2021 Astroimaging Contest Entries

(Photos are the copyrighted property of the photographers. Permission to use any of their photos for other purposes must be obtained from the photographer.)

These photos (1 - 24) are this year's entries. RASC Halifax members may vote for their People's Choice favourite through a SurveyMonkey survey to be emailed separately. Note: with some internet browsers, hovering over the photo with your cursor will display the photo details. You may also be able to right-click on an image and view it in a separate window to see a larger version. If necessary, the files were reduced in JPEG quality to meet a 2M file upload limit (which might be noticeable if you view a zoomed image). The judges have access to the original submitted images. Note: SS_02 was recategorized to WF_09.

DS_02 Andromeda Galaxy - Andromeda Galaxy Jason Dain Winner Deep Sky

SS_01 ISS Solar Transit - Jason Dain Winner Solar System

WF_01 Milky Way and Moon - Jason Dain Wide Field Winner

WF_04 Touching the Cosmo - Chris Kelly Winner of the Peoples Choice Award

DS_01 North America Nebula from Halifax - John Read

DS_03 Heart of the Heart Nebula - Jason Dain

$DS_04 Orion Nebula What the object is: M42 Capture Details: I've imaged this target a number of times with different equipment. The other night after getting some color data on a different target, I decided to shoot some additional data on M42. This is the 4 hrs (300s subs, gain 100) I shot late last fall plus the 4 hrs I collected the other night from my backyard. I used my Esprit 100 refractor, ASI2600MC pro camera on my Skywatcher Eq6R pro mount all controlled by an ASIAIR Pro. No filters were used and the data was processed in Pixinsight.$ DS_04 Orion Nebula - Jason Dain

DS_05 Andromeda Galaxy - Chris Kelly

DS_06 Messier 42, the Great Orion Nebula - Kathy Walker

DS_07 Messier 8, the Lagoon Nebula - Kathy Walker

DS_08 The Pacman Nebula (NGC 281) - David Hoskin

$DS_09 Sharpless 157 et al. The Lobster Claw Nebula (Sharpless 157) and other DSOs. • The Lobster Claw Nebula is an emission nebula located in the constellation Cassiopeia. This widefield image also contains the Bubble Nebula (NGC 7635), and the Northern Lagoon Nebula (NGC 7538), which are bright emission nebulae, as well as V1405 Nova Cas 2021 and the open star clusters Messier 52 and NGC 7510. • Captured 28 July 2021 and 31 July 2021 at Halifax, NS. Equipment consisted of a William Optics RedCat 51 f/4.9 apochromatic refractor, SkyWatcher EQ6R Pro mount (PHD2-guided using a 30mm f/4 guide scope) and a ZWO ASI533MC Pro CMOS camera with an L-eNhance filter or an IR/UV cut filter. SharpCap (gain 110, RAW16/FITS format) was used to capture 7-minute lights and calibration frames using the L-eNhance filter for narrow-band data. SharpCap (gain 110, RAW16/FITS format) was used to capture 3-minute lights and calibration frames using the UV/IR cut filter for star color. ImagesPlus was used to debayer and stack 54 7-minute subs, 20 darks, 40 flats, 40 dark flats, and 40 bias frames. ImagesPlus was also used to debayer and stack 60 3-minute subs, 20 darks, 40 flats, 40 dark flats, and 40 bias frames. SiriL was used for photometric color calibration of RGB data. Photoshop CS2 with Astronomy Tools Action Set was used to adjust levels, stretch data, increase saturation, and remove noise. StarNet++ was also used during post processing. Photoshop CS2 was used to combine narrow-band and RGB images. ImagesPlus was used for star reduction. Microsoft Photo was used to tweak clarity, contrast, highlights, and shadows in the final image.$ DS_09 Sharpless 157 et al. - David Hoskin