Limited;
♦ Winners will be announced on our website and through social media.
Entries will be assessed according to the following criteria: content; object type; object brightness; level of difficulty in photographing an object;uniqueness, etc.; and aesthetics — i.e. the object’s visual attractiveness, picture sharpness, noise reduction, etc.
※Note: Entries taken by mobile phones are not accepted for this competition.
Competition Timeline
| No. | Event Level | Time Period |
| 1 | Competition Announcement | 22nd October 2024 (Tue) |
| 2 | Submitted Dates | 22nd October - 10th December 2024 |
| 3 | Shortlisted Namelist | 27th December 2024 (Fri) |
| 4 | Scoring Time | 27th December 2024 — 9th January 2025 |
| 5 | Winners Announcement | 15th January 2025（Wed） |
| 6 | Prizes Delivery | Before 29th March 2025 |
*If no exception occurs, perform the operation as scheduled.
Scoring and Judges
♦ All entries are assessed by our expert judges, who make the final decision regarding entries selected for the 1st Prize, the 2nd prize, and the 3rd prize awards. Judges intend to showcase as many of the entrants as possible and there is a preference for recent or timely images, but entries are not restricted to recent work.
♦ The judging panel will consist of Dr.Ron Brecher, Warren A. Keller, AstroBackyard (Trevor Jones) , Christoph Lichtblau, and Tommaso Massimo Stella.
The ranking of all awards will be decided by Optolong expert judging panel, who’s work will not participate in this competition.
Just feel free to click below Google Album to review all submissions. Welcome to “LIKE”, “FORWARD”, ”SHARE”, and “COMMENT”.
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-Optolong Team
Competition entries should be submitted to Optolong([email protected]) before 10th December 2024. Winners will be announced on 15th January 2025.
For further information on the competition and instructions on how to enter, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
Submission access via email: [email protected]
